Al Reyes

Reyes underwent Tommy John surgery in October 2005. Tampa Bay signed him to a minor league contract, and he did get back on the mound for a few innings at the end of last season. If he is healthy and regains his pre-injury form, he could easily win a key role in the Rays' bullpen this spring. Remeber, he did strike out a batter an inning for the Cards before he went down.

Reyes was marvelous out of the bullpen for the Cardinals in 2005. Unfortunately, on the last game of the season the righty injured his elbow, forcing him to undergo Tommy John surgery in October. He will most likely be out for the entire 2006 season.

Reyes made a late-season splash for the Cardinals -- including two hitless but short starts at the end of the regular season. He continued his success with two hitless relief efforts in the World Series. The well-traveled right-hander always seems to do the wrong thing at the wrong time. Despite striking out 90 in 66-plus innings the previous year at Triple-A, he was released by the Pirates in 2003 when he struggled in the spring. Last season, he plunked Rocco Baldelli during spring training and was reassigned. If he can survive the spring, Reyes could be a nice addition to the middle-relief corps.

All Reyes does is get guys out. Reyes has a career ERA of 4.12 and 246 strikeouts in 253 2/3 innings. He’s only pitched poorly at the major-league level twice -- at the start of 2000 with the Orioles and in 1997 with the Brewers. Despite all that, he spends most of his time at Triple-A waiting for guys to get hurt. He deserves a set-up job, and he did make an impression on the Pirates late last year. While he’s a viable backup closer in the event of a Mike Williams injury, he’s behind Brian Boehringer for sure and probably behind Scott Sauerbeck and Mike Lincoln as well.