Hey Guys,

I'm thinking of picking up Venters in hopes that he will be future closer in ATL (+ he brings solid ERA and good K's)

who would you drop or would you stand pat

Santos or Salas

Hold

Kimbrel is the guy in Atlanta. Venters will get save opportunities only when Kimbrel has thrown a ton of pitches recently, either due to a long inning or several nights of work in a row.
I think having Venters on your team would be helpful, for ERA and WHIP, but I wouldn't drop a current closer for him, for sure.

Do you truly see Kimbrel remaining the Braves' closer all season? From 1-100, what is your guess for a percentage that he stays put as their 9th inning guy?

85%

I was thinking 75-85 too

I agree with above posters. Watched a lot of Kimbrel as I have him in a dynasty league --- he's got absolutely filthy stuff. Venters is unbelievably efficient, so I could see him getting saves here and there if Kimbrel struggles, but ultimately it's Kimbrel's spot.

Yeah, I agree with the 85% chance, too. Obviously if Kimbrel implodes and starts getting rocked every night, Venters would take over, but I can't see that happening. The only thing Kimbrel has to worry about is control. His stuff is awesome enough that if he maintains moderate control, he's extremely tough to hit.

Yahoo!'s Andy Behrens made a decent point the other day about Venters: "It can be reasonably argued that Venters is actually too valuable to close. Why waste his innings in situations where you have a three-run lead and no one is on base?". That might be the mindset in Atlanta... Whenever we're in a tight situation and HAVE to get outs, we put Venters out there because he gets the job done. It's nice having a guy that you can put in at any time of the game and feel like he's going to shut things down.