2011 Fantasy Baseball Offseason Movement: Relief Pitchers

For the most part, relief pitchers are a dime a dozen.  A reliever will have an outstanding season of sub 1.00 WHIP, ERA in the twos and a high K/9 rate, only to follow that up with a horrendous season the next year. 

This is why it is very important to lock up a couple of stud closers early on in drafts to ensure you are not left with the up-and-down relievers that fill most major league bullpens. 

Spring training is where every team settles on their bullpen and also where closers and setup men are made.  You can keep track of each and every teams bullpen and get the most in-depth closer report sent directly to your email or smartphone in real time by signing up for the Fantasy Alarm MLB season package. 

PLAYER	AGE	2010 TEAM	NEW TEAM
Jeremy Accardo	29	Toronto	Baltimore
Matt Albers	28	Baltimore	Boston
Grant Balfour	33	Tampa Bay	Oakland
Joaquin Benoit	33	Tampa Bay	Detroit
Taylor Buchholz	29	Boston	NY Mets
D.J. Carrasco	33	Arizona	NY Mets
Randy Choate	35	Tampa Bay	Florida
Jesse Crain	29	Minnesota	Chicago Sox
Octavio Dotel	37	Colorado	Toronto
Scott Downs	34	Toronto	LA Angels
Kyle Farnsworth	34	Atlanta	Tampa Bay
Pedro Feliciano	34	NY Mets	NY Yankees
Frank Francisco	31	Texas	Toronto
Brian Fuentes	35	Minnesota	Oakland
Sean Green	31	NY Mets	Milwaukee
Kevin Gregg	32	Toronto	Baltimore
Matt Guerrier	32	Minnesota	LA Dodgers
David Hernandez	25	Baltimore	Arizona
Bobby Jenks	29	Chicago Sox	Boston
Matt Lindstrom	30	Houston	Colorado
Scott Linebrink	34	Chicago Sox	Atlanta
Kam Mickolio	26	Baltimore	Arizona
Zach Miner	28	Detroit	Kansas City
Will Ohman	33	Florida	Chicago Sox
Joel Peralta	34	Washington	Tampa Bay
J.J. Putz	33	Chicago Sox	Arizona
Chad Qualls	32	Tampa Bay	San Diego
Jon Rauch	32	Minnesota	Toronto
Chris Ray	29	San Francisco	Seattle
Dennys Reyes	33	St. Louis	Philadelphia
Arthur Rhodes	41	Cincinnati	Texas
Takashi Saito	40	Atlanta	Milwaukee
George Sherrill	33	LA Dodgers	Atlanta
Rafael Soriano	31	Tampa Bay	NY Yankees
Jose Veras	30	Detroit	Pittsburgh
Carlos Villaneuva	27	Milwaukee	Toronto
Dan Wheeler	33	Tampa Bay	Boston
Kerry Wood	33	NY Yankees	Chicago Cubs

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The Good

Oakland did a real nice job in setting up their bullpen this year behind closer Andrew Bailey.  Grant Balfour and lefty Brian Fuentes have closing experience and will be able to handle tough situation in the seventh and eighth innings, and if Bailey fails, either one can step in and rack up saves. 

If the Redsox do indeed trade Jonathen Papelbon, then Bobby Jenks becomes very significant as a potential high number saves guy.  Several other teams did quite well here in backing up their shaky closers with veterans who have good enough stuff to close out games themselves.  Takashi Saito, Matt Guerrier, Joaquin Benoit and Rafael Soriano are guys who have closed and probably will be at some point this season.

The Decent

Octavio Dotel has proven to be one of the more reliable relievers in the game, as long as he’s not closing out big games in the thick of a pennant race.  Lucky for him, he probably won’t be while in Toronto this season, but he just isn’t as reliable in the clutch as most people think. 

J.J. Putz looks like he’ll lock up saves in Arizona, but not so fast.  Putz is always injured and I have more faith in Lindsay Lohan staying sober than I do in Putz staying healthy all season.  I really like Kam Mickolio, the near seven-foot fireballer from the woods in Montana.  If he can ever get his mechanics straightened out for an extended period of time, this kid could be as close to unhittable as there is in the NL. 

The Bad

I am not sure how the Blue Jays plan on using Frank Francisco, but I sure as heck do not like him as a viable fantasy closer.  Francisco gives up too many baserunners and that is what ultimately lead to his demotion in Texas and will always kill fantasy owners in ERA and WHIP in Los Angeles. 

I am stunned that a coaching staff like the one in Tampa Bay would have anything to do with the complete nut-job that is Kyle Farnsworth.  Farnsworth doesn’t even have the high ‘90s fastball that he once possessed, never mind anything resembling command or control.  Lastly, I got to see a lot of Scott Linebrink out here with the Whitesox, and he is not the answer in Atlanta.  Even a move back to the NL won’t be enough to make Linebrink’s batting practice repertoire fantasy worthy. 

Don’t forget to check out our 2011 fantasy player rankings to see how all of the offseason changes will impact your fantasy baseball draft this year.  Also, before you draft, be sure to view and printout our 2011 real time fantasy baseball cheatsheets.  Take Fantasy Alarm to your draft this year and relax knowing you have all the information you need to draft a winner in 2011. 

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