Nasty Boys part II?

All three of the Cardinals closing candidates -- Chris Perez, Jason Motte and Ryan Franklin -- looked good against the Dominican Republic today.

Veteran Ryan Franklin, dazzling in his first outing, retired all six men he faced. Young Chris Perez, who had struggled in his first two outings, had a perfect inning; Josh Kinney, who had walked four hitters in two previous innings, didn't walk anybody and Jason Motte worked his third straight scoreless inning.

That has me wondering: might the Cardinals end up going with a three-man closer like the Cincinnati Reds of yesteryear? I'm not saying Perez / Motte / Franklin will ever be as talented as Randy Myers / Rob Dibble / Norm Charlton, but maybe it's time to bring back the three-headed committee approach.

Now that I look at it, Charlton wasn't much of a closer. Myers did most of the work for the 1990 Reds while Dibble closed out more games in 1991. Tim Layana equaled Charlton with two saves in '90! Ted Power had the third most for Cincy in '91 with three. What a bullpen!