Fantasy Baseball's Same Faces In New Places: Relief Pitchers

Jose Valverde, RP, Detroit Tigers. This is one of my least favorite closers in all of fantasy baseball because he always leaves you on the edge of your seat every time he comes out of the bullpen, and too often for my liking you end up throwing the remote across the room because he blows the save. Valverde spent some time on the shelf last season because of a calf injury. Valverde still blew four games, which gave him a grand total 18 blown saves over the past three years. 

He will get you a good number of strikeouts which is nice, but every other year it seems his ERA goes up over 3.00, which is not good for a closer. His value might take a slight bump because he gets off of the Astros and on to a team that likely makes the playoffs in Detroit, but he had gotten plenty of save opportunities while in Houston so I'm not sure that theory really applies in his case.  Unless you are desperate for saves and there is a significant drop off with the rest of the closers available, I wouldn't make the move to draft Valverde. 

Matt Lindstrom, RP, Houston Astros. Horribly erratic, but with an absolute dynamite arm, Matt Lindstrom should be the closer for the Houston Astros in 2010. He only blew two save chances, but he did his fair share of giving up earned runs as his ERA was near six. He got injured partway through the season and then never reclaimed his job from Leon Nunez after that.

Lindstrom can throw the ball 100 mph; the only problem is he is not always sure where it is going to go. Considering that velocity, it is a little surprising that he only struck out 39 guys in 47 innings and it is alarming that he walked 24.  He will be drafted as a lower end closer, but if he can possibly get his wildness under control he could perform much higher. Lindstrom is a guy that I will be taking chances on in drafts this season. 

Rafael Soriano, RP, Tampa Bay Rays. Even though his win-loss record was pretty bad, Soriano had a pretty good season after he was named the Braves closer. He converted 27 out of 31 chances and he struck out WELL over a batter an inning.  Soriano just has to beat out J.P. Howell for the job, and I don't know why they would go out and get him unless they planned on using him as their closer.

The Rays should challenge for the playoffs again, so Soriano should get a plethora of opportunities to rack up the saves. I am not a huge Soriano believer so he is likely to be drafted before I would pull the trigger, but he should be considered the second closer on your roster. 

Matt Capps, RP, Washington Nationals. Well, I for one was very interested to see where Matt Capps ended up this year in free agency. Outside of last season, he had been a pretty effective closer but just on a terrible team. He was pretty bad last season, but he isn't a terrible pitcher.

So, with the chance to go to a new situation perhaps Capps' fantasy value was about to go sky high. NOPE! He happened to pick perhaps the one team that was worse than the one he was on. Capps couldn't find a job anywhere else closing and turned down more money to remain a closer in Washington.

You have to figure that there will be a dearth of opportunities for the Nats so he is pretty much in the same situation that he was in while playing for Pittsburgh. Treat Capps as a very low end closer, but worth a roster spot as he has very little competition for the job.

Billy Wagner, RP, Atlanta Braves. The Braves dealt away both of their closers from last season in Mike Gonzalez and Rafael Soriano, and acquired Wagner to be their closer. This is definitely an interesting decision, seeing as he has pitched 62 innings in the past two years with some major elbow surgery in there as well. Complicating matters further is that Wagner will turn 39 years old during the season, and you have to wonder how much he has left in the tank or if he will lose some velocity as he ages further. 

As an insurance policy the Braves also have Takashi Saito, who is no spring chicken himself. Wagner should be considered a second tier closer but one that carries a great risk. Unless I was really desperate for saves, I would probably leave Wagner on the draft table. 

Fernando Rodney, RP, Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim. Surprisingly Rodney signed with a team in free agency in which he basically knew that he had no chance of closing with to start the season. That being said, with the incumbent closer being Brian Fuentes, Rodney does have a chance to be given the ball in the ninth inning at some point because it is almost definite that Fuentes will struggle at some point. And while Rodney did only blow one save chance last season, he is far from a sure thing himself.

He has had an ERA over 4.00 in three straight seasons, something nearly unheard of for a closer. He generally gets a pretty good number of strikeouts, but he also walks far too many batters, which isn't surprising given his ERA. He should probably be drafted among the best setup men given his previous closing experience and the fact that Fuentes might falter. 

Mike Gonzalez, RP, Baltimore Orioles. After trading away George Sherrill at the deadline last year, it appears the Orioles have their new closer in Gonzalez. He had good numbers last year for the Braves in ERA and strikeouts, but Gonzalez blew seven of his seventeen save chances in 2009. The good news for Gonzalez is that he basically has no competition for this job and he should be on a fairly long leash.

The Orioles should finish in last place again, so his save opportunities might be limited which makes him a lower end closer in 2010. He should be no higher than the third closer on your roster. 

J.J. Putz, RP, Chicago White Sox. Fantasy players have had their eyes on Matt Thornton as the man to replace Bobby Jenks when the White Sox finally figure out that he no longer is good enough to hold the job closing but that shouldn't be the case anymore. Putz might have had a disastrous 2008 with an elbow injury, but if something were to happen to Jenks or if he is traded or just demoted from the job, Putz should be the guy they turn to. It has been a couple of years now, but Putz was once a dominant closer and still has the stuff to shut teams down on a nightly basis. 

Again, unless you have deep rosters or a deep league it might not be smart to sit on Putz until he is given a chance to close, but at worst he would help you out with strikeouts. However, if there is some bad news about Jenks you better run, don't walk to your free agent wire to go get Putz. 

Brandon Lyon, RP, Houston Astros. Lyon will likely enter Spring Training in competition for the closer's role with Matt Lindstrom, but this is a battle that I believe he will lose. Lyon does have some closing experience, but you can't say that he was very successful doing it, including 2008 when he blew five saves and had an ERA north of 4.50. He also isn't a big strikeout pitcher so unless your league rewards holds there probably will be no reason to draft Lyon. 

If you are in a deep league and it is towards the end of the draft he isn't a horrible guy to take a chance on, but he won't have much value unless there is an injury to Lindstrom. 

Danys Baez, RP, Philadelphia Phillies. With Brad Lidge having a pair of surgeries this offseason there is a chance that he might not be ready to start the year at the back of the Phillies bullpen. I know a lot of you who owned Lidge last season might say good riddance, but if he is not ready, someone has to get save chances for Philadelphia at least to start the year. It might be a bit of a long shot, but they didn't acquire Danys Baez for no reason. 

He had ligament replacement surgery and missed all of 2008, and he hasn't been very good when he has taken the mound. However, he does have closing experience about five years ago with the Rays, and he was wasn't too bad when given a chance. But, like I said it is a long shot; still pay attention to news in Spring Training about Lidge's health and possible replacements.

Who knows, if Lidge is that bad again this coming season maybe the Phillies won't be as reluctant to give him the hook.

You can always email me at [e-mail] about any fantasy question (draft advice, keeper picks, strategy, etc.), and I guarantee an answer within 18 hours.