Brandon Villafuerte

The right-hander experienced the highs and lows of being a major league relief pitcher last season. After wining the de facto closer's role, he struggled, and eventually found himself in Triple-A Portland. He rebounded nicely to earn himself a September call-up but the reality is he doesn't have the control to assume an important bullpen role at the major league level. He doesn't possess the dominant stuff that forgives the amount of balls thrown, and a big league job in 2004 doesn't seem likely.

Prior to 2000, Villafuerte looked like he might be a serviceable major league pitcher. Then he got traded to the Tigers. The next two seasons were a roller coaster ride of double-digit ERAs and six-inning major league stints. Then Villafuerte signed with the Padres. Like night and day, his career took an immediate upward swing as he posted an 8-4 record at AAA, then appeared in 31 games for the Friars, recording a tidy 1.41 ERA. Not bad for a 66th rounder.