1.   Any veteran reliever.

2.   At first, Phillips asked for Dennis Cook, a veteran left-handed reliever, but the Marlins balked at this.

3.   A veteran reliever who passed through here not long ago, on the other hand, contended the Rangers would never win while Pudge squats behind the plate.

4.   If they are lucky, their starting pitchers will pitch deep into games and hand a big lead to three veteran relievers.

5.   John Franco ambled across the empty and eerily silent clubhouse, a veteran reliever who knew the painful postgame routine.

6.   Last week, the team signed right-handed starters Todd Stottlemyre and Armando Reynoso and previously signed veteran left-handed middle reliever Greg Swindell.

7.   ON THE ROAD Minnesota Twins pitcher Mike Jackson was one of the few veteran relievers who elected not to sign with the Rangers.

8.   Sometimes, veteran relievers crumble in the late innings.

9.   The only glitch in the pen has been veteran reliever T.J. Mathews, who has looked like a million-dollar mistake in the spring.

10.   The Red Sox also transported veteran reliever Mike Hartley to Boston but have not assigned him yet.