What Joel Pineiro, Gary Matthews Jr. Moves Mean For Angels Bullpen

The Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim haven't exactly been the busy bees fans would like them to be this offseason. But a flurry of moves starting in late December has the hive buzzing about all of the sweet possibilities come Spring.

Chief among the Angels' concerns this winter was, and continues to be, the future of their bullpen.

Last year, the Halo relief corp. featured a shoddy cast of largely unreliable and occasionally unrecognizable faces cobbled together out of necessity rather than preference.

Names like Rafael Rodriguez, Fernando Rodriguez, and Robert Mosebach highlighted a serious lack of depth in the pen brought on by multiple injuries and the tragic loss of Nick Adenhart.

Meanwhile, veterans like Brian Fuentes, the man brought in to fill Francisco Rodriguez's sizable cleats, failed to secure leads, keep the team in games, and relieve fans of debilitating heart conditions.

Fuentes, himself, lead the Majors in saves with 48, but did so in extremely unimpressive and panic-inducing fashion.

On Dec. 24, the Angels sought to change all that.

They started by signing former Detroit Tigers closer Fernando Rodney to a two-year, $11 million deal. The hard-throwing righty struggled of late with walking batters, but his overpowering fastball and veteran experience aided him in working out of jams.

Then in mid-January, the Angels made consecutive moves to bring in starting pitcher Joel Pineiro and trade away a grumpy Gary Matthews, Jr.

Ostensibly, these moves were meant to solve other roster issues. However, both will have as big an impact on the bullpen as anywhere else.

The addition of Pineiro to the Angels' starting rotation virtually guarantees a middle relief role for Matt Palmer.

A 30-year-old rookie last season, Palmer became a starter after John Lackey, Ervin Santana, Shane Loux, and Dustin Moseley were all sidelined with various injuries.

Palmer started out surprisingly hot but eventually cooled off and was moved to the bullpen where he thrived as a long-reliever.

With the departure of veteran lefty Darren Oliver to Texas, the Angels should be looking to Palmer to patrol the fourth-sixth innings, picking up the slack when the starters just don't have it that day.

As for Matthews, the Angels were primarily hoping to unload a player who's primary role shifted from outfielder to weight that held the bench down.

Fortunately, the unsuspecting New York Mets were not only willing to take Matthews, but cough up a decent relief pitcher in the form of Brian Stokes.

Stokes was expected to compete for the setup role in New York before the Mets signed another former Angel in Kelvim Escobar to fill that role.

Stokes posted a dubious 3.97 ERA last season, including 38 walks in 70 1/3 innings. In that time, however, he also rang up 45 batters for the Mets, something the Angels hope he'll continue out West.

Rodney, Palmer, and Stokes will look to turnaround the Angels' bullpen along with returning hurlers Fuentes, Kevin Jepsen, Jason Bulger, and a healthy Scot Shields.

After missing most of last season recovering from knee surgery, Shields will join the four-man scrum for the closer's job this Spring, joining Rodney and Jepsen as contenders for Fuentes' throne.

If Fuentes breaks camp with his job title still intact, it will be far from secure.

By the end of last season, manager Mike Scioscia started using Jepsen like a boy scout helping an invalid across the street. Not just a setup man, he was also used to secure the first out of the ninth inning.

And that was without the Angels' stellar veteran setup man as well as a former closer whose fastball scrapes the underside of 100 MPH.

At least to begin the season, Rodney, Shields, and Jepsen will pave the way to Fuentes through the seventh and eighth innings. Backing them up will be Palmer and fellow late-bloomer Jason Bulger, who, next to Jepsen, turned out to be the only reliever the Angels could count on late in games.

In 65 2/3 innings, Bulger surrendered just seven home runs and 30 walks against 68 strikeouts. Look for him to occupy the sixth and seventh innings, at least until the season gets under way and roles begin to shake out.

By then, we'll be able to see just how effective the Angels' conservative approach to rebuilding their bullpen should be.

For now, though, without making many significant trades or big-name signings, the Angels have managed to piece together the framework for a promising future beyond the starting rotation.