Omar Vizquel is in hiding

Everyone's (or every Indians fan's) favorite punching bag Jose Mesa has started out the season a perfect 5-5 in save opportunities with nice peripherals in an admittedly small sample size: 1 h + 1 w + 0 er in 5 1/3 innings. Save a comfortable 4-run cushion in the Bucs' 6-2 win over Philly on April 8 (a game in which less than 10,000 people attended!), all of Mesa's saves have come while upholding a one-run margin. It's easy to forget that Mesa has spent time as a reasonably effective pitcher: he was light-out with the Tribe in '95 and he pieced together 42 saves for the Phillies in 2001 with a 2.34 era. Of course, he hasn't done much in alternating years and finally claimed his role as the worst reliever in MLB (his woeful 2000 season with the Mariners came close) with a disastrously ineffective season last year. But then again, Billy Koch has arguably never had a good season and is set to make 5.5 million dollars more than Mesa this year; he's shaping up to be a nice pick-up for the Pirates. I think I'm starting to understand what Dave Littlefield was getting at when he set his mind on a veteran presence over retaining Tavarez/ Lincoln or throwing Torres/ Meadows into the saves mix. Mesa will do fine in this role as long as the Pirates remain out of contention and the pressure's off, which is exactly what Littlefield was expecting by fielding such a rookie-heavy team. Would rather see someone with truly filthy stuff like Oliver Perez tried out in that role, though...