--RHP Mike Lincoln, out of baseball for three years after two Tommy John surgeries, returned to the game in 2008 and was 2-5 with a 4.48 ERA in a career-high 64 appearances. The club has made pursuing Lincoln, a free agent, an offseason priority.

--RHP Jared Burton missed a month and a half with a strained right lat in midseason, but he was 5-1 with a 3.22 ERA for his 54 appearances. He is the top candidate to be the team's setup man ahead of RHP Francisco Cordero, as RHP David Weathers is expected to sign elsewhere as a free agent.

--SS Alex Gonzalez, the team's forgotten man, missed the entire 2008 season after fracturing his left kneecap and ultimately undergoing surgery in July. Gonzalez, considered one of the best defensive shortstops in the game, is expected to return for the 2009 season.

--Free agent INF/OF Jerry Hairston Jr., signed to a minor league contract early in spring training, put together a noteworthy season, batting .326 in 80 games as a fill-in at six positions, making himself valuable enough that the club is interested in re-signing him.

--Rookie C Ryan Hanigan hit .271 in September and handled himself well enough behind the plate that the club considers him a No. 1 catcher and is confident enough in him that they are willing to let C Paul Bako and C Javier Valentin walk via free agency.

BY THE NUMBERS: 0 -- Professional starts by LHP Bill Bray in 220 major and minor league appearances.

QUOTE TO NOTE: "The club received five players from the Nationals in the trade that brought us Bill Bray, and he may turn out to be the best of the bunch because he has the stuff and the velocity and the makeup to be one of the best coming out of the bullpen." -- Manager Dusty Baker.