Maybe, but I'd rather have Wood at his best in the 7th or 8th with runners on than in the 9th with nobody on. thats what eyre and howry and wuertz are for. Sure, they can do it. But Wood, at his best, is better than any of them. The notion that your best reliever should be your closer is a myth, or a misconception, at best. yet it means nothing if wood holds them in the 8th and dempster loses it in the 9th That's true of any inning with any pitcher, not just the 9th and the closer. yes but it means nothing if the pitcher in the 9th cant hold a lead, kinda like Dempster demspter didnt seem to have a problem holding the lead in 2005 when he went 33/35 in saves with an era around 2. Jason Marquis went 15-7 with a 3.71 ERA in 2004 Cesar Izturis batted .288 with a OBP of .330 in 2004 the point is, the freshest sample of data says Dempster blew 9 saves in 2006 compared to 2 in 2005 good thing players are a little more than "sample data". dempster has proven he has the stuff to close and there is no reason he cant do so effectively in 2007. the same goes for marquis & izturis having good years. they have the ability if they can stay healthy.