The Florida Marlins' revamped bullpen includes lots of new faces and old hands, which suits manager Jack McKeon just fine.

 

Aside from the acquisitions of first baseman Carlos Delgado and left-hander Al Leiter, Florida's offseason shopping focused on upgrading a relief corps that was shaky last year. As a result, the bullpen will be deeper and more experienced, and McKeon expects it to be better.

 

Newcomers include right-handers Todd Jones, Jim Mecir and John Riedling, and the Marlins reacquired right-hander Antonio Alfonseca, who pitched for them in 1997-2001. Jones is 36, Mecir 34, Alfonseca 32 and Riedling 29.

 

"Who knows if all of them will come through," McKeon says. "But you have to feel the majority of them will do the job."

 

Their job will be getting the ball to Guillermo Mota, another veteran but a novice in his new role as closer. He replaces Armando Benitez, who signed with San Francisco after setting a Marlins record with 47 saves last season.

 

While Benitez thrived in 2004, the rest of the bullpen was inconsistent - and a big reason Florida failed to make the playoffs.

 

"Last year we were bringing up guys from Triple-A, and you don't know whether they can get a guy out or not," McKeon says. "Now we're much more experienced. Do they do the job? That's another question. But I don't think you'll see them get frustrated out there or walk a lot of guys."

 

Between them, Jones and Alfonseca have 307 saves in 1,223 appearances. Mecir has pitched in 422 games, Riedling 200.

 

"Jack has a lot of flexibility now, because they all can pitch in the seventh and eighth inning," general manager Admin Beinfest says. "It's a whole new look in the bullpen. We went at it very aggressively to attack the bullpen and add depth and experience, and we feel we've done it."

 

Florida's pitching coach is also new to the team but well-traveled. Mark Wiley begins his 35th season in professional baseball, his 14th as a pitching coach and his first with the Marlins.

 

Wiley likes working with older relievers.

 

"Veteran guys know that when you have a horrendous outing, you have to wipe the slate clean and come back the next day," Wiley says. "They couldn't have pitched this long if they didn't know that. It's a big advantage."

 

Mota is no kid at 31, but he has just five career saves and looks forward to the counsel of former closers Alfonseca and Jones.

 

"It's a good sign that we went out in the offseason and got a couple of free agents, guys who have more experience," Mota says. "They can be beneficial to me, because they can help me by giving me a lot of advice."

 

And if Mota struggles in his new role, Alfonseca and Jones provide alternatives. Alfonseca appeared in a career-high 79 games for Atlanta and had a career-best ERA of 2.57. Jones went 11-5 with a 4.15 ERA for Cincinnati and Philadelphia.

 

Mecir had an ERA of 3.59 in 65 appearances with Oakland. Riedling went 5-3 with a 5.10 ERA in 70 games for Cincinnati.

 

"You've got experience, and pretty deep experience," Mecir says. "It's a good mix."

 

Returning is left-hander Matt Perisho (5-3, 4.40 ERA), which leaves at most one vacancy in the bullpen. Candidates include left-handers Chad Bentz and Luke Hagerty, and right-handers Nate Bump and Ben Howard.

 

Right-hander Tim Spooneybarger, recovering from reconstructive elbow surgery, could be ready a few weeks into the season.

 

"He was really good in the first half of 2003 and has already shown he can be a setup guy," Beinfest says.

 

Beinfest believes the depth of talent compares favorably with the bullpen for Florida's 2003 World Series champions, and nicely complements a rotation that includes Josh Beckett, A.J. Burnett and Dontrelle Willis.

 

"Pitching wins," Beinfest says. "And the pitching staff is strong."

http://www.tuscaloosanews.com/apps/pbcs.dl...2/APS/503020989

Relief? Got Pepto?

I love what Beinfest has done with the pen and I believe it might be what ends up helping us take the Braves down. Two former relivers as set up men. Spooney coming back. For the first time since 1997, we seem to finally have all legit veterans in our pen and not questionable minor league guys. With this pen and this offense, the only x-factor for us is the health of Burnett and Beckett. If they stay healthy, theyll have leads held and run support which means 20 wins is easily within reach...but only if they stay healthy.

It is certainly 100% better than what we started with last year.

Relief? Got Pepto?

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You mean rolaids?

 

:plain

I love what Beinfest has done with the pen and I believe it might be what ends up helping us take the Braves down. Two former relivers as set up men. Spooney coming back. For the first time since 1997, we seem to finally have all legit veterans in our pen and not questionable minor league guys. With this pen and this offense, the only x-factor for us is the health of Burnett and Beckett. If they stay healthy, theyll have leads held and run support which means 20 wins is easily within reach...but only if they stay healthy.

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Pavano could've easily been a 20 game winner.

 

Also, for lefty-man Mecir>Perisho.

I am so tired of reading these repetitive articles...I feel bad for columnits, because they must be running out of useful digest to write...

 

I want the season to start--and I'm willing to hurt someone.

I am so tired of reading these repetitive articles...I feel bad for columnits, because they must be running out of useful digest to write...

 

I want the season to start--and I'm willing to hurt someone.

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Amen brother! Amen! :notworthy

Pavano would have been a 20 game winner if Perisho didn't blow a countless number of games.

That could be said for several of the AAAA relievers last year.

 

All of the starters delivered leads that were lost.

I wouldn't blame it all on the bullpen.

 

The offense was pitiful and rarely added runs late in the game. That AAAA cast was too often asked to tie down 1-run leads for 3 or more innings. Even the best of relievers would have failed to shut the door most of the time.

 

Overall, they finished in the middle of the pack of the NL. Not good, not terrible. Just blah.

Pavano would have been a 20 game winner if Perisho didn't blow a countless number of games.

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And Pavano could have been a 13 game winner if the offense didn't bail him out a number of times. Accord, we generally agree on a load of stuff but I think (IMHO) that it's unfair to single out one guy for Pavano not reaching 20 games won.

 

Look at his performance in Sept before throwing stones. Perisho is no Sandy Koufax to be sure but some of the blame (if you can ascribe "blame" to a guy winning 18 games in a season) has to go to the pitcher himself.

"Who knows if all of them will come through," McKeon says. "But you have to feel the majority of them will do the job."

 

This is the sort of quote that does not instill that much faith in our pen

"Who knows if all of them will come through," McKeon says. "But you have to feel the majority of them will do the job."

 

This is the sort of quote that does not instill that much faith in our pen

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It's true. Hell, that applies to every bullpen. There's always a weak link, no matter what team it is... It's inevitable.

 

And what do you expect him to say? "I think every guy in our pen is going to be a major force. They should all have ERA's under 2.00."

That's McKeon. He tests players. If he could he'd put every new call-up or acquired player into pinch-hit with the bases loaded, 2 out and the Marlins down by 3 or the game tied and the tying run on 2nd.

 

'Proven' Major League Veterans or not, Alfonseca and others will have to win his trust or be sent to the doghouse for weeks. (Darren Oliver, who was good out of the 'pen, spent 3 weeks with the Marlins when he did not pitch at all!)