For all else that went into the Pirates' decision yesterday to make Matt Capps their closer and return Salomon Torres to a setup role, no other element is likely to resonate longer than this:

It could be the start of something special.

Capps is only 23, the team owns his rights through 2011 and, above all, he is almost universally seen as being tough and talented enough to handle the job for quite some time.

Eager, too.

"I'm excited, anxious and ready for this opportunity. I've been waiting for it," Capps said shortly after getting the news in manager Jim Tracy's office yesterday afternoon. "I hate to get it the way I did. Salomon's a great pitcher. If I struggle, it's going to go back to the way it was. I know that. I've got to perform, and we'll see what happens."

He expressed confidence in what will happen.

"I've done the job before. I know this isn't the minors, but you've still got to get three people out. I've done that at this level, just in different innings."

Few would dispute that, given that Capps' numbers at the time of the decision included a 3.03 ERA in his staff-high 30 appearances, a .239 opponents' batting average, 24 strikeouts and only six walks -- four of those intentional -- in 29 1/3 innings.

It is that impeccable control, as well as a general poise, that could make Capps a quality closer, Tracy said.

"He has the mentality, for sure," Tracy said. "But the main thing with Matt Capps is that, if you're going to beat him, you're going to have to do it by swinging the bat. We'll see how this goes. I don't know how it will go. But I do know he'll throw strikes."

Be sure of this: Management eyed the notion of Capps as closer long before yesterday. And yes, long before Torres blew his fourth save in 16 chances Thursday in the 4-2 loss to the San Diego Padres.

It started when Capps became the closer at Class A Hickory in 2005 and was dominant there and at Class AA Altoona later in the summer in the same role. He had a combined ERA of 2.44, struck out 65 and walked six.

That earned Capps a September call-up to Pittsburgh, and he has not seen the minors since. He has excelled in a setup role in the past season and a third, enough so that management had spoken openly of grooming him to close as far back as the spring of 2006.

What kept it from happening sooner?

As Tracy mentioned again Thursday afternoon, it was the lack of a hammer-type breaking pitch Capps could use to keep hitters more honest.

"When he gets that, he'll be a closer in this league," Tracy said that day.

Well, Capps did not find that overnight, so other factors clearly went into the acceleration of giving him that duty.

Foremost, as Tracy outlined yesterday, was his view that Torres might best serve the team in his old setup role. Torres led Major League Baseball with 94 appearances last season after making 84 and 78 the previous two seasons, making durability his greatest asset. And these Pirates, as has become obvious of late, were in dire need of right-handed relief to carry the team into the final two innings.

"Salomon Torres has shown he can go greater distances, get multiple outs, and his resiliency is stronger than where Matt's would be," Tracy said. "Let's face it: We've had a problem getting through the seventh inning to get back to those two guys."

In the same breath, Tracy was adamant that Torres' performance -- which included a mixed bag of a 4.88 ERA, a .233 opponents' batting average and three blown saves when the Pirates led by multiple runs -- was not the key issue.

"I don't feel Salomon has done a bad job as closer. I know he had four blown saves, but I consider it to be three because he did his job in one of those."

That was an April 21 loss in Los Angeles when two lapses by catcher Ronny Paulino handed the Dodgers the tying run in the ninth.

Torres was characteristically blunt in assessing the move.

"I didn't do my job as a closer," he said. "If I had made 14 or 15 out of 16 chances, we wouldn't be having this conversation. Bottom line is I didn't do my job. ... Right now, I'm very mad at myself. I put myself in this situation."

He paused.

"I also realize that my leash is shorter than I thought it was. Perhaps ... maybe ... I don't know, the outcome could have been different."

Torres, 35, became the Pirates' closer for the final month of last season after Mike Gonzalez was lost to an elbow injury. He led the majors with 12 saves in September and October, those coming in 13 opportunities.