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jafabian said:
I'm wondering if the Tigers are shopping Urbina because they believe he has purely the makeup of a closer only. That if he's used as set up or long relief he just won't be nearly as effective.



I've never heard of that being the case.

Frankly, I think a lot of the "mental makeup" stuff is hokey, but I do think that, in some cases, there are pitchers who simply aren't cut out to be closers.

However, if you can close effectively, there's no reason to think you can't pitch in less pressure-packed situations. That doesn't make any sense.

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I know the Mariners tried that with guys like Alfonseca and Mesa in the past and they were lousy.



Antonio Alfonseca was never with the Mariners organization. Do you mean Armando Benitez? Both Benitez and Mesa are two of the biggest headaches bullpen coaches have ever encountered. They've had bad seasons as closers as well as middle relievers. Mesa was Seattle's closer in '99, and despite saving 33 games he had an ERA near 5.

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I think the Tigers need an OF with speed to cover all that ground in Comerica. Having players in the OF who can do that makes things so much easier for the pitcher.



I agree, especially when you have as many flyball pitchers as they do.

MisterJLA is RACKing awesome.