Rat-do you have any info on Pineiro ?

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Whats this talk of Piniella leaving Pineiro in the bullpen ?

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Mariners Notebook: Pineiro back to pen


Joel Pineiro's tenure as the Mariners' fifth starter didn't last long.

Pitching coach Bryan Price told the right-hander yesterday that he was returning to the bullpen, less than a week after being given a job in the rotation.

"We can develop him into a front-line setup man or a closer," Price said. "He's throwing 92-95 mph out of the bullpen. That's hard to find. We really need a power arm in the late innings.

"We talked about the importance of that position and him taking over. We were going to think about it during the off day (today), but we decided this made sense. We like him better as the fifth starter, but it helps us as a ballclub to use him this way."

Pineiro should get more appearances, if not innings, in a setup role.

"I said it from the first day of spring training," Pineiro said. "I just want to pitch. They told me not to look at it as being demoted, just an opportunity to try to help the team."

The Mariners plan to use a fifth starter just seven times in the first two months of the season. Those starts will now be split between right-hander Ryan Franklin and left-hander John Halama, both of whom battled Pineiro for the spot during spring training.

Halama will start Tuesday night in Anaheim.

"We'll use Ryan and John as starters," Price said. "This will give them time to figure out what they can do. We can use Ryan and John in the bullpen as well."

Ironically, Pineiro knocked himself out of the rotation by pitching too well in a relief effort on Opening Day. He threw two scoreless innings with three strikeouts, piquing Piniella's curiosity and ending, at least for now, his career as a starter.

"We've seen a little of what he can do," Price said. "We're doing what's best for the ballclub. We're trying to sell everybody that we can do it with the talent that's here. In the past (few years), I think you've seen guys willing to do that: put everything else aside and put the team first. We told Joel he can help us win big ballgames."

[GuTTer_RaT]

he pitched on opening night but i was under the impression that that was just to get some work in due to the fact that he wasnt having his turn in the rotation for awhile. this is news to me man. www.kjram.com is the local sports talk radio station and it can be heard live on the internet if you wanna hear the latest. i havent heard this so its really news to me.....

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http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/baseball/65221_mbok04.shtml

Here is where the story was from.