Empyreal Environs

• Put your 38-year old ace who is recovering from ankle surgery in the bullpen. Curt Schilling offered his services and the front office and Terry Francona have accepted. With Keith Foulke going on the disabled list, Schilling as a closer seems to be one of the options.
• Start with your relievers and close with your starters. Lou Piniella, tired of meltdowns by his subpar relief staff, proposed this solution to try to staunch the bleeding in the late innings.

Such moves aren’t entirely unprecedented. John Smoltz’s transition from starter to closer and back again a well-documented and successful example, as is Dennis Eckersley. As for Piniella’s experiment, there are statistical and economic bases for revamping bullpen usage. Much of the brouhaha about these recent moves is a direct result of the baseball establishment not accepting unorthodox moves that are theoretically sound. To be sure, Piniella has recently been criticized for leaving Travis Harper in during a blowout against the Yankees, and this strategy reeks of desperation, so he isn’t the case study to enact a potentially revolutionary use of the bullpen. But, it’s a start.