The 2011 fantasy baseball rankings are just about in the bag, but first we look at the top 20 middle relievers for 2011 fantasy baseball. No, next we’re not going to do the Top 20 Guys Who Will Have The Most Balks. Chillax. The only people that seem to pay attention to middle relievers are those that play in a Holds league. That’s wrong, I tell ya. A great way to balance out your ratios is by carrying a few middle relievers on your staff. (BTW, Ron Jeremy can carry three middle relievers on his staff.) Say you had Scott Baker last year and he mistook your team’s ERA for his toilet, but you also had Daniel Bard. With just Baker, you had the 4.49 ERA dump to clean up. With Bard and his brand new toilet brush, you had a 3.71 ERA. If you also carried Matt Thornton, you had a combined 3.51 ERA. Not to mention, you had 11 vulture saves. Oh, and your WHIP went from Baker’s 1.34 to 1.20 and had an additional 157 Ks. Okay, school’s out, Alice Cooper. Now, with that said — yes, I pulled out the “with that said” — this middle men post is for 5×5 leagues where you want to handcuff your closer to potentially snag some saves and get good ratios. I projected Holds for these guys, but they are not the top 20 Holds guys. Anyway, here’s the top 20 middle relievers for 2011 fantasy baseball:
1. Aroldis Chapman – The Reds say Chapman is going to be in the bullpen. When Dusty figures out it’s a lot harder to ruin a young arm from the bullpen, Aroldis may be starting. Or maybe the Reds are hit with injuries. Chapman will probably stay in the bullpen or will be sent to the minors to get stretched out before he starts, which means there will be a mad scramble to grab him off waivers, where he shouldn’t be, because he’ll have value as a middle reliever. 2011 Projections: 7-2/2.75/1.10/90, 24 Holds, 3 Saves
2. Chris Sale – Because my heart’s telling me Matt Thornton will be the closer, Sale is on the middle reliever list. If Sale’s the closer, Thornton’s a quality middle man. Tomato-tomato said with a different emphasis. 2011 Projections: 3-3/4.25/1.28/60, 20 Holds, 10 Saves
3. Joe Nathan – He’s saying he’ll be ready for the start of the season. The Twins are saying he’ll be ready. So, of course, I’m going on the assumption he’s going to have a setback. Maybe it’s because I was led to believe the Easter Bunny was real until the age of 15, but I don’t trust adults. If Nathan’s good to go, he’ll move off of this list and right up the ranks of top closers. 2011 Projections: 2-1/3.00/1.15/40, 15 Holds, 10 Saves
4. Octavio Dotel – Before Frank2 signed with the Blue Jays, I was looking forward to owning Dotel in all of my leagues as a sneaky donkeycorn. Now he’s a solid middle man with a chance to take over the donkeycorn role. 2011 Projections: 3-5/3.70/1.30/80, 15 Holds, 10 Saves
5. Brandon League – Aardsma’s supposed to miss a few weeks of the season due to hip surgery. Justin Duchscherer called and said he wants his surgery back. League will work as the closer for at least the first month. Wouldn’t be surprised if this turns into one of those situations where League is the closer the whole year. As of right now, I’ll be conservative and say he won’t be. 2011 Projections: 2011 Projections: 4-4/4.25/1.28/60, 10 Holds, 12 Saves
6. Clay Hensley – I’ve heard rumors that Hensley will be the closer over Leo Nunez. A journeyman with one good season under his belt vs. a 27-year-old that should be the closer according to me. I’m going with the guy who should be the closer according to me. 2011 Projections: 3-3/4.25/1.28/60, 12 Holds, 10 Saves
7. Ryan Madson – On any other team, Madson would probably be in his third year of closing and about to sign a deal worth $15 million per year. But unless Scott Boras is reading this, no one cares. 2011 Projections: 3-3/3.25/1.28/60, 18 Holds, 7 Saves
8. Jason Motte – As I mentioned somewhere on the blog or in the comments or maybe I just mentioned it to my loofah while I was showering — I don’t know, I write a lot of words about fantasy baseball — I think Franklin loses the job to Motte at some point this year. Just my gut talking. Or maybe that’s gas. 2011 Projections: 4-3/3.15/1.16/60, 15 Holds, 7 Saves
9. Rafael Soriano – Conventional wisdom says Soriano is a middle man more than a handcuff, but I actually think by the time the season is over we’ll look back at Soriano and see him more as a handcuff. A small difference that I dragged out to a 34 word sentence, but a difference nevertheless. 2011 Projections: 6-2/3.00/1.12/65, 18 Holds, 5 Saves
10. Brian Fuentes – I’m not sure if Andrew Bailey breaks down in April, but I’d be shocked if he made it to the All-Star Break healthy. 2011 Projections: 2-3/3.65/1.18/45, 10 Holds, 10 Saves
11. Takashi Saito – Me looking at Saito’s player card, “Saito’s going to be 41 years old in February?!” Forget pitching, he should be selling skin cream. “Is that the Avon Lady?” Takashi Saito, “Um, land shark.” 2011 Projections: 4-2/3.00/1.12/60, 15 Holds, 3 Saves
12. Hong-Chih Kuo – I’m really hoping that Kuo is nothing more than a middle man this year, because I’m going all in on Broxton again. Good chance that whichever way the chips fall — Family Guy cutaway to Pablo Sandoval, “Are those potato chips falling?” — that Kuo will be worth owning with or without saves. 2011 Projections: 4-1/2.85/1.10/60, 17 Holds, 3 Saves
13. Daniel Bard – Should do fine in all of the middle man categories and may even get some saves if Papelbon is hurt krumping. 2011 Projections: 4-2/2.45/1.06/60, 15 Holds, 5 Saves
14. Koji Uehara – Some expect Koji to be the closer in The ‘More. I’d agree if the O’s didn’t just sign Gregg to a multi-year deal. As I sorta said when Gregg first signed the deal, Gregg will either be terrible and lose the job by May 1st or he’ll be terrible and keep the job all year while everyone’s calling for Koji or Gonzalez to take over. And that’s me paraphrasing me! 2011 Projections: 2-2/3.65/1.18/50, 12 Holds, 7 Saves
15. Mike Gonzalez – See Koji Uehara or 1/8th of an inch above. 2011 Projections: 2-3/3.35/1.24/75, 14 Holds, 3 Saves
16. Jonny Venters – I wouldn’t be surprised if Venters has the most Holds in 2011. As far as achievements go, that’s like being the tallest midget. Kimbrel and Venters will be fun to watch. Like Chumlee in a Smart car. 2011 Projections: 5-3/2.65/1.24/80, 18 Holds
17. Luke Gregerson – Was the number one Holds guy last year, but the number one Holds guy has never repeated in back-to-back seasons*. (*That could be false since I only went back to 2008, but usually these Holds guys come out of nowhere.) 2011 Projections: 1-3/3.05/1.10/80, 16 Holds
18. Hisanori Takahashi – Some thought the Sciosciapath would put Takahashi in as the closer. I’m guessing Rodney is instilled in that role. And once someone is anointed closer, i.e., once Scioscia makes up his mind on someone, it usually stays that way. 2011 Projections: 7-4/3.85/1.32/90, 12 Holds
19. Joaquin Benoit – If I had to choose one guy that will bust badly from this list, I’d pick Benoit. Going into last year, his ERA was in the high 4’s in close to 600 major league innings and he’s 33 years old. His K-rate is purty though. 2011 Projections: 4-2/3.45/1.12/65, 17 Holds
20. Evan Meek – On one hand, I’m not worried about Hanrahanananan. On the other hand, it wouldn’t shock me to see Meek get some closing opportunities. On my other, lesser known mannequin hand that I use to hold my mittens, Meek’s worth owning just as a middle reliever. 2011 Projections: 4-5/3.30/1.28/65, 10 Holds, 5 Saves
