If manager Pete Mackanin is serious about making the Philadelphia Phillies a meritocracy, there can only be one name to choose as the permanent closer and that is Dalier Hinojosa.

The meritocracy argument is a compelling one for a rebuilding team because it tells the other young players on the team that performance, not salary or longevity, will be the determining factor. That philosophy fosters competition, and competition fosters winning.

Hinojosa has clearly been the best of a large group of Phillies who are competing for spots in the back end of the bullpen and that should make him the closer. If he hasn’t earned the spot by opening day, all the Cuban 30-year-old needs to do is to continue the way he pitched for the past month. Andrew Bailey, the former AL Rookie of the Year (2009), pitched well the first half of the month, not so well the second, and could be ticketed to start the season at the Triple-A level.

Hinojosa is a little on the hefty side (6-foot-1, 230 pounds), but he puts that weight behind a 90-plus mph fastball and a sneaky slider. Last year, for the Phillies, he appeared in 18 games with an 0.78 ERA and 21 strikeouts with eight walks in 23 innings. Hinojosa and David Hernandez appear to be the top two candidates at the moment. Hernandez was the team’s only major league free agent this winter, signing a one-year, $3.9 million deal, but he had a rough start in Spring Training earlier this month, missing two weeks with elbow soreness.

If he isn’t ready, the job should be Hinojosa’s to lose, and if he picks up where he left off last year, he won’t lose it.