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Healthy, reliable closers hard to find

By Jerry Crasnick
ESPN Insider

Wednesday, June 1, 2005

It flatters Terry Ryan that the baseball world thinks he was ahead of the curve in envisioning Joe Nathan as a top-of-the-line closer. But Ryan, who runs what might be the game's least ego-driven operation in Minnesota, happily concedes the obvious. He got lucky. When the Twins acquired Nathan from San Francisco for catcher A.J. Pierzynski in November 2003, Ryan knew he was adding a good athlete with a strong arm and the potential to pitch the ninth inning. He could not foresee that two years ...

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