Al Reyes, CL, Tampa Bay Devil Rays

April 23, 2007 @ 16:00:00

By Scott Ehrlich

With all the young studs currently in the Tampa Bay Devil Rays organization, it's a bit of a surprise, to say the least, that the answer to their year-and-a-half-long search for a reliable closer has been answered by a 37-year-old journeyman with six career saves before this season. Yet that is exactly what has happened as right-hander Al Reyes has seized control of the closer job in Tampa and shows no signs of letting it go any time soon.

Who, exactly, is Al Reyes? The Dominican native, whose full name is Rafael Alberto Reyes, started his career with the Milwaukee Brewers in 1995 and pitched there before being sent to the Baltimore Orioles in 1999 as the famed player to be named later in exchange for righty Rocky Coppinger. The 1999 season is notable for Reyes due to the fact that he appeared in 53 games, nearly three times as many as he'd see in any season until 2005.

The problem for Reyes, at least over the last five years, hasn't been effectiveness - it has been health. Reyes missed all of 2006 after having Tommy John surgery in October 2005, and his irregular major league work from 2002-2004 has been largely a result of various maladies.

Yet, when healthy and on a major league roster, Reyes has been nothing short of dominant since 2002, as the table below demonstrates. Despite his sporadic work, Reyes has notched a WHIP under 1.00 while averaging a strikeout per inning over that span. He has enough size at 6-foot-1, 230 pounds, to generate strikeouts. In 2005, Reyes notched a career high in games pitched, with 65, showing that he can be an effective pitcher over a full season.

Table: Al Reyes pitching stats 2002-2005

Year	Team	W-L	IP	H	BB	K	ERA	WHIP
2002	Pittsburgh	0-0	17	9	7	21	2.65	0.94
2003	New York Yankees	0-0	17	13	9	9	3.18	1.29
2004	St. Louis	0-0	12	3	2	11	0.75	0.42
2005	St. Louis	4-2	62.2	38	20	67	2.15	0.93
Total	--	4-2	108.2	63	38	108	2.25	0.93

So far this season, Reyes appears to be completely recovered from his elbow injury and has pitched very well, allowing just four base runners in eight scoreless innings while striking out nine. He's also converted all six of his save opportunities. While relievers Chad Orvella, Seth McClung and Juan Salas have all been effective at various times in the minors and have all been mentioned as closer candidates, none have ever seized their chance at the role. Therefore, it appears it is Reyes' job to lose.

While the Devil Rays closer position isn't the most lucrative out there, especially with their awful middle relief, Danys Baez did notch 41 saves in that role two years ago. Reyes is recommended in all fantasy leagues as he'll likely keep the position at least until the trade deadline, when he could be moved for younger talent, or until the inevitable injury. After all, Reyes is 37 with quite an extensive medical dossier. However, as long as he's physically able to pitch, he'll likely remain an effective closer and a useful fantasy option.

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Scott Ehrlich

Scott Ehrlich has been involved with sports for the last four years. He spent parts of three seasons working with various minor league baseball teams and internet sports sites. In 2004 he hosted his own sports talk show on 790AM in South Florida, featuring guests from all four major sports. Scott currently resides in Ft. Lauderdale, FL but will be attending law school at the University of Florida in August, where he hopes to one day be the guy responsible for holding your favorite player out of training camp.

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