John Smoltz Is Finished

by faketeams on Jun 4, 2008 10:40 AM EDT in Baseball

Will Carroll of Baseball Prospectus has confirmed that the 11:30 AM press conference by the Atlanta Braves is to announce that John Smoltz is finished for the season. Smoltz looks like a sure-fire Hall-of-Famer. If only he could get Greg Maddux and Tom Glavine to retire after this season....

With this news, fantasy players will scramble to get Rafael Soriano into their line-ups. I'm not completely sold on his health, though. Adding Manny Acosta is a smart move as manager Bobby Cox said he'd be splitting the closer duties amongst Smoltz, Soriano and Acosta.

This was just a day ago, but I can't help wondering about the inclusion of a third pitcher in a closing committee. This seems to signal the health of Smoltz and Soriano are shaky, no? You'd think closing every other save would be enough recovery time, right?

A sleepr for saves is Mike Gonzalez who could be up within a week or two.

Poll

Which Atlanta Braves reliever will finsih 2008 with more saves?

Rafael Soriano

29 votes

Manny Acosta

8 votes

Other Braves reliever

15 votes

52 votes | Poll has closed

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Comments

Gonzalez

I have to believe Acosta will finish with the fewest saves. Soriano would finish 1st IF he stays healthy, and Mike Gonzalez would likely pick up any scraps from Soriano.

by Recon on Jun 4, 2008 3:11 PM EDT reply actions

Today

Acosta was given a 4-2 lead to start the ninth and allowed four runs on two two-run HRs.

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by faketeams on Jun 4, 2008 5:43 PM EDT reply actions

Acosta v. Soriano

The problem with Soriano is going to be his health, i.e. can he prevent his elbow from becoming sore/painful once again. I think the answer is no. For this reason alone, Acosta should end up with the bulk of the saves at season’s end…but no more than 15 or so.

by DisabledListInformer on Jun 5, 2008 1:25 AM EDT reply actions