Contenders forced to compensate for ailing closers
Posted: Friday April 04, 2003 5:05 PM
Updated: Friday April 04, 2003 5:13 PM
Newly crowned closer Mike MacDougal has served up a pair of saves to help the Royals jump out to a 3-0 start.
AP
$14.3 million
Amount remaining on Damion Easley's contract when the Tigers waived him, making him the most expensive player cut in baseball history.
Nonsensical opening week statistics:
1
Rey Ordonez's seven RBIs
2
Royals 3-0; Braves 0-3
3
Brent Mayne's .545 avg (6-11)
4
Pirates lead MLB with eight HRs
5
Mark Grudzielanek's .833 avg (5-6)
6
Barry Bonds starts 1-for-10
By Jacob Luft, SI.com
The Red Sox decided to laugh in the face of conventional wisdom by starting the season without an ace closer.
A slew of other teams are stuck without proven closers, too, but it's not necessarily by choice. If there is a theme to the first week of the season, it appears to be rampant uncertainty among the closer position.
The Giants (Robb Nen), Yankees (Mariano Rivera), Cubs (Antonio Alfonseca), Cardinals (Jason Isringhausen) and Padres (Trevor Hoffman) will begin the season with their closers on the disabled list. All but Hoffman, who is out at least three months after two shoulder surgeries, are expected back in a few weeks.
Three other teams -- Kansas City, Cleveland and Tampa Bay -- are going with pitchers who have fewer than 10 career saves. Montreal is using Scott Stewart (20 career saves), and Florida will give the nod to Braden Looper (18), for now. The Diamondbacks are moving the reliable Byung-Hyun Kim into the rotation and letting the surgically repaired Matt Mantei finish games; the Reds are doing the same with Danny Graves and Scott Williamson.
The merits of having an established closer can be debated -- and they have been ad nausuem, thanks to Boston's much-hyped bullpen-by-committee plan -- but there is little doubt that blowing ninth-inning leads early in the season can set a nasty tone for the rest of the summer.
Having that hammer at the back end of a bullpen can infuse a team with confidence. But what happens when that security blanket isn't there? Which teams are best equipped to handle the loss of a top-notch fireman? Let's look at how these contending clubs will try to compensate:
Yankees: Setup man Steve Karsay's injury complicates things, but at least it looks like bringing in former Tigers closer Juan Acevedo at a bargain-basement price ($900,000) was a smart move. He has finished two of the Yankees' three season-opening wins against Toronto, picking up a 1-2-3 save Wednesday.
Cardinals: Tony La Russa has confidence in veteran lefty Steve Kline, who had 31 career saves heading into this season and is 2-for-2 so far in 2003.
Cubs: The eminently hittable Alfonseca isn't nearly as big a loss as a Rivera or Nen, but the Cubs aren't as strong in the bullpen as those clubs, either. With El Pulpo's hamstring keeping him out for at least a month, look for Dusty Baker to give everybody a look, from veterans Dave Veres and Mike Remlinger to youngster Juan Cruz.
Giants: They are hoping journeyman Tim Worrell can do a reasonable impersonation of his brother, Todd, who saved 256 games in his career. Worrell already has two saves this week, increasing his career total to nine.
This week's topic: Premature observations on three guys who look primed for huge seasons.
1. Dave Roberts, center fielder, Dodgers: He put on a clinic in a three-game series against the D'backs, hitting a three-run home run against Curt Schilling, throwing out a baserunner at second base from deep center, scoring four runs, stealing a base and roping two triples.
2. Kris Benson, RHP, Pirates: It takes two years to fully recover from Tommy John surgery, and it has been almost 23 months since the Pirates' ace went under the knife. He won his last five starts of 2002 and opened this season by allowing one unearned run and three hits in 6 1/3 innings to beat the Reds. He's the odds-on favorite to be this year's Matt Morris.
3. Kevin Millar, 1B-DH, Red Sox: Few right-handed hitters have had a swing as tailor-made for Fenway Park, and his poor defensive ability will not cost him at-bats the way it did in the NL with the Marlins.
Welcome to the world of alternate photo captions:
The safest way to ward off Tigers' hitters: look like a baseball. AP
The Yanks failed to follow the drunkard's advice to "stay away from the moors."
AP
In a breach of etiquette, Marlon Anderson sent David Ortiz reeling with a right hook. AP
Nothing breeds camaraderie like making your shorter teammates sniff your armpit.
AP
Of all the things that can be labeled "overrated," money is not one of them. That fact must have been lost on the fan who caught Alex Rodriguez's 300th home run ball Wednesday in the Edison Field bleachers.
Instead of keeping the ball and, at minimum, exchanging it for a few autographed baseballs and bats from the almighty A-Rod himself, the fan decided to be cute in a Wrigley-kind-of-way and threw it back onto the field.
Maybe he didn't realize it was such a historic piece of memoribilia, that Rodriguez had just become the youngest player to reach the 300-home run mark. Now he has a lifetime to wonder what he could have fetched for that ball on eBay.
Glanville
Doug Glanville's on-base percentage has been below .300 the past two seasons, and it was a measly .307 in 1999. Naturally, that earned him a job as the Rangers' leadoff hitter. New manager Buck Showalter will deserve all the praise in the world if he can coax any kind of decent season out of him. ... The Cubs have to feel good about the way they played in taking two out of three against the Mets. Kerry Wood and Mark Prior showcased nasty stuff in winning their starts. More important, Moises Alou looked like his old self by driving in six runs and belting three doubles. Last season, he didn't get his third extra-base hit until May 2. If Alou can protect Sammy Sosa like that, the NL Central is in trouble. ... Getting shut down by Indians junkballer Brian Anderson on Thursday doesn't bode well for the Orioles. ... Based on their Opening Day roster, the Tigers' average age is 27.38, the youngest in the majors. So far, they are playing like it, having been outscored 14-2 in losing three to the Twins. ... Tampa Bay is the second-youngest team at 27.41, followed by Montreal (27.43), Kansas City (28.25) and Florida (28.60). ... In honor of Hideki Matsui's visit to Tropicana Field this weekend, the Devil Rays will open two sushi concession stands. At least they aren't encouraging the fans to boo the Japanese import the way the Blue Jays did in a tasteless newspaper ad this week. ... So much for the A.J. Burnett DL pool. The overworked right-hander couldn't make it to Opening Day without being sidelined by an arm injury. Now don't be surprised if Marlins skipper Jeff Torborg lets him surpass the 120-pitch count in his first start back. ... According to the Detroit Free Press, the Armed Forces Network will be broadcasting most of the Tigers' games this season. That can't be good news for troop morale.
The safest way to ward off Tigers' hitters: look like a baseball. 
The Yanks failed to follow the drunkard's advice to "stay away from the moors."
In a breach of etiquette, Marlon Anderson sent David Ortiz reeling with a right hook. 
Nothing breeds camaraderie like making your shorter teammates sniff your armpit.
