Fantasy Baseball Rankings 2012: Cheap Closers Who Will Give You a Ton of Saves

Want to know which closers you should be targeting for your fantasy baseball team?

Very well, here it goes: Craig Kimbrel, Mariano Rivera, Jonathan Papelbon, John Axford, Heath Bell, Drew Storen, Brian Wilson, Joel Hanrahan and J.J. Putz.

Draft all of those guys, and you won't have to worry about saves this season.

If you plan on drafting other players too, besides closers, though, you're going to have to settle for one of these guys and then wait to draft a closer a few rounds later.

When you get around to drafting a second closer, the five guys listed below are the ones you should be targeting. They'll be available, and they'll produce.

5. Grant Balfour, Oakland Athletics

Grant Balfour already has one save this season. So that puts him in line for—what?—about 80?

Maybe. Balfour has never served as a full-time closer before, so expecting him to shatter the single-season record for saves isn't exactly reasonable.

Balfour has the goods to close, however. He has a K/9 of 9.89 for his career, and he's coming off a season in which he had a 1.08 WHIP over 55.1 innings for the Rays. If he can maintain that kind of effectiveness with the A's, he should be able to hold on to his role as the team's closer.

There are other circumstances working in Balfour's favor. The A's aren't going to score a ton of runs this season, so the save ops will be there. In addition, Balfour can rest easy knowing that his home ballpark is one of the toughest hitters' parks in Major League Baseball.

You'll be able to get Balfour pretty late in your draft, maybe even as a third closer. Not bad for a guy who could easily save 30-35 games this year.

4. Jim Johnson, Baltimore Orioles

Jim Johnson has had a rough spring, so I'm including him in this conversation with a word of warning: His grip on Baltimore's closer job is not strong.

On the bright side, that means you'll be able to nab Johnson even later in your draft. He's likely to be overlooked by many of your league-mates, and scorned by others who see him as a second-rate pitcher on a bad team.

That's a half-truth. The Orioles are terrible, but Johnson is entering 2012 off a highly successful 2011 campaign. He had a 2.67 ERA and a 1.11 WHIP, and he was able to achieve those numbers thanks mainly to an elevated ground-ball rate of 61.5 percent.

Johnson was especially good in September, going 7-for-7 in save opportunities with a 2.76 ERA. Opponents hit just .179 off him.

If Johnson can do that in one month, over a full season he could easily approach 35 saves. The Orioles won't win many games, but Johnson has the goods to close out a good portion of the games they do win in 2012.

3. Rafael Betancourt, Colorado Rockies

Fantasy owners who have been around the block enough times will know Rafael Betancourt's name. He's been one of the best setup men in the business for years at this point. 

As a closer, Betancourt's potential is through the roof. Over the last two seasons, his K/9 is near 12 and he has a WHIP of 0.91. He doesn't walk guys either, as he's posted the exact same BB/9 of 1.16 in each of the last two seasons.

The only thing you worry about in Betancourt's situation is the idea of him being robbed of easy saves by Coors Field. I wouldn't worry about that. His numbers at Coors closely mirror his numbers away from Coors, and 95 games is no small sample size.

There will be chances for Betancourt. The Rockies will score a lot of runs, but their starting staff will give up a lot of runs too, resulting in plenty of close leads for Betancourt to protect.

He's a lock for 30 saves, and he ranks ahead of the other two guys on this list because of his strikeout potential.

2. Brandon League, Seattle Mariners

The degree to which Brandon League is being overlooked is staggering. It seems people aren't buying his 37-save season in 2011.

One of the knocks on League is that his strikeouts have gone down in each of the last two seasons. He had a K/9 over 9.00 in 2009, but has hovered under 7.00 since joining the Mariners.

The bright side is that League cut down on his walks in a big way last year, lowering his BB/9 to 1.47.

League will have to maintain that kind of control to be success again in 2011. His stuff is hard to hit, but it won't do him much good if he's walking the ballpark every time he enters the game in the ninth.

But if League holds on to his job, he's going to be handed enough leads to possibly walk away with 40-plus saves at the end of the season. That would put him in elite territory, regardless of his strikeout numbers.

1. Jason Motte, St. Louis Cardinals

You probably know Jason Motte mainly from his work in the postseason last year, which was very impressive. He had a 2.19 ERA and a 0.49 WHIP, and he didn't blow a save in five chances.

This wasn't just a case of Motte getting hot at the right time. He had a spectacular season in 2011, posting a 2.25 ERA and a 0.96 WHIP. He went through a span in July and August where he didn't give up a single earned run.

Improved control had a lot to do with Motte's success. His .198 opponents' average last season was no accident.

The Cardinals are going to contend again this season, even despite the loss of Albert Pujols and the injury to Chris Carpenter. Motte will be charged with nailing down ballgames, and by the end of the season I won't be surprised if he has over 40 saves.

You'll be able to get him as a No. 2 closer. He'll be a No. 1.