Manager Don Wakamatsu and general manager Jack Zduriencik are on the same page in that both want one of the candidates step up and take the job. Neither is a fan of bullpen by committee.

And both seem willing to let the matter sort itself out in spring training. But it's going to be complicated.

Two of the candidates, right-handers Brandon Morrow and Aaron Heilman, are in the mix to be starters, and both have been training on the assumption that they will be pitching once every fifth day.

"We're giving both a chance to win a job in the rotation," Wakamatsu said. "We'll see where it goes from there."

There are other candidates, including former starter Miguel Batista, who saved 31 games for the Blue Jays in 2005; Tyler Walker, who saved 23 games in 28 tries as a half-season replacement for Armando Benitez with the Giants in 2005; and relatively non-credentialed closers Mark Lowe and Roy Corcoran.

And the club might give a look to right-hander David Aardsma, picked up recently from Boston.

Lowe is finally healthy after a series of arm problems, and Corcoran is someone Putz said has the mental makeup to do the job, too.

"It's important to me to have one guy to close," Wakamatsu said. "But we have time to figure out who that will be."