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Solutions for teams with closer issues

By Steve Phillips
ESPN Insider

Monday, May 30, 2005

A bullpen is a living, breathing organism with a personality unto itself. Each part of a bullpen desires a role. Each part likes stability and wants a plan for how to approach each day. This is why the closer-by-committee plan doesn't work very well. A closer is the heart and soul of a bullpen; if he is well, the rest of the pen can usually sustain itself. If a closer is struggling, it puts the rest of the bullpen and likely the rest of the team in flux. Yankees closer Mariano Rivera struggled ...

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