Meet the new Tampa Bay Ray: Brian Shouse

February 2, 7:42 PMTampa Bay Rays ExaminerRob Quinn

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The Super Bowl is now behind us and it’s time to head down the home stretch of the offseason. Reporting Day is now in sight, but the Rays still are tinkering with the roster a little. A glaring area of need was addressed over the weekend as the Rays signed veteran left-handed reliever Brian Shouse to a two-year contract.

The Rays have needed a lefty specialist ever since the departure of Trever Miller. When the position opened up, I evaluated the available free-agent options and Shouse was my second choice to come to the Rays. My first choice was Arthur Rhodes, who signed with the Reds. The addition of Shouse brings another veteran to the clubhouse and now makes the Rays bullpen actually kind of old. Here are the opening-day ages of the current members of the bullpen:

• Troy Percival – 39
• Dan Wheeler – 31
• Brian Shouse – 40
• Grant Balfour – 31
• J.P. Howell – 25
• Joe Nelson – 34
• Chad Bradford – 34
• Jeff Niemann – 26
• Lance Cormier - 28

For those of you scoring at home that is an average age of 32 years old. The term "baby Rays" definitely does not apply to the bullpen. The addition of Shouse likely means the departure of Juan Salas as the Rays keep adding arms to a bullpen already overflowing with pitchers. Even after the Rays designate someone (Salas) for assignment to make room for Shouse, they still probably need to get rid of a couple more pitchers (Bradford, Derek Rodriguez) before Opening Day.

Shouse is coming off a great season for the Milwaukee Brewers in which he held lefties to a .180 average and walked only two left-handed batters all year. It took Shouse quite a long time to achieve Major League success, so I am sure he relished his time in Milwaukee last year.

Brian’s career got off to a rocky start, much like Joe Nelson’s. Shouse pitched for the Pirates against the Dodgers on August 23, 1993 – with Brett Butler the only hitter he retired. His next big league appearance would not come until April 21, 1998 as a member of the Red Sox. That night, he pitched the ninth inning of an 11-4 Boston win – surrendering two solo home runs but also striking out the side. His final appearance for the Red Sox came on May 6, 1998 against the Twins.

The Red Sox subsequently released Shouse and he would not find his way back to a Major League mound again until April 1, 2002 – a drought of almost four full years. The Kansas City Royals gave him a shot at age 33 and since then, Shouse has been able to stick around in the big leagues, though he has bounced from team to team quite a bit. I’d say the term journeyman definitely applies to Brian – the Rays are his sixth Major League team. All told, Shouse heads into the 2009 season with 422 Major League appearances and 478 minor league appearances. What a road it has been!

I think Brian will tell you all of the trouble has been worth it, as he now has a two-year deal to pitch for the AL Champs. Between Shouse and Joe Nelson, the Rays have acquired two guys with quite interesting histories. Hopefully they will succeed in helping the Rays’ bullpen have another successful season like they did in 2008.

Is the Rays' bullpen now too old? Comment on it!!

As always you can contact me with questions or story ideas at raysexaminer@live.com