Joel Pineiro will be in the Red Sox bullpen next season. In what role of the bullpen is anybody's guess.

Boston came to an agreement with the 28-year-old right-handed pitcher on a one-year deal worth $4 million. The intriguing aspect of the deal revolves around incentives contingent on the amount of games finished, suggesting that Pineiro is being looked at to possibly fill the team's vacant closer role.

Pineiro is coming off the worst season of his seven-year career, totaling a 6.36 ERA while starting 25 of his 40 appearances for the Seattle Mariners. He was taken out of the rotation in mid-August, at which time he allowed 183 hits in 1372/3 innings, striking out 66 and walking 53. His best start of the year came at Fenway Park when he held the Red Sox scoreless for 61/3 innings.

His performance in '06 was enough for Seattle not to tender a contract to Pineiro, who earned $6.8 million last season.

Pineiro's only big league save came last year, in which he finished with a 4.81 ERA over 241/3 innings of relief. During his stint in the bullpen, opponents finished with a .213 batting average.

The Puerto Rico native, who pitched for his home country in the World Baseball Classic, turned in his best seasons in 2002 and '03, combining to go 30-18. He owns a 3.21 ERA in 37 career relief appearances.

Other than the past two seasons, Pineiro had traditionally been effective in his first inning of work, holding opponents to a .268 batting average. But in '06, that number jumped up to .307 after struggling with a .314 first-inning batting average against the year before - numbers that don't seem to translate for the closer role.

Pineiro is known as an aggressive pitcher who can throw his fastball in the low 90s. He is the most effective when locating an above-average slider down in the strike zone.

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In other Red Sox news, former Boston second baseman Mark Loretta confirmed last night that he has received contract offers from both the Texas Rangers and Houston Astros. Both teams view the '06 All-Star as utility player.