This is a bit old now, but acting manager Dale Sveum plans to continue to use Salomon Torres in his role as closer for the playoffs:

Despite the struggles of Salomon Torres in recent weeks, Sveum indicated Sunday he would stick with the former set-up man as his closer. Over his last 10 appearances, Torres surrendered 17 hits, five walks and 12 runs in 8 2/3 innings.

"I'd rather him have better outings," said Sveum. "But it's not something I concern myself with. He's my closer and that's that."

I'm definitely in the camp that says that the "closer" is overrated and that teams that use their best reliever to get three outs in the 9th whenever there is a save situation aren't getting the most out of them. The playoffs, however, are different from the regular season in that every game is supremely important, there are a lot of off days and the end of the season is coming soon so there isn't as much of a need to "save" a guy for a later date.

At this point, Seth McClung has shown he has the stuff and the makeup to get big outs when the team needs them in tough situations. His two outings against the Chicago Cubs in the waning weeks of the season stand out as tremendous performances in tight situations. In his last 12 1/3 IP pitched, he's struck out 15 while only allowing 4 hits and one earned run. Of course he's walked 7 in that time, but 4 of those came in his one start in that period, not in a "late and close" situation. When he's been given a chance just to let loose, he's performed well.

Salomon Torres was good at getting the big outs earlier in the year, but as Haudricourt points out, he's had a lot of trouble lately. Torres still has uses, like getting out of innings by inducing double plays. At this point, though, the more he pitches the more likely it is he get's lit up.

Ideally, I would like to see McClung get some multiple inning shots to end games. He would need some time in between appearances, at least a day or two, but with the number of off-days the postseason provides, he could still get into a good number of games late. This is the time of year where a team needs to use it's hottest players in the tough situations and hope it's enough. McClung is hot and Torres is not, and their roles in the postseason should reflect that reality.