John Axford grabbed his 20th save of the season yesterday, striking out the side to convert his second save chance in as many days. He’s back, folks! Reports claim that John Axford asked, nay, demanded, nay!, politely requested that manager Roe Roenicke return him to the closer role, and well, it seems “please” really is the magic word!

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Trevor Plouffe is returning from the DL and that’s big news because it’s big news.  If you would’ve jumped out of a DeLorean back in March and told me I’d actually be writing a lede for Trevor Plouffe, let alone just a lede because he’s returning from the DL, I would’ve told you there’s no way Plouffe would warrant a lede and this is the information you bring back from the future?

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There are a number of possible free agent options this week for those scrounging for saves, so I’ll get right to it, starting with the San Francisco Giants. Bruce Bochy has announced that the Giants will go to a (gasp) closer by committee, meaning Jeremy Affeldt, Sergio Romo, Santiago Casilla and even Javier Lopez could be in line for save chances.

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With the trade deadline in the bag and closers moving, we have a lot to talk about.  Some of it refreshing like a glass of ice cold lemonade on a summer’s day.  Some of it less so like being asked to write something for Lainie Kazan, wondering who Lainie Kazan is and Googling her to find Playboy pics from the 1970′s juxtaposed with her present-day pics.

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For a quick recap of closers potentially on the move with the trade deadline looming, here’s the Bottom of the Ninth post from two weeks ago.

Houston Astros: In an even earlier post, I covered the Astros closing situation. For a not-so-quick recap, Brett Myers is due $10 million in 2013 if he closes 45 games and doesn’t end the year on the DL.

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Here’s one way baseball could take cues from fantasy baseball.  Yesterday, the Marlins announced that they’d be going to a closer-by-committee, which puts Steve Cishek in line for saves.  If they had a fantasy baseballer (<–my mom’s term!) running their club, things would’ve been different down in South Florida.

Please, blog, may I have some more?