Cincinnati Reds don't expect to acquire another closer to fill in for Jeff Brantley, who could be sidelined for up to two months by a broken foot.
Brantley had surgery Sunday in Cincinnati to remove the broken bone in his right foot. Doctors predicted he would be sidelined for five to eight weeks.
Brantley was the anchor of a bullpen weakened in the offseason. Setup man Mike Jackson left for Seattle as a free agent, and the Reds were limited in acquisitions because of owner Marge Schott's orders to cut the payroll.
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``With our economic situation, we can't go out and get a $3 million or $4 million closer,'' general manager Jim Bowden said. ``The first place you always want to look is in-house.''
The Reds depended heavily on Brantley, who had 28 of the team's 38 saves last season. He was 3-2 with a 2.82 earned run average in 56 appearances and blew only four saves.
His right foot swelled after he pitched an inning in an intrasquad game last Tuesday. He eventually had X-rays that found the fracture.
Carrasco, 26, made the jump from Class A to the major leagues in 1994 and went 5-6 with six saves and a 2.24 ERA for the Reds. He was erratic last year, going 2-7 with a 4.12 ERA and five saves in 64 appearances.
He complained of numbness in his pitching hand and walked 46 in 87 1-3 innings. He also threw 15 wild pitches.
``He has the demeanor on the mound,'' pitching coach Don Gullett said. ``But a stopper has to be able to throw strikes. If that doesn't work, we'll look at Burba.''
Burba was a reliever until the Reds obtained him from San Francisco as part of the Deion Sanders trade last July. They moved him into the rotation, and he became their most dependable right-handed starter.
Cincinnati plans to keep Burba in the rotation.
``You don't want to put a man in the bullpen who can throw 125 pitches at 95 mph,'' manager Ray Knight said.
