Dan Wheeler saved 13 games in 2008 while filling in for closer Troy Percival during Percival's three trips to the disabled list. Maddon also used J.P. Howell, Grant Balfour and the departed Trever Miller to close games.

For Maddon, it is more about the matchup than the bulldog mentality closers are supposed to have, so that's why he went with Price to get the biggest outs in team history.

Maddon has confidence in all his relievers and lets them know that he will not hesitate to use them in any role.

Surgery might have cured Percival's back issues, but his hamstrings and knees were a problem and still will be a concern for the 39-year-old pitcher.

So Maddon will approach the back end of his bullpen in 2009 exactly as he did in 2008 should Percival not be available.

"You'd like to have the normal construction of this dead-on closer at the end of the game," Maddon said. "Absolutely, that's optimal, you want to have it that way. But if you can't, I was comfortable with the way it all worked.

"I just think -- this is just a thought -- I thought that you have to pay attention to the emotional usage, also. I mean, you always monitor the number of pitches, the number of times they threw during the week, whatever, but you've got to monitor the high-leverage situations they've been put in.

"I was trying to pay attention to how many real hot situations guys were in and how often I wanted to put them into that point, like the eighth or the ninth inning with the lead.

"The point is to try to move that pressure around a bit. If you don't have that one guy, I think it's wise to move that intensity around, because a lot of these guys aren't used to that intensity night after night after night. That's one thing I was cognizant of last year."