The best bullpens include the Tigers' corps-really

Sporting News, The, Feb 22, 1999 by Peter Schmuck

It was a baseball writer's nightmare. I woke up the other night in a cold sweat, having experienced a dream not uncommon for a frustrated jock. This time, I was stepping into the batter's box against Mets relief pitcher Armando Benitez, who throws 100 mph. It was an extremely uncomfortable feeling--probably as unsettling as John Kruk felt the time he bailed out so comically against Randy Johnson in an All-Star Game.

The Mets' upgraded bullpen no doubt will raise the level of discomfort for a lot of wide-awake hitters this year, with the acquisition of Benitez giving New York the unusual luxury of having two quality closers--one of them a very scary guy.

That's why the Mets are on my list of the five bullpens no one will want to face in 1999.

With pitchers and catchers reporting to training camps, the early spring focus will be on pitching--and the Mets' relief corps is particularly intriguing. The arrival of Benitez--he was obtained in a trade with the Orioles--serves two purposes for the Mets: It provides an eventual successor to closer John Franco, 38, and it gives the club an intimidating presence in the righthanded setup role.

If Benitez, 26, is effective, he'll shorten the game by an inning and make the world much safer for manager Bobby Valentine's solid rotation, though Benitez's volatile personality also leaves open the possibility of a midseason meltdown.

The Mets have brought back lefthander Dennis Cook, who was outstanding as the club's left-handed setup man last year, and righthander Turk Wendell, who was 5-1 with a 2.93 ERA and even better than that down the stretch. The club is so satisfied with the potential of its top four relievers that righthander Greg McMichael has become expendable and could be traded this spring.

The heart of every great team is its bullpen. The Mets may not be a great team yet--they certainly aren't on par with the defending N.L. East champion Braves--but the improved bullpen puts them a giant step closer to the playoffs.

Of course, it's the Mets' curse to be overshadowed by the Yankees at every turn, and that could happen again in the cross-town battle of the bullpens.

The Yankees have built a minor dynasty, and they couldn't have done it without exceptional relief pitching. Mariano Rivera has emerged as one of the most dominant closers in the game, and he has a supporting cast that is experienced and accomplished.

Lefthanded setup man Graeme Lloyd led the club with a 1.67 ERA last year. Jeff Nelson is an overpowering righthanded setup man. Lefthander Mike Stanton is a solid veteran who can work in short or middle relief. Righthander Darren Holmes pitched well in a middle role last year. And manager Joe Torre will have a surplus starter--Hideki Irabu or Ramiro Mendoza--to work in long relief.

If that isn't enough depth, the Yankees also have a young righthanded relief prospect, Jay Tessmer, who dominated in Class AA and Class AAA last year and pitched well at the major league level in September.

Judging from the talent on both sides of town, the Big Apple ought to change its nickname to the Big Bullpen. I hear that Guiliani kid has a mean forkball.

But not all the top bullpens will come from big-revenue teams. I think there's a sleeping giant in Detroit, where closer Todd Jones is poised for a big year and the no-name supporting cast is developing a nice chemistry.

Righthander Doug Brocail put together another outstanding season last year in middle and setup relief, and Rule 5 draftee Scan Runyan pitched consistently on the way to a major league record for appearances (88) by a rookie. Top relief prospect Matt Anderson also was effective in a variety of relief roles and could get save opportunities this year alongside Jones.

The Tigers--despite finishing 65-97 last season--have the depth and talent to field one of the top relief units in baseball, but they will need consistent production from the rotation for the bullpen to reach its potential. That's another story.

The Giants nearly reached the playoffs last season on the strength of their explosive offense and an amazingly tough bullpen that was the best--statistically--in the major leagues.

Closer Robb Nen remains one of the most overpowering pitchers in baseball and has terrific strikeout/walk and hits/innings ratios to prove it. But what made the Giants' bullpen so effective last year--and should again this season--was the consistency of his supporting cast.

Every regular reliever on the staff had an ERA under 4.00, beginning with Nen's scintillating 1.52 and featuring solid performances from John Johnstone (3.07), Rich Rodriguez (4-0, 3.70) and Julian Tavarez (5-3, 3.80). The Giants lost Jose Mesa to free agency, but they acquired lefthander Alan Embree from the Diamondbacks to improve the club's right-left relief balance.

The Dodgers may have bought a lot of credibility by signing Kevin Brown to a $105 million contract, but the Giants' bullpen gives San Francisco a puncher's chance of overcoming that economic disadvantage in the N.L. West.