Brian Bruney

Bruney battled injuries for the second consecutive year, requiring two early stints on the disabled list because of an elbow injury. When he returned, he endured nearly two months of struggles (9.00 ERA in June/July), before righting the ship over the final two months. Control remains a problem (5.3 BB/9IP), and pitching in the new, homer-friendly Yankee Stadium resulted in a home-run spike (1.4 HR/9IP, the highest mark of his career). Despite those disappointing metrics, the Nationals were willing to deal for him in December. Bruney will likely serve as the primary setup man for Matt Capps, but could also get save chances as well.

Bruney battled back from a Lisfranc injury and managed to avoid surgery and return to the Yankees' bullpen in August after suffering what appeared to be a season-ending ailment in late April. Command is still something of an issue (4.19 BB/9IP), but Bruney has been able to make strides in that area. In addition to pitching well when healthy, he finished the season with a very strong September -- 12:2 K:BB and three hits allowed over 10 scoreless innings -- and will likely begin the 2009 season as a late-inning option for manager Joe Girardi.

Bruney struggled with command issues last season, even when he was getting opposing hitters out and limiting the damage before the All-Star break (2-1, 2.57 ERA and 27:25 K:BB). The Yankees tendered him a contract for 2008 and want to bring him back as part of the open competition for their many available bullpen spots during spring training. The lack of command over the past two seasons is enough to bump him off the long-term closer radar, but he's got major league stuff if he's ever able to figure out the control part.

With the Yankees taking a more economical approach heading into 2007, Bruney will be counted on to build off of his strong 2006 numbers and possibly to fill a late-inning set-up role for New York. The 25-year-old righty was untouchable in September, with a sparkling 0.64 ERA in 14 bullpen appearances. Bruney uses a slider and a change-up in addition to a fastball the peaks in the low-mid 90's. The upside is still there for him to fill a closer role some day, but he's destined to be a set-up man as long as he's a Yankee.

Entering the 2005 season, Bruney was Arizona's closer-of-the-future. Then the future was now in late May when Brandon Lyon got hurt. The future came too soon: after a series of meltdowns at the end of July, Bruney was not only taken out of the closer's role, he was demoted briefly before returning to major league mop-up duty for the rest of the year. He's still got stuff --check that strikeout rate -- but he'll need to improve his command before he earns a key bullpen role again. Put him on closer-in-waiting lists, but toward the bottom for now.

Bruney had a chance to claim the closer role at Arizona last year, but poor control at the wrong times cost him his shot. Still, he has a chance to become a quality major league reliever: check his strikeout and home run rates. He'll start the year as a set-up man for the D-Backs, and won't be part of the closer battle between Greg Aquino and Jose Valverde. However, he can pitch as well as either of them, and he'll be someone's ninth-inning pitcher someday.

Bruney is one of the very best closer prospects in all of baseball, and he had an awesome 2003 season -- right up until the very last inning he pitched. Bruney posted a combined 2.55 ERA in 2003 (split between Double-A and Triple-A, with a Team USA stint in the fall) with 26 saves, a 1.23 WHIP, and 68 strikeouts in 70 innings. Bruney allowed only two home runs last year, but the second one will be tough to forget: a shot by Mexico's Luis Garcia that eliminated Team USA from the 2004 Olympics. Still, if Bruney can get over that, he'll have a great shot to make an impact with Arizona in 2004. Basically, he's third on the D-Backs' depth chart at closer behind Matt Mantei and Jose Valverde, and sometime soon, he'll be in the bigs.

Bruney had an ERA of . . . nothing, that's right, nada, zilch, 0.00 in 16 games in the Arizona Fall League this offseason, with seven saves and 17 K's in 18.2 innings. Before that, in the minors, Bruney posted a 1.68 ERA in 37 games at Single-A South Bend, with 10 saves and 54 K's in 48 innings; then, in a brief Double-A stint, Bruney went 2.22 with 14 K's in 12 innings. Overall this year (counting the AFL), Bruney gave up just two home runs in 69 innings. We know closer prospects don't have a great track record, but still, here's one to watch.