Draft Preparation: Closers

Round 5

Jonathan Papelbon is the best closer to own, end of story.  He plays for one of the three best teams in baseball, he strikes out people at a ridiculous rate, and his ERA has never been above 2.65. His saves have increased over the last three seasons, and given the talent on the Red Sox, he could top his 41 saves from last year.

Brad Lidge had a magical season in 2008. Lidge was a perfect 41 for 41 on save opportunities, and struck out a ridiculous 92 batters in just 69 innings. Lidge also had the second best ERA of his career at 1.95. Can he possibly repeat his 2008 season?  Well, there is almost no chance that he will be perfect again, but he isn’t that far removed from his major collapse a few years ago. Lidge is a dynamite closer, but I don’t think he should be the second one chosen.

Round 7

Francisco Rodriguez obliterated the saves record last year by compiling 62 saves for the Angels, and how brings his show to the Big Apple. There have been some concerns about K-Rod’s velocity in the last year, and he also blew seven save chances.  Rodriguez goes to one of the best teams in the National League and should get plenty of save chances. He still gets a ton of strikeouts,and has over 100 saves in the past two seasons. There are a few concerns, but K-Rod is a great value in the seventh round, and is definitely worth being the third closer off the board.

Joe Nathan has been blowing more saves each year. That is the bad news. And that is the only bad news. Nathan is one of the best and most consistent closers in baseball for the last five years. His ERA has been between 1.88 and 1.33 over the last three years, and he strikes out hitters at an incredible rate. No matter how low their payroll is, the Twins keep winning, and Nathan is probably the second best closer in baseball.

Mariano Rivera is the best closer of all time, bar none. Rivera also had one of the best seasons of his Hall of Fame career in 2008, and that’s saying something. Rivera blew just one save last year, and his ERA was under 2.00 for the fifth time in six years. He also continues to mow down hitters with that cutter, striking out 77 batters in just 70 innings. He still should be an elite closer in 2009.

Round 8

Joakim Soria took the fantasy world by storm in 2008, with 42 saves in 45 opportunities, a 1.60 ERA, and 66 strikeouts in 67 innings. It is hard to believe the closer for the Royals could possibly be second in the American League in saves, but that is what he did. As good as he was, Soria was still somewhat frustrating to his owners, just because of the time between save chances.  But the Royals are looking like a team that could approach .500. Soria is one of the top five closers for 2009.

Bobby Jenks‘ saves took a pretty good dip from 40 in 2007 to just 30 in 2008.  However, the rest of his numbers have stayed pretty much the same.  His strikeouts took a bit of a dip in 2008 as well, but there is virtually no chance that he will lose his closing job. He will help your ERA, as it has been 2.77 or better the past two years, and he doesn’t walk many batters.  He doesn’t blow many save chances, and the White Sox could compete for the AL Central title.

Round 10

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