Jose Mesa

The 40-year-old Mesa continues to defy his skeptics and will play for his eighth big-league team when he takes the mound for the Tigers this year. Despite a 1.51 WHIP and a mediocre 39:36 K:BB, he managed to post a 3.86 ERA while setting up Brian Fuentes in Colorado. Mesa joins a loaded Detroit bullpen, so don't expect him to poach saves from Todd Jones. The 20-year veteran is fourth in line at best.

Mesa proved his naysayers wrong for the first two months of the 2005 season, stringing together 12 straight saves in 12 appearances to start the year. By the time August rolled around, batters seemed to have figured him out. Mesa who finished the campaign 2-8 with a 4.76 ERA and 27 saves, recorded just one save after Aug. 1. Former manager Lloyd McClendon showed his loyalty to the veteran 39-year-old and kept sending him out in save opportunities, but it was obvious that Mesa had lost his effectiveness. As a set-up man in Colorado, it will be interesting to see how effective his flat fastballs are in the thin air.

Mesa, who the Bucs rescued off the scrap heap prior to the 2004 season, converted 43-of-48 saves, while going 5-2 with a 3.25 ERA in 70 appearances overall. It's worth noting that the veteran closer did not perform as well after the All-Star break last season as he did before it. In the first half of the season, he was 2-0 with a 2.45 earned run average and 22 saves in 37 games. In 36 2/3 innings, he allowed 41 hits -- just one home run -- and 11 walks and struck out 22. After the All-Star break, Mesa was 3-2 with a 4.13 earned run average and 21 saves. In 32 2/3 innings, he yielded 37 hits, including five home runs, walked and struck out 15. The 38-year-old won’t have to win a job like he did last spring and if he continues to pitch well for the Pirates, his ultimate destination in 2005 could be with a contender down the stretch, when the Bucs hold their annual fire sale.

What Philly fans feared finally happened. Mesa, who always played with fire while on the mound, suffered a meltdown and was displaced as the Phils closer midway through the 2003 season. Ironically, he became the Phillies all-time saves leader with 111 saves. He'll be pitching for a new team in 2004, most likely not as a closer.

‘Joe Table' makes it look ugly but has saved 87 games in two seasons. He will return as the club's closer despite blowing nine saves last season. If the Phillies are as successful as the off-season excitement they've generated, Mesa could get another 40+ saves. He always remains a risk because of a career 4.22 ERA and the stigma that comes from losing closer jobs with two teams (Cleveland and Seattle). Third time is the charm right?