The New York Mets are about to land one of the best closers in baseball.

The Mets appear on the verge of simultaneously interrupting a sluggish baseball market and solving their biggest winter issue. They are closing in on a deal to sign star free-agent closer Francisco Rodriguez.

“It’s going to get done,” said a person familiar with the talks.

It almost had to. The Mets badly needed a big-time closer to replace injured star Billy Wagner and anchor what was one of the worst bullpens ever attached to a contender. To accomplish their goal, they focused on K-Rod as their closer of choice over the past couple weeks.

The contract is a very reasonable one for the Mets in that Rodriguez will make only about $3 million more than he was offered by the Angels in spring training, before he set the single-season record for saves in a season with 62. It is also $6 million less over its term than the Mets paid to Wagner three winters ago.

The deal makes sense for K-Rod, too, since he knew he couldn’t top that type of deal in those smaller markets. he is also thought to want to be in a big market, anyway. His first choice appeared to be to go back to the Angels, but they have suitable replacement in Jose Arredondo and Scot Shields and put him way on the back burner while pursing top target, free-agent first baseman Mark Teixeira.

This Mets team has to succeed this year. The club spent beaucoup bucks on ace Johan Santana last year, have plenty of quality hitters and are now adding one of the top closers in the game. Of course, everything comes down to execution, which has been the Mets problem over the years. It’ll be interesting to see how much noise the Mets continue to make during the winter meetings.