Fantasy Baseball 2012: Power Ranking the 15 Best Relievers to Earn You Holds

While it might not be the flashiest position in fantasy baseball, setup men can be valuable assets to any fantasy roster.

For starters, they are obviously going to help your team if holds is a scoring category.

Secondly, setup men are usually the first in line to take over when the closer starts to struggle or goes down with an injury. Being able to pick some of the top-notch setup men in baseball late in the draft could play dividends later on in the season.

Here's a list of 15 setup man who can earn you holds.

15. Javier Lopez

Javier Lopez has been known primarily as a lefty-specialist throughout the majority of his career.

That didn't change much during his tenure with the San Francisco Giants, but he's turned into one of the best in the league at handling lefties.

Bruce Bochy, the manager of the Giants, isn't afraid to use him in any situation. Lopez generally goes up against the opposing team's best left-handed hitter in either the seventh or eighth inning of every game.

His 70 appearances in 2011 indicate that he's a little more than just a specialist.

He recorded 20 holds last season, but don't be surprised to see that number go up a little bit.

14. Tony Sipp

The Cleveland Indians have a handful of relief pitchers who collected some holds last season.

Rafael Perez had 12 holds, Joe smith collected 16, Vinnie Pestano had 23 and Tony Sipp had 24 in 2011. It's safe to say that the strength of this Cleveland Indians team is their bullpen.

Even though Rafael Perez is currently listed as the setup man on the depth chart, things could always change as opening day approaches.

Nonetheless, Sipp will get his fair share of appearances in the eighth inning.

13. Grant Balfour

Grant Balfour is one of the more underrated relievers in baseball.

He compiled 26 holds last season and had a very respectable ERA and WHIP of 2.47 and 1.03.

But now that Joey Devine, an Oakland Athletics relief pitcher, will be back from injury at the start of the season, Balfour might lose some of his eighth inning appearances.

Either way, Balfour shouldn't disappoint and will be a very solid setup man in 2012.

12. Jesse Crain

Over the past two seasons, Jesse Crain has emerged has a pretty solid setup man. He collected 21 saves with the Minnesota Twins in 2011 and added 24 more in 2011 with the Chicago White Sox.

Crain has always had potential, and 2011 was his best season as a pro. His 2.62 ERA and 70 strikeouts in 65.1 innings pitched were all career highs as a relief pitcher.

He also has 95 career holds during his seven-year career as a reliever, so Crain has proven that he can be a consistent setup man.

11. David Hernandez

David Hernandez was one of my favorite relief pitchers from 2011, and it was mostly because he was vastly underrated.

The Arizona Diamondbacks needed to improve the bullpen back in 2010, so they worked out a deal that involved trading Mark Reynolds to the Baltimore Orioles in exchange for Hernandez.

It has turned out to be a solid move for both teams, but the Diamondbacks picked themselves up a very formidable setup man.

His 3.38 ERA was just a tad bit too high, but Hernandez has excellent command of all three of this pitches—fastball, curve ball and changeup.

Now that Hernandez has had a year to settle into his new role, expect big things from him in 2012.

10. Jonathan Broxton

Jonathan Broxton is one of the wild cards on this list.

He could easily finish the season with the most holds in baseball, but he could also not be able to return to his form from 2009 and struggle all year.

The fact that his numbers have been declining ever since his career year in 2009 should concern you, however. His velocity has drastically dropped and his ERA has done just the opposite.

But if he's able to return even remotely healthy, he should be able to do an adequate job as the Kansas City Royals setup man. Think of Broxton as a low risk, high reward type of reliever.

9. Scott Downs

Scott Downs has had back-to-back impressive years with the Toronto Blue Jays and the Los Angeles Angles of Anaheim. He recorded 26 holds in 2010, and then did it again in 2011.

Both were good enough to rank him in the Top 10 in the league.

8. Jose Contreras

Jose Contreras wasn't able to record any holds in 2011 because he missed practically the entire season due to miscellaneous injuries.

However, barring no further injuries, Contreras is lined up to be the setup man for the Philadelphia Phillies and could be an effective fantasy piece to snag in the later rounds.

Antonio Bastardo could step in and take his job at some point, however. Bastardo had an excellent 2011 season and it certainly warranted some more innings in 2012.

But if Contreras is able to hold onto his job for the entire season, expect to see some dividends.

7.Joaquin Benoit

Joaquin Benoit very quietly had an impressive 2011 campaign acting as the Detroit Tigers setup man.

He compiled 29 holds while keeping his ERA below 3.00. He also finished in fifth place in the 2011 "GIBBY" voting, which was awarded to the best setup man during the regular season.

Benoit is slotted to retain his position as the Tigers setup man in 2012, so don't be surprised if he builds on his success from last year.

6. Eric O'Flaherty

The Atlanta Braves truly have one of the best bullpens in the league.

They have Craig Kimbrel closing out games and Johnny Venters pitching the eighth inning, but Eric O'Flaherty had just as good of a season as both of them.

On top of his 32 holds in 2011, which was the fourth-most in baseball, his sub-1.00 ERA was the lowest among qualifying setup men.

5. Mike Adams

The Texas Rangers might've expected a little more from Mike Adams in 2011 when they acquired him from the San Diego Padres at the deadline, but he still was pretty effective.

He recorded 32 holds last season despite changing leagues at the midpoint of the season.

Also, don't be surprised to see him take over for Joe Nathan at closer if Nathan is unable to stay healthy or preform.

4. Francisco Rodriguez

Francisco Rodriguez could've led the league in holds last season. However, he spent the first half of the season with the New York Mets closing out games.

But after he was traded to the Milwaukee Brewers, Rodriguez went on to accumulate 17 holds in only 29 innings pitched. Imagine what he could've accomplished if he was the set up man for all 162 games.

Don't be surprised to see Rodriguez atop this list when it's all said and done.

3. Johnny Venters

If someone were to tell me that Johnny Venters had the nastiest stuff in all of baseball, I would gladly listen to the argument and probably agree with it.

The lefty-hurler has been baffling hitters throughout his two-year career in the majors, especially lefties. Left-handed hitters only hit .122 against him, and righties didn't do much better either since they only managed to hit .189.

Venters recorded 35 holds last year, which was second in the league.

He has pitched 80-plus innings in each of his first two seasons, so it'll be interesting to see if fatigue plays a factor for Venters in 2012.

2. David Robertson

David Robertson is only a couple years away from taking over for the best closing pitcher of all time: Mariano Rivera.

But New York Yankees fans shouldn't fret, and they know they shouldn't either if they saw Robertson pitch last season.

He won the "GIBBY" award in 2011, which is handed out to the best setup man in baseball. He certainly deserved it as well after he posted career-highs in innings pitched, appearances, ERA, strikeouts and holds.

The fireballing right-hander has the arm to repeat his success in 2012, and I fully expect him to do so as well.

1. Tyler Clippard

Tyler Clippard is the best setup men in baseball. He recorded 38 holds in 2011, which was three more than any other reliever in the league.

He could also probably be the closer on many teams in baseball, but he is currently the man that bridges the gap to Drew Storen: the closer on the Washington Nationals.

Clippard had all-around impressive numbers in 2011. His ERA was 1.83 and and had a WHIP of 0.84. He also accumulated 104 strikeouts in 88.1 innings pitched.

The Nationals are going to surprise some people this year. They have the the pitching staff and the lineup needed to make some noise in the NL East.

Look for Clippard to have plenty of hold situations in 2012 and expect him to convert the majority of them.