OXON HILL, Md. -- Ned Yost enjoyed watching the Cleveland Indians lights-out bullpen go to work in the playoffs because it was so familiar.It was amazing to see -- to watch games and kind of understand the feeling that other teams had against us, the Kansas City Royals manager said.Like the Royals on the way to the World Series in 2015, the Indians mixed and matched relievers, leaning on Andrew Miller for multiple innings in different spots and turning to Cody Allen and Bryan Shaw in big situations. And while the Chicago Cubs even kept closer Aroldis Chapman in longer than usual on the way to the title, managers dont expect the 2016 postseason to change the way bullpens are managed.The postseason management of the bullpen is extremely different than the regular season management, incoming Colorado Rockies manager Bud Black said Monday. But what does work (is) if you have those types of relievers that have multi-inning performance, who can throw parts of innings and continue, thats very valuable.Miller pitched two innings or more in seven appearances, and Chapman went 2 2/3 in Game 5 of the World Series -- mostly out of necessity. Cleveland manager Terry Francona conceded at the time he wouldnt be able to use Miller like that during the regular season.Terry is right: You cant do that during the regular season, youre going to blow somebody out, Yost said. But in the playoffs, its a lot easier to do. You got to understand, Andrew Miller, these guys dont grow on trees. They are few and far in between, guys that are that durable that can pitch like he did, especially down the stretch.Millers example isnt changing how teams approach the offseason, either. Boston Red Sox general manager Dave Dombrowski said his priority was getting an eighth-inning guy, filling a specific role in front of closer Craig Kimbrel, and did so by acquiring right-hander Tyler Thornburg from the Milwaukee Brewers.Manager John Farrell considers it important to define roles over 162 games.If you look at our usage over our last couple of years the one thing that we have had is that one guy other than the closer where weve used (him) at the highest-leverage point in the seventh or eighth inning, Farrell said. Ideally, yeah, you can give the seventh, eighth and ninth inning to three different relievers and let it run out regardless of where you are in the lineup and what the score is on the winning side. I think our main goal is to identify a guy that its not so much a matchup situation.Franconas theory -- an evolving one around baseball -- is that the three biggest outs arent always the final ones. Theres still value in closing, but if the heart of the order is up in the seventh, eighth or even the sixth inning, that could be the spot for a team to use its best reliever.While playing bullpen bingo became popular in the postseason, Philadelphia manager Pete Mackanin doesnt think its practical during the regular season. It just requires depth and talent, which the Phillies now have more of after signing Joaquin Benoit.The deeper you are in a bullpen the easier it is to go to a real good stopper type pitcher in the sixth or seventh or fifth inning like they were able to do in the World Series, Mackanin said Tuesday. Over the course of a six-month season certainly its harder to do, but the deeper you are in the bullpen the easier it is.Stacking a bullpen with two or three closer types like the Indians gives them a leg up in employing that strategy.I think what teams are trying to do or what successful teams have done have had a seventh- or eighth- or ninth-inning guy, and all three of them can pitch in the ninth inning, Yost said. All three of them can close. When you have that, man, thats a huge advantage late in the game.Even though the new MLB collective bargaining agreement didnt include the addition of a 26th player to rosters, New York Mets general manager Sandy Alderson said theres a trend toward using more bullpen arms. Phillies GM Matt Klentak thinks more off days built into the schedule will help teams if they want to lean more on top relievers, who have more value thanks to the lessons of recent postseasons.As an industry, were appreciating the value that those players can bring, Klentak said, a day after the Giants gave closer Mark Melancon a $62 million, four-year deal, the richest ever for a reliever. During the postseason, as we watched the games and we saw these managers using their elite arms in the higher leverage situation but in earlier innings, we talked a lot internally in the office about whether we thought that was something that might become more mainstream during the regular season. ...I think the fact that some teams had some success with that in October would lead us to think that a lot of managers will probably try that.---AP Baseball Writer Ronald Blum and Sports Writer Howard Fendrich contributed. Rod Woodson Jersey . Once again Jordan Cieciwa (@FitCityJordan) and I (@LynchOnSports) go head to head in our picks. Last weekend at UFC Fight Night 32 my #TeamLynch got the best of #TeamJC by a score of 9-6. Let us know which side youre on for UFC 167 use the hashtag #TeamLynch or #TeamJC on Twitter. J.J. Wilcox Jersey . Ferrer, trying to win his fourth title on Mexican soil, will next play South Africas Kevin Anderson, who eliminated American Sam Querrey,7-6 (2), 6-4. Also Wednesday, Gilles Simon (6) of France beat Donald Young of the United States 6-4, 6-3, Ukraines Alexandr Dolgopolov downed Frenchman Jeremy Chardy 6-3, 6-4 and Croatias Ivo Karlovic defeated Dudi Sela of Israel 7-6 (4), 6-2. http://www.officialsteelersnflauthenticshop.com/ben-roethlisberger-stitched-jersey/ . According the Toronto Star, a knee injury will keep Sundin out of the lineup, which includes former teammates Gary Roberts, Darcy Tucker, Tie Domi and Curtis Joseph. Jack Lambert Jersey .Y. -- Syracuse has turned up the defence at the right time all season, and when High Point threatened to pull off a monumental upset the second-ranked Orange did what they do best with their quick hands and savvy play. Jesse James Jersey .J. Ellis hit two-run homers and the NL West champion Los Angeles Dodgers defeated the San Diego Padres 4-0 Saturday night. METAIRIE, La. -- New Orleans Saints safety Kenny Vaccaro will serve a four-game suspension, starting this Sunday at Tampa Bay, because he violated league rules pertaining to performance enhancing drug use, the NFL announced Friday.The league did not specify which banned substance was found in Vaccaros system. The league not only bans steroids, but also diuretics that have been known to mask steroid use, so a positive test for either could have triggered a suspension.The Saints have four regular-season games left, meaning Vaccaros wont play again this season unless New Orleans (5-7) rallies to make the playoffs. The Saints trail NFC South Division leaders Tampa Bay and Atlanta by two games.Saints defensive coordinator Dennis Allen said the Saints were aware of the initial positive test, which had to be confirmed and could have been appealed, so he and his staff had time to develop a contingency plan for this very scenario.Were ready to go out and execute that contingency plan, Allen said. Obviously, when you lose a guy of his caliber, its tough and hard on your defense. Its hard on the football team, but yet its no different than dealing with injuries throughout the season. These things happen and you have to be prepared for them when they do.Vaccaro, a first-round draft choice out of Texas in 2013, was in on 67 solo or assisted tackles this season. He had one sack, five tackles for losses, two interceptions, two forced fumbles, a ffumble recovery and eight quarterback hits.ddddddddddddis versatility has allowed the Saints to play in a number of three-safety alignments on defense, with Vaccaro playing near the line of scrimmage and covering slot receivers or tight ends -- acting sort of as a hybrid linebacker and nickel back -- while fellow safeties Jairus Byrd and Vonn Bell played deeper and in roles more traditional for safeties.Veteran reserve safety Roman Harper is one player who could be called upon to play more in Vaccaros absence. New Orleans also on Friday signed a new linebacker, Travis Feeney, off of Pittsburghs practice squad.Certainly, anytime you lose a player of (Vaccaros) caliber, it affects how you go about game-planning, Allen said. That is something that, as we went throughout this week and over the last few weeks, it is something that we have had to keep in the back of our mind because you never knew when this was going to occur. It is certainly something that we have had to pay attention to over the last few weeks.Saints had coach Sean Payton said Vaccaro could have appealed, but that it made more sense for him to accept a four-game suspension now, rather than risk having a later suspension that could carry over into next season.---For more NFL coverage: http://www.pro32.ap.org and http://www.twitter.com/AP-NFL Cheap NFL Jerseys Wholesale Jerseys Wholesale NFL Jerseys Jerseys From China Wholesale NFL Jerseys Cheap NFL Jerseys Cheap Jerseys ' ' '