These 10 relievers make managers, fans nervous

	Jorge Julio lost his job as the Marlins' closer shortly after arriving in a trade from Arizona. Richard C. Lewis/WireImage.com

Back in the late '70s, the Orioles had a right-handed reliever named Don Stanhouse, a big ol' floppy-haired lug of a guy that Baltimore manager Earl Weaver supposedly liked to call "Full Pack." That, it was said, was the number of cigarettes that Weaver inhaled during one of Stanhouse's typically nerve-searing and painfully drawn-out appearances.

Every team has its Full Pack, that one guy -- if a team's lucky, it's only one -- who gets everyone squirming when the manager calls him in from the bullpen.

Take Jorge Julio, for example. Traded for late in March because the Marlins needed a closer, Julio rolled into the Florida clubhouse and immediately started handing out ulcers like they were walks. He blew a save in his second appearance, giving up five hits and three runs to the Nationals, and things went up in smoke after that. He's allowed 15 hits, walked 11 and blown two saves -- in a total of 5 2/3 innings.

His breakdown with the Marlins already has cost him and his team; he's been demoted into middle relief and the Marlins are back where they were before they pried him away from the Diamondbacks, looking for a closer.

"We got guys," new Marlins manager Fredi Gonzalez told me earlier this week, checking off the names of all the team's closer candidates. "We got Julio four days before Spring Training [on March 26], and at that time I was confident enough with those guys. I'm still confident enough with those guys, if the Julio situation doesn't work out."

The Marlins aren't counting out Julio completely. But it's come to the point where Gonzalez would rather take his chances on Taylor Tankersley, Henry Owens, Randy Messenger, Kevin Gregg or Matt Lindstrom with the game on the line. He figures he owes it to his team. "When the outcome is hurting 24 other guys," Gonzalez said, "that's when you have to start worrying."

Already in this young season, Yankees closer Mariano Rivera -- as sure a thing as there is in a bullpen -- has given up a three-run walkoff homer to a utility infielder (Oakland's Marco Scutaro). Minnesota's Joe Nathan has allowed 10 hits in six innings and, in his last time out, served up three straight hits in a loss to the Devil Rays.

If those guys create a little fan indigestion from time to time, you know there are others who can give teammates and fans a reason to take up smoking. Here are nine of them:

Brad Lidge, Astros
The star of the recent release, Relievers Gone Wild, Lidge is a one-time lights-out guy who is completely in the dark now. Demoted from closer to wherever manager Phil Garner can put him, Lidge is giving up more than 3.6 walks and hits per inning pitched (WHIP). Since his banishment into the dark recesses of the Houston bullpen, Lidge has had one good outing and one not-so-good one as other teams try to talk GM Tim Purpura into a trade. Lidge isn't injured. He's still throwing hard (97 mph at times). Just not very well.

Armando Benitez, Giants
A lot of trade talk surrounded Benitez in the spring, but when nothing came of it, the Giants sent could-have-been closer Brian Wilson to the minors and settled on Benitez. With San Francisco's early struggles, Benitez hasn't had a whole lot of work. But what he's had hasn't been very good: 2 1/3 innings, four hits, two runs, a WHIP of more than 2.5. Benitez is 34, he's had injury problems in the past couple of years and the Giants aren't going anywhere. Seems like a perfect fit.

Bobby Jenks, White Sox
The big guy was a sensation in '05 (50 strikeouts in 39 1/3) when the White Sox won the World Series. Since then, he's been alternately brilliant and troubled, which is bad news for anyone pulling for the Sox. Jenks, who went through an offseason conditioning program to drop to about 280 pounds, has seen a fall in his fastball, too, which doesn't hit the upper 90s like it used to. Right now, his numbers are all right. But when the Sox start talking about using Mike MacDougal as the closer on occasion, that's plenty cause for concern.