It's always nice to know how secure a closer's job is and who's next in line if somebody loses their 9th inning job. Each week The Closer Report will give you that information. And if that wasn't good enough we'll rank the closers from top to bottom.Here's an interesting statistic. Somewhere between 30 percent and 40 percent of the closers who are listed as the the team's official closer will not be in that role by the end of the season. It's the case every year. Whether a closer loses his job due to injury or just plain can't get the job done, you're going to learn that you can find saves on the waiver wire throughout the season. You just have to know where to look.
That's the kind of information you'll find here. Just remember that when we rank these closers we're not just going by current value. That's a small portion of the complicated, secret algorithm we use to calculate our rankings, but it's not the whole ball of wax. We also look at future value and most likely throw in a few man crush quotients to come up with a top-to-bottom look at the closer landscape around Major League Baseball. Job security isn't necessarily a factor here, but we'll do a great job of letting you know who's on the hot seat and why.
Are you ready for the first installment of The Closer Report for 2009? How can you not be ready? This is great information.
| Closer |
Rank |
Next in Line |
Comments |
|
Jonathan Papelbon, Red Sox |
1 |
Takashi Saito |
There aren't too many jobs in baseball more secure than this one for Paps. |
|
Francisco Rodriguez, Mets |
2 |
Putz and K-Rod are making a fantastic 8th/9th inning combo. K-Rod's 14.29 K/9 proves he's the best of the best. |
|
|
Joe Nathan, Twins |
3 |
Jesse Crain |
One of the top saves guys around. His 1.80 ERA and 0.60 WHIP rock! |
|
Mariano Rivera, Yankees |
4 |
Damaso Marte |
Rivera has eight strikeouts and zero walks in six innings. Also sports a 0.00 ERA and a 0.83 WHIP |
|
Jonathan Broxton, Dodgers |
5 |
Hong-Chih Kuo |
Broxton, and his high-90's fastball, has become an elite fantasy closer. Hitters are batting .050 against him. |
|
Joakim Soria, Royals |
6 |
Joel Peralta |
Soria has a K/9 ratio of 15.75 and is proving that his stay among the top fantasy closers will be a long one. |
|
Heath Bell, Padres |
7 |
Mike Adams |
Bell leads the league in saves as he's enjoying an incredible start to his closing career. |
|
Francisco Cordero, Reds |
8 |
David Weathers |
Cordero is five for five in save opportunities and saved every game of the recent Astros series. |
|
Brad Lidge, Phillies |
9 |
Ryan Madson |
Lidge's blown save last week was his first since September of 2007. No need to jump ship as he'll get right back on the horse and dominate hitters. |
|
Fernando Rodney, Tigers |
10 |
Brandon Lyon/Joel Zumaya |
A few of us laughed when Rodney was named to the closer role. Now that the Tigers are 13 games into the season and he's only allowed one base runner and zero hits, nobody is laughing. |
|
Matt Capps, Pirates |
11 |
John Grabow |
A 0.00 ERA and a 0.64 WHIP show that Capps is a superb closer. If he weren't the Pirates closer, he'd rank higher. |
|
Bobby Jenks, White Sox |
12 |
Octavio Dotel/Matt Thornton |
Jenks isn't in danger of losing his job, not yet. He does have a 4.50 ERA, a loss and a declining strikeout rate. Oh, did I mention that Dotel is "lights out" right now? |
|
Chad Qualls, Diamondbacks |
13 |
Jon Rauch/Tony Pena |
Qualls is finally settling in after blowing a save early on. His 14.40 K/9 is right where you want to be as a closer. |
|
Ryan Franklin, Cardinals |
14 |
Chris Perez/Jason Motte |
There hasn't been too much stability in the Cardinals closer role in 2009. But, Franklin just notched his third save and seems to have the position locked down |
|
George Sherrill, Orioles |
15 |
Sherrill's job has been in jeopardy all season, and not just because he sports a 5.06 ERA. Fortunately for Sherrill, Chris Ray, who wants his job, has a 6.35 ERA. |
|
|
Jose Valverde, Astros |
16 |
Valverde has been battling a back issue and an unlucky batted ball to the ankle this season. If his luck doesn't change soon, he'll be battling Hawkins for his job. |
|
|
Frank Francisco, Rangers |
17 |
C.J. Wilson/Eddie Guardado |
Francisco is showing why he has this job. He hasn't given up an earned run and has a WHIP of 0.57. Batters are hitting .125 against him. |
|
Matt Lindstrom, Marlins |
18 |
Leo Nunez |
Lindstrom blew a save back on April 10th but has only given up two hits since then. He still may not be 100% from his WBC shoulder injury, but he looks to be gaining momentum every day. |
|
Brandon Morrow, Mariners |
19 |
It's been a bumpy ride since Morrow declared himself the Mariners closer. But, he's settling in and hasn't allowed a run since his first appearance. Aardsma looks like he'll keep challenging Morrow all season though. |
|
|
Troy Percival, Rays |
20 |
Jason Isrinighausen/Dan Wheeler |
On the plus side, Percival pitches for a top-notch contender. On the flip-side he's 39-years-old and had off-season back surgery. His early season 4.91 ERA isn't instilling confidence in his ability to hold on to this job. |
|
Brian Wilson, Giants |
21 |
Jeremy Affeldt |
It's too bad that the Giants aren't giving Wilson many opportunities to save games. His 1.93 ERA and his 11.57 K/9 ratio are vast improvements to last season. |
|
Kerry Wood, Indians |
22 |
Jensen Lewis/Rafael Perez |
Wood only has two saves thus far and a 6.23 ERA. He's not in danger of losing his job as the Indians have stunk it up. He leads all closers with an 18.69 K/9 ratio. |
|
Brad Ziegler, Athletics |
23 |
Santiago Casilla |
With Joey Devine out for the season, Ziegler's hold on this job grew stronger. |
|
Kevin Gregg, Cubs |
24 |
Gregg sports a 6.00 ERA and only one save in the early part of the season. Marmol has two saves but still is the official set-up guy. This battle is far from over. |
|
|
Brian Fuentes, Angels |
25 |
Fuentes wanted to make fans forget about K-Rod. Not so fast. Batters are hitting .364 against Fuentes and he's yet to throw a perfect inning. Lucky for him Shields is just as unreliable right now. |
|
|
B.J. Ryan, Blue Jays |
26 |
Toronto is off to a great start. Ryan, not so much. He's been tagged to the effect of a 7.71 ERA and 2.36 WHIP. Batters are hitting .389 against him and he still may be looking at velocity issues. Downs, on the other hand, should be on your radar as he's completely baffling hitters. |
|
|
Mike Gonzalez, Braves |
27 |
Gonzalez has one save and one blown save to go along with his 6.00 ERA. Soriano hasn't allowed an earned run and has eight strikeouts in 6 innings. |
|
|
Manny Corpas, Rockies |
28 |
Corpas just took the job from Street last week, but neither seems to want to pitch well enough to keep it. Corpas did earn a save Tuesday night and Street pitched the seventh inning. Interesting. |
|
|
Joel Hanrahan, Nationals |
29 |
Saul Rivera/Mike Hinckley |
Hanrahan blew back-to-back saves against the Marlins then notched back-to-back saves against the Braves. This bullpen is in shambles right now. Who knows what's going to happen when the dust settles. |
|
Carlos Villanueva, Brewers |
30 |
Trevor Hoffman/Seth McClung |
As soon as Hoffman gets back from injury, the closer duties will fall back into his lap. Villanueva just wasn't ready for this. |
