BULLPEN
Chad Cordero was going to be my closer, but with him out for the year, I'll be doing a "closer by committee" until someone sets themselves apart.
#56 LUIS AYALA (R) (71/57)
Age 27, 3rd season
2004(MON): 81 G, 90.1 IP, 92 H, 15 BB, 63 SO, 2.69 ERA, 2 SV
Ayala is a strong contender for the closer's role. His control is by far his greatest strength, and is movement is well above average too.
#48 HECTOR CARRASCO (R) (29/29)
Age 35, 10th season
2004: did not play
Carrasco's been around since 1994, and has been a pretty decent reliever his whole career. After spending 2004 playing in Japan, he's back in the majors. Hopefully he still has some life left in him, though he's definitely getting up there age-wise.
#58 JOEY EISCHEN (L) (72/54)
Age 34, 9th season
2004(MON): 21 G, 18.1 IP, 16 H, 8 BB, 17 SO, 3.93 ERA
The only lefty on my pitching staff, Eischen has outstanding movement on his slider. He'll probably be my go-to guy for tough left handed batters. He could probably close too, but until I get another southpaw I need a reliable LOOGY.
#13 ANTONIO OSUNA (R) (57/39)
Age 31, 11th season
2004(SDP): 31 G, 36.2 IP, 32 H, 11 BB, 36 SO, 2.45 ERA
Another veteran with lots of ML experience under his belt. My scout likes him on the whole, but like most of my aging pitching staff he looks to be declining. Probably not good enough to close, but Osuna should be a decent middle reliever.
#51 JON RAUCH (R) (29/46)
Age 26, 3rd season
2004(CHW/MON): 11 G, 4 GS, 32.0 IP, 30 H, 11 BB, 22 SO, 2.81 ERA
Rauch is a big guy (6'11"!) came up as a starter for the White Sox, but he's currently being converted to a reliever. His stamina's still all right, so he can make an emergency start if need be. He's got a ways to go if he wants to live up to his potential, but he seems to be coming along nicely.
#52 T.J. TUCKER (R) (35/35)
Age 26, 5th season
2004(MON): 54 G, 67.2 IP, 73 H, 17 BB, 44 SO, 3.72 ERA
Great control, but not dominant enough to be in the running for the closer's role at this point. Still, he's not bad. Average-ish middle reliever.
#45 CLAUDIO VARGAS (R) (20/29)
Age 26, 3rd season
2004(MON): 5-5, 45 G, 14 GS, 118.1 IP, 120 H, 64 BB, 89 SO, 5.25 ERA
He wasn't good enough for the rotation, but I decided to keep him on the roster as a long reliever/emergency starter. Apart from being an innings-eater, I'm not really expecting much. If he struggles too much, I'll send him down to AAA and see how he pans out as a starter.