A week into the season and everyone has basically contracted closer asthma. Breathe… I know it’s tough from time to time to fathom that the fantasy kingdom that you drafted two weeks ago is coming crumbling down because Shawn Tolleson just wet the bed and is shaking the Walker Texas Rangers bullpen. He has guys behind him that have been gone over, which in most leagues that count pitchers who throw the bal,l should have been rostered. Namely Kela and Dyson. So what is all this bad karma at the beginning of the season good for, besides chasing saves? It is good for people who panic and drop the top set-up guys too early. Dellin Betances was dropped four times more then he was added this week. That is a coup for you, don’t run to that, hop on a tricycle and find a hill to roll down as fast as possible. Early season turnover and panic buttons are what make your team weak in one department now, and especially strong in the next several weeks by “calculated” guessing. So with that, here is the first installment of the 2016 Closer Report with the changes and job winners from Spring Training newly nestled into their respective spots. I will tackle Holds and the set-up crews next week when we start seeing usage and match-up based stuff.
- As I mentioned above, Texas is in a win now mode and aren’t going to mess around with Tolleson for long if he keeps stubbing his toes. Kela and Dyson need to be owned all leagues, all formats.
- Through the first four games or so, the most impressive relievers that aren’t owned everywhere I have seen are Seung Oh and Mychal Givens. K-rate for days with both guys and Oh has a comfort look to him that has him going to be darn near unhittable at times. Givens is a fantastic complimentary piece to the Britton/O’Day/Brach endgame in the Charm City.
- The Phillies pen is going to be like this all year, it will get 30 saves and have a team ERA over five. Chase elsewhere. Next dumpster you should dive into is Jeanmar Gomez. Tell yourself this: top-five closers in Philly Dalier, Dalier, Dalier, Dalier, and not Dalier!
- Tampa bay is playing complete match-up based closer stuff, again not a place you wanna roster 4 guys of which who can all get the nod.
- Jeremy Jeffress looks pretty good for a Brew-ha-ha team that doesn’t figure to get many save chances. Always hasd the arm, just a 10-cent head. Great option that will be climbing the ranks slowly and steadily.
Closer d’Etat: (Top set-up guys next up for saves)
A new feature that I have been looking to add is the top set-up guys who are either pitching well or are right behind the closer. Getting the off day save for a shaky closer or someone who can jump in for a downed King of saves. Never hurts to bag an extra reliever for your bench at best they either don’t play, you bench them or the do well. No one ever does bad for someone we all roster…
$12 Salads
You know that restaurant your girlfriend/wife/what-have-you likes to go to that charges, like, $12 for a salad? Every time you go there, you have a thoroughly solid meal. No complaints, except you just paid $12 for a salad when you could’ve went to McDonald’s and stuffed you and your woman for ten schmools and had $2 in quarters left over to make the hotel bed vibrate. These closers are $12 salads.
1. Kenley Jansen – (Pedro Baez, Yimi Garcia, Chris Hatcher)
2. Wade Davis – (Joakim Soria, Kelvin Herrera)
3. Craig Kimbrel – (Koji Uehara, Junichi Tazawa)
4. Jeurys Familia – (Addison Reed, Jim Henderson)
5. Zach Britton – (Darren O’Day, Mychal Givens)
6. Trevor Rosenthal – (Kevin Siegrist, Seung-hwan Oh)
7. Andrew Miller – (Dellin Betances, Aroldis Chapman– Susp)
8. David Robertson – (Nate Jones, Zach Putnam, Jake Petricka)
Donkeycorns
Imagine you’re following a donkey, who’s wearing a wool cap, through a desert for 1700 miles. Why are you following a donkey? Because he promises you something wonderful and you just need to trust him. Does the donkey talk? Yes. Yes, he does talk. So when you and the donkey in the wool cap arrive at his destination, he removes the wool cap to reveal a horn. The donkey is a unicorn and his gift to you for your trust is saves. These closers are Donkeycorns.
9. Mark Melancon – (Tony Watson, Jared Hughes)
10. Hector Rondon – (Pedro Strop, Justin Grimm)
11. Cody Allen – (Bryan Shaw, Zach McAllister)
12. A.J. Ramos – (Mike Dunn, Bryan Morris, Kyle Barraclough)
13. Francisco Rodriguez – (Mark Lowe, Justin Wilson)
14. Jonathan Papelbon – (Shawn Kelley, Blake Treinen, Trevor Gott)
15. Huston Street – (Joe Smith, Mike Morin)
16. Roberto Osuna – (Drew Storen, Brett Cecil)
17. Glen Perkins – (Kevin Jepsen, Trevor May)
18. Luke Gregerson – (Ken Giles, Pat Neshek)
19. Santiago Casilla – (Sergio Romo, Hunter Strickland)
Employed
These guys are the men that make the save market go round. They punch in, punch out. Have the job, no real threat to speak of, and are basically just there to collect great benny’s so they can take care of their crippled brother. Who is only really crippled because he is scared of the sun.
20. Jake McGee – (Jason Motte, Chad Qualls, Miguel Castro)
21. Steve Cishek – (Joaquin Benoit, Tony Zych)
22. Brad Ziegler – (Tyler Clippard, Daniel Hudson)
23. Sean Doolittle – (Ryan Madson, John Axford)
24. Shawn Tolleson – (Keone Kela, Sam Dyson)
25. Fernando Rodney – (Brandon Maurer, Kevin Quackenbush)
Brain Freezes
I’m going on a picnic and I’m bringing apples, bananas and Carlos Marmol– Wait, he just gave up 12 earned runs and hit Castro in the head with a pick-off throw. Brain freeze! Make it stop! Use the following closers at your own risk.
26. Jeremy Jeffress – (Michael Blazek, Tyler Thornburg )
27. J.J. Hoover – (Jumbo Diaz, Tony Cingrani)
28. Arodys Vizcaino / Jason Grilli – (Jim Johnson)
29. Alex Colome – (Danny Farquhar, Steve Geltz)
30. Jeanmar Gomez – (Dalier Hinjosa, David Hernandez)
