Kerry Wood is available....

to consider someone who wants a shut-down reliever-in the sense of a closer-one of the old breed, since the old breed did not have closers. That concept is rather new.

I do not want the Rays to sign someone who has the closer tag attached, someone Maddon would be obligated to save for the 9th inning. I much prefer signing someone-or seeking someone-who has the talent to get batters out and remain flexible in how he is used.

Naturally there is a risk in that approach as you are looking at pitchers who have not yet established themselves as effective relievers. But there is also a risk with signing an established closer such as Wood or K-Rod or Isringhausen or Fuentes or any of the myriad available closers. It is not just that they are expensive and so limit the ability to sign other talent. But they are also risky because so few can remain effective for long. They are particularly subject to injury (Ffoulke, Gagne) or to sudden ineffectiveness (Koch, Street, Wohlers, Rocker). Someone like K-Rod is particularly vulnerable given his work load and mechanics, while Wood could break down any minute. Yet each would command quite a few years and a lot of money.

And on top of that, they encourage an inefficient use of the bullpen as demonstrated by the difficulty in moving away from Percival this year. In a way, his injuries were very useful to the Rays as they forced Maddon to a more rational use of the relief staff.