Cecil deal exemplifies next stage of bullpen evolution

Four years ago when Mike Adams signed a two-year, $12 million deal with the Phillies, it made history, since he was one of the first — maybe the first — setup men to get a multiyear deal.

That signing reflected the continuing evolution of both salaries and bullpen construction. The Phillies had made a different kind of history a year earlier, in 2011, by signing closer Jonathan Papelbon to a deal worth $50 million over five years.

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No free-agent closer had come close to getting that kind of money. By the time Andrew Miller got a four-year, $36 million deal with the Yankees in December 2014, nary an eyebrow was raised.

Almost every general manager in baseball understood that bullpens were going to require a greater percentage of payroll than ever before. The San Francisco Giants won three championships in five seasons, in part, because of a deep bullpen, and, in part, because no manager on the planet maneuvers one better than Bruce Bochy.

Bullpen depth was a huge reason the Kansas City Royals made back-to-back World Series appearances in 2014-15. When Indians manager Terry Francona gave the ball to Miller in the fifth inning of his team’s first postseason game last month, it changed the game yet again.

No, Miller will not be used this way during the regular season. But every GM is looking …

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