Mackanin/Benoit update.
Here's what I don't fully understand... I get that relievers like roles, though in some ways that also seems anathema to competitive fire, i.e, if I'm a top relief pitcher, put me in any time against anyone and I will get you outs.
But, shouldn't it be possible to re-define bullpen usage and still give these pitchers some semblance of a fixed role that leaves them prepared for particular situations every night? With or without a fixed closer, you let your top three guys understand the three situations they are most likely to face, regardless of inning. If Benoit is your second-best reliever, you tell him, listen, you will pitch whenever the heart of the order or the highest-leverage situation is. If you've got a guy you don't trust with men on base, he'll know he's going to start an inning at some point. If you're a LOOGY, it's not hard to look at the line-up card and know when you're probably coming in, whether to face a top regular or a likely PH.
The players are a little coddled, but I think the coaching staff and front office could provide a defined, more flexible framework that everyone could get used to.
Of course, hitters and starting pitchers, by contrast, expect to be in all the time and are annoyed to get hooked, even when it's for a better match-up or they're struggling.