The Thursday Hypeness: Draft Preview: Closers

Relief Pitcher Rankings

1	2	3	4	5
Francisco Rodriguez(Votes: 27)	Joe Nathan	Mariano Rivera	B.J. Ryan	Huston Street

6	7	8	9	10
Billy Wagner (17)	Trevor Hoffman	Bobby Jenks	J.J. Putz	Brad Lidge

Saves are steals. That's all they are. They are situational. Wait, I take away the previous comment. Saves suck. A closer can deliver a low WHIP and ERA, but they can also screw you over. How does 9.00 ERA look? That's one run for a closer. I also like 18.00, 36.00 and the great 54.00. I have also seen the ever-popular infinity WHIP. Most closers today can't pitch past three batters, have weak mental makeups and will give you 75 innings at most. Screw those guys.
Which of course leads us on to how to draft them.
Don't pick two dominant closers in rounds 4 or 5. Amateur.
If getting a top closer does it for you, then go ahead and grab Rod riguez, Nathan or Rivera in the 5th round. Get a second-tier guy in rounds 11 through 13 and you are set. Easy.
Or if you really have the jewels, get a dominant guy in the fourth round and then load up on three solid starting pitchers that qualify as a relief pitchers and load up ERA, strikeouts, wins and WHIP.
And for the owners who drop the ball and get a crappy closer, you can always scour the wire once the season starts and get lucky with a breakthrough guy. The odds for that are about 25 to 75. Just be sure to get steady middle relievers such as Scot Shields, Rafael Soriano, Scott Proctor and Joel Zumaya (if he isn't drafted). When can The Baseball Stars write about outfielders?

The Elite

Francisco Rodriguez: He led the league with 47 saves and struck out 97 batters. He gave up 14 runs while posting a 1.73 ERA and 1.10 WHIP. He's got all the flash and will let you sleep good at night without having to worry about playing him week-to-week. I would be more impressed if he could pitch more than 73 innings, but that is nitpicking. He's that "Karate Kid" song during the tournament montage. Elisabeth Shue is hot.
Joe Nathan: Rock steady. He's a Honda civic as compared to the Rodriguez 1968 GTO model. His 1.58 ERA, 0.79 WHIP and 95 Ks are there which covers up the fact that Minnesota is hurting for starting pitching. That in turn limits Nathan's appearances. He notched 36 saves in 68.1 innings. Nathan was also comatose for the first two mon ths of the season with six saves — 3 for each month. Can we talk about Elisabeth Shue in "The Saint" instead?
Mariano Rivera: No stats needed for this guy. He has been getting the job done for the past 10 years. He has one, possibly three good seasons left in him. Strikeouts, ERA, WHIP, they are all there. And he can pitch ... more than one inning. That's more due to a shoddy Yankees bullpen, but it will help when he gives up one of his 15 earned runs for a season. Well that was stat. Sue me. Mariano is the most consistent option in the game even if age and injuries are a concern, which even happens to an all-time great such as Rivera. Hey, it happens to everyone, even Elisabeth Shue. I still can't get over that slow motion beach scene in Karate Kid after Daniel-san runs off to play soccer with his buddies. And here I am th inking closers are losers.

Fallback closers

As far as I'm concerned, once you've missed out on the top six or so closers, all these guys pretty much start to look the same. Either they aren't overpowering (Hoffman), will get limited opportunities (Putz) or are not even guaranteed fulltime jobs (Lidge).
For my money, here are the three guys I'd target once those top s ix are off the board.
1. J.J. Putz: He took over the closer's job in May and was one of the top guys from that point on. He strikes guys out (12 per 9 innings last year) and doesn't walk guys (13 in 78.1 innings). If he didn't play for the Mariners, I'd say he'd be in that elite group.
2. Trevor Hoffman: He's not sexy, he's getting old and he'll have bouts of inconsistency, but he'll also end the season with at least 40 saves. You just can't go wrong with this guy. Don't expect to pile up extra stats like Ks, but he's not going to hurt you in other areas.
3. Brad Lidge: Two years ago, I thought this guy was the second coming of Dennis Eckersley. Obviously, he's not in that kind of heady company anymore, but he's got tons of upside. He still strikes guys out by the bunches (12.5 per 9) and is only two seasons removed from one of the all-time great closer campaigns. You can do a lot worse late in the draft.

Sleepers/ rookies

This is the section where I’m supposed to tell you about the next Jonathan Papelbon, some youngster who is going to come at the beginning of the season and dominate at the end of games while you lead your league wire to wire.
Well if you’re looking for that advice, you may as well look elsewhere because I’m not going to blow smoke and tell you that anyone will repeat that performance.
But the fact of the matter is that there is at least one young pitcher who should have a closing gig on opening day, and a handful of others who figure to see their share of bullpen work this season and could be of some relevance to owners at some point this season.
The first guy to watch is Taylor Tankersley, the front runner for the Florida Marlins closing job. Tankersley put up excellent numbers last season. In 41 innings, he racked up 36 strikeouts, had an ERA under 3.00 and racked up three saves in addition to a trio of wins. If he can lock up the job, look out. He could get see a nice chunk of save opportunities if the Marlins can continue what they started last season.
Fantasy owners also should keep an eye on Twins’ middle reliever Pat Neshak and Padres’ setup man Cla Meredith.
Neshak is blocked at closer, but he dominated in his brief pro debut last summer posting a 2.19 ERA over 37 innings while striking out 57 major leaguers. Even though he has almost not shot at closing, his relief eligibility could be crucial if the Twins decide to put him the rotation.
Meanwhile Meredith surprised fantasy owners last season by posting an ERA around 1.00 over 50-plus innings. He’s pitching the seventh inning for San Diego, but if primary set-up man Scott Linebrink gets traded as has been rumored, Meredith will be one injury away from getting the ball in the ninth inning. Closer Trevor Hoffman has been a solid throughout his career, but he is 39 this season. Anything could happen.
In addition to the young arms, owners should track the situations in Chicago, where Kerry Wood could find himself in the closing mix; Detroit, where Joel Zumaya may end up being the hammer of god that Tigers fans wish for; and Boston, where the Red Sox have a Joel Piniero, Mike Timlin, Manny DelCarmen and Craig Hansen vying for the closer role.