Andrew Miller is one of the Red Sox' buy-low bullpen options who has been signed to a minor league deal. (AP)

The acquisitions of Bobby Jenks and Dan Wheeler have been the headline moves in the reshaping of the Red Sox bullpen. But the Sox have also made a number of less prominent moves that could prove significant in determining how much the team is able to improve a relief corps that ranked among the worst in the American League last year.

A year ago, after all, it was the completely unheralded signing of Scott Atchison that provided the Sox with their most effective bullpen newcomer. Though Atchison spent early stretches of the season in the minors, he eventually emerged as the most trusted relief option behind Daniel Bard and Jonathan Papelbon, as the right-hander appeared in 43 games and, despite a 4.50 ERA at the end of the year, enjoyed stretches of significant success. More notably, the best reliever in the American League last year, Joaquin Benoit, produced a 1.34 ERA for the Rays after signing a minor league deal with Tampa Bay last offseason.

“That’s the way bullpens are built,” said one American League executive. “It might not be with headline guys.”

It is entirely possible that this season, the most significant addition to the Sox bullpen will be neither Jenks (who agreed to a two-year, $12 million deal) nor Wheeler (who has a one-year, $3 million deal with a club/vesting option for 2012) but instead one of the players whom they have brought on board in a minor league deal. Such is the nature of the incredibly unpredictable year-to-year performance of relievers. Whether because of injuries or under-performance by expected staple members of the bullpen, others will have a chance to emerge.

That being the case, it is worth taking stock of what a few relievers who signed minor league deals will make should they contribute in the majors:

–Andrew Miller, $1.3 million

–Jason Bergmann, $700,000

–Rich Hill, $580,000

–Lenny DiNardo, $500,000

In an offseason where the market for middle relievers has exploded — and in which, a couple years from now, plenty of multi-year deals for middle relievers will be viewed through the prism of regret — if any of those pitchers end up contributing meaningfully at the major league level in 2011, those salaries will seem like bargains. And, in a worst-case scenario for the Sox, such deals represent low-risk propositions. Should any of those players either not contribute or struggle, the Sox can part ways with few regrets.

There are few guarantees with signing a host of pitchers to minor league deals. After all, pitchers such as Joe Nelson, Brian Shouse and Alan Embree who competed for Red Sox bullpen roles after signing minor league deals for the 2010 season ended up contributing little.

But given the risks associated with bigger money deals that include big league guarantees, and given the potential upside of such signings, they represent a potentially important component of bullpen construction.