Fantasy Baseball Closers

Fantasy baseball closers are ever-changing, and require constant vigilance.  You'll need to be lightning quick to pounce on the latest closers.  Changes can occur due to injury, ineffectiveness, or even salary.  RotoAuthority.com will constantly monitor and update this post so that you always know who has the closing gig for every team.  The first pitcher listed is the current closer; the second/third are the next in line for saves.

If you have closer info or corrections, leave them in the comments with a link and I'll update the post.  Or, email me.

Updated 5-15-08 at 8:21pm CST. Most recent changes in red.

American League

Baltimore Orioles - George Sherrill, Chad Bradford, Jamie Walker.  Sherrill gets first crack at replacing Chris Ray, who could return toward the end of this year.  Sherrill is a solid sleeper, though he may be traded midseason. 

Boston Red Sox - Jonathan Papelbon, Hideki Okajima, David Aardsma.  I think it's fair to say that Manny Delcarmen has pitched himself out of the saves mix.

Chicago White Sox - Bobby Jenks, Scott Linebrink, Octavio Dotel.  I originally had Dotel in front of Linebrink but that doesn't seem to be the case.

Cleveland Indians - Joe Borowski (if healthy), Masa Kobayashi, Rafael Betancourt, Rafael Perez.  Borowski was expected to lose his gig for ineffectiveness, but instead it was a DL stint.  He'll surprisingly get his job back when he returns.  Kobayashi seems to have moved ahead of Betancourt after a couple of blowups.

Detroit Tigers - Todd Jones, Francisco Cruceta, Aquilino Lopez, Denny Bautista (if healthy), Fernando Rodney (if healthy).  Jones is always shaky, and Rodney is out with shoulder issues.  Cruceta and Lopez are sleepers to take over if Jones collapses.  Joel Zumaya is due back midseason and could jump to the front of the line if he returns to form.  An acquisition is definitely possible here.

Kansas City Royals - Joakim Soria, Leo Nunez, Ramon Ramirez.  Soria did struggle at times in '07 but posted nice fantasy numbers.  If the 23 year-old is injured or moves to the rotation, Nunez could get a look.

Minnesota Twins - Joe Nathan, Matt Guerrier.  Pat Neshek is out for the season.  Juan Rincon could be in the mix if he returns to form.

New York Yankees - Mariano Rivera, Joba Chamberlain.  Sure, veterans Kyle Farnsworth and LaTroy Hawkins are on the roster.  But if Joba is in the pen and Rivera is unavailable, will Joe Girardi really choose the inferior vets over him?

Los Angeles Angels - Francisco Rodriguez, Scot Shields, Justin Speier.  After a blip, K-Rod seems in decent shape.  Shields might have regained his eighth inning job.

Oakland Athletics - Huston Street, Santiago Casilla (if healthy), Alan Embree, Keith Foulke (if healthy).  Casilla was moving up the depth chart quickly but appears to be injured.

Seattle Mariners - J.J. Putz, Mark Lowe, Ryan Rowland-Smith, Brandon Morrow.  Putz seems back on track, for the most part.

Tampa Bay Rays - Troy Percival, Dan Wheeler, Al Reyes, Gary Glover (if healthy).  The Rays think highly of Wheeler.  He moves to the eighth even with Reyes returning.

Texas Rangers - C.J. Wilson, Eddie Guardado, Joaquin Benoit.  Ron Washington has a clear pecking order, and this is it.  Guardado hasn't replaced Wilson, but he's worth picking up.  Oddly, Frank Francisco and Franklyn German don't seem to be in the mix.

Toronto Blue Jays - B.J. Ryan, Scott Downs, Jeremy Accardo (if healthy), Jesse Carlson.  Downs is clearly second in line, and Accardo may be out for an extended period of time.

National League

Arizona Diamondbacks - Brandon Lyon, Tony Pena, Chad Qualls.  Lyon gets first crack due to experience, but Pena or Qualls could step in if saves are needed on a third consecutive day.  The D'Backs are trying to be careful with Lyons' elbow.  Keep in mind through all of this that Pena is the most skilled, and skills often win out.  I recently spoke to Nick Piecoro about the chances of Qualls jumping in.

Atlanta Braves - Rafael Soriano (if healthy), John Smoltz (if healthy), Mike Gonzalez (if healthy), Manny Acosta, Blaine Boyer, Will Ohman.  Soriano, Moylan, and Smoltz are on the DL, thrusting Acosta into the ninth inning role.  Ohman could get a few chances if the Braves face mostly lefties in the ninth.  Gonzalez may return in late May, but if Smoltz is healthy he will close.

Chicago Cubs - Kerry Wood, Carlos Marmol, Bob Howry.  Wood won the gig, as the Cubs intended.  Tie him to Marmol if you can, though. 

Cincinnati Reds - Francisco Cordero, David Weathers, Jared Burton.  Back from his elbow injury, Weathers should regain the eighth inning duties.

Colorado Rockies - Brian Fuentes, Taylor Buchholz, Matt Herges.  Manny Corpas lost his job to Fuentes due to a terrible April.  Fuentes could certainly end up closing for the rest of the season, unless he's traded.  Corpas doesn't seem anywhere near the ninth inning right now.

Florida Marlins - Kevin Gregg, Matt Lindstrom (if healthy), Justin Miller, Taylor Tankersley.  Gregg is definitely the man right now but as the Marlins' most expensive player he could be traded. 

Houston Astros - Jose Valverde, Doug Brocail, Oscar Villarreal.  Cecil Cooper officially anointed Brocail as the eighth inning guy.  Valverde is on track after a rough start.

Los Angeles Dodgers - Takashi Saito, Jonathan Broxton.   Broxton converted just two of eight save opportunities in '07, many of which were blown in the eighth inning.  He may not be the lock that his peripheral stats indicate.  On the other hand, don't write him off because of his one awful appearance this year.

Milwaukee Brewers - Eric Gagne, David Riske (if healthy), Salomon Torres, Guillermo Mota, Brian Shouse.  This situation is just a mess.  Gagne seems to have his role back, but he's hanging by a thread.  It's a committee approach after that.

New York Mets - Billy Wagner, Aaron Heilman, Duaner Sanchez.  Heilman seems the most likely backup for Wagner right now but I don't think the Mets would be jazzed with the idea.

Philadelphia Phillies - Brad Lidge, Tom Gordon, Rudy Seanez.  Lidge has returned to form, it seems.

Pittsburgh Pirates - Matt Capps, Damaso Marte, John Grabow.  Beyond Capps, both Marte and Grabow are trade candidates (and lefties).

San Diego Padres - Trevor Hoffman, Heath Bell.  Definitely an erratic '07 for Hoffman.  Another blown save or two might lead to Bell taking over.

San Francisco Giants - Brian Wilson, Tyler Walker, Merkin Valdez. Wilson has the upside and the job heading into the season.  He's at risk until he brings down the walk rate.

St. Louis Cardinals - Ryan Franklin, Randy Flores, Jason Isringhausen, Kyle McClellan.  Franklin is the one to own for saves in St. Louis.  He's far from the prototypical closer but you have to pick him up.

Washington Nationals - Jon Rauch, Chad Cordero (if healthy), Luis Ayala.  With Cordero on the DL, the job belongs to Rauch.

Comments

[BillyB]

Tim,

Can you help the technologically deficient out here? I really like the closer thread. How can I subscribe to this thread to learn of all updates immediately? thanks.

[rooker72]

Tim- how about Wheeler in Tampa or Morrow in Seattle? Do you think either slot in close? thanks

[live4vball]

Tim,
Are Riske and Torres really that far in front of Turnbow for saves for the Brewers that Turnbow doesn't even make the list? I know Derrick's had some control issues lately but has he fallen that far?

[Kevin W.]

So in other words, Hoffman would have to single handedly destroy the 2008 season for the Padres before they dare remove him from the closer's role. I am not saying I disagree with you, it is just pathetic on the Padres part as well as so many other franchises with this mentality.

[orioles19]

I am not saying these guys will be closers, but I do believe they should be mentioned as possibilities with some of the names included with this list. The first is Leo Nunez of KC and the second is Brandon Morrow of Seattle.

[Tim Dierkes]

Nunez and Morrow are good adds. I was reading comments from Kevin Towers today regarding Hoffman...doesn't seem anywhere close to looking toward Bell.

[ftheyankees]

Hey Tim,

Two additions, one of which has been noted in the comments already.

Leo Nunez is definitely the 8th inning guy in KC right now. He has the build of young Pedro Martinez, and his stuff isn't too far behind for a one-inning guy. 93-97 fastball, tight slider (I think it's his best pitch), and a swing and miss change up. He's easy to look over because his career numbers aren't impressive. However, if you dig a little deeper, you find out that he first made the bigs as a 21-year-old, and has basically been going back and forth between AA, AAA, and the bigs since 2005. Also, a majority of his innings have come as a starter, but his numbers as a reliever last year were very impressive (KC moved him to the pen in Sept).

14 IP
11 H
2 BB
16 K's
.206 BAA

He's always been a strike thrower (2.43BB/9 in the minors), and I suspect the change to one inning stints has added a few ticks to his fastball, as it does with most. It looks like he really figured it out in 2007, with combined numbers across AA, AAA, and bigs of:

86 IP
70 H
20 BB
69 K
1.05 WHIP
2.93 ERA

With all the talk surrounding Soria's "three plus pitches" and possible move to the rotation, Nunez should be next in line. If a league has Holds, expect 20+ from Soria this year.

The other guy that deserves mention, and should be moved up in the pecking order is Dennis Sarfate of the O's. Stuff-wise, he's already a closer. 94-97, touching 99 in his last outing vs the M's over the weekend. He's always had the stuff, but has never been able to control it, as his 4.96 BB/9 in the minors can testify. However, including his 3.1 IP this year, he's now totaled a career line big-league line of:

20 IP
14 H
6 BB
29 K
1.00 WHIP
2.25 ERA

With the O's expected to finish at the bottom of the division this year, I'd expect them to move Sherrill to a contender looking for a closer - Ah, Milwaukee? Sarfate could be closing by the All-Star break.

[mecole33]

4/9/08 - Soriano (ATL) is dealing with elbow soreness. Cox went with Acosta the other night to close. What do you think here?

[Tim Dierkes]

I think it's more that he said he would've went with Acosta that he actually did.

[YourPalChrisMal]

He isn't need the top of the Marlins chart just yet, but it wouldn't surprise me if Justin Miller winds up being the most explosive arm in their pen this year. Lindstrom's stuff is too straight, and Tankersley has so far been an underachieving lefty. If Greg gets traded mid-season, a dark horse to taking his place by then might be Miller. Just a hunch.

[orioles19]

Tim:

IMOP, Jared Burton of Cincinnati should be listed. He is not technially ahead of Cordero or Weathers but his stuff is definitely better than Weathers.

[orioles19]

Again, just a personal opinion from watching a lot of Mariner games, but I would have to say Morrow is now directly behind Putz.

[orioles19]

Does anyone feel Kyle McClellan of St. Louis would get a shot if something is wrong with Izzy? He is not mentioned here, but it seems LaRussa wants to keep Franklin in his spot and is not apt to put Reyes as a closer.

[bluechipper22]

I might add Ramon Ramirez as a third option for KC. He has been extremely effective as a 7th-inning guy thus far, stranding 100% of the runners he has inherited.

Recently, Hillman has started to use Ramirez in some 8th inning situations as well. I could see him getting a look if something were to happen to Soria (or if Soria were to ever get moved to the rotation, which I don't believe will happen this year).

[ftheyankees]

One more guy to pay attention to for those in keeper leagues is Craig Hansen. While Papelbon isn't going anywhere soon (although it is somewhat telling that the Sox haven't signed him to an extension and buy out his arb years), it wouldn't surprise me to see Hansen in the key 7th/8th inning role with Okajima. Delcarmen has been abysmal to date, allowing 21 baserunners in 12 inn's (1.75 WHIP). His fastball command was nowhere to be found in April. Hansen, still only 24 years old (just seems older), was cruising through AAA before his recall to Boston.

16IP
6H
5BB
17 K
1.62 ERA (Gave up his first runs on April 29th)

More importantly, his stuff is back to his college days. According to fangraphs, his avg FB is 95.3, and he's been hitting 97 regularly. He's also found that slider that made him a 1st round pick in 05. Francona has mentioned a few times that his command is also improved. So while I can't see him taking over the closers role anytime soon, he's definitely someone to keep an eye on for the 2nd half of the year, especially if Delcarmens continues to struggle.