I am going to put-up my middle relievers in two parts. Today's will be the middle relievers who are now back-up closers. Tomorrow or the day after, I will put up the rest. At this level of ranking, only AL- and NL-only leagues find legitimate draftees. In mixed leagues, there are so many starting pitchers and closers to chose from that back-up closers go undrafted with the exception of a handful or so. Those are ranked amongst the top 10 or so on my list.
I chose to present these players in order of my rankings based on 2006 numbers. No matter where they are ranked, all are valuable. As back-up closers, the last player listed, Henry Owens, is arguably more valuable than the first one listed, Scot Shields, because owens is more likely to close than Shields.
| PITCHERS | Team | IP | W | SV | K | ERA | WHIP | K:BB |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Shields Scot | LAA | 87.67 | 7 | 2 | 84 | 2.875 | 1.072 | 3.50 |
| Zumaya Joel | DET | 83.33 | 6 | 1 | 97 | 1.944 | 1.176 | 2.31 |
| Howry Bobby | CHC | 76.67 | 4 | 5 | 71 | 3.170 | 1.135 | 4.18 |
| Broxton Jonathan | LAD | 76.33 | 4 | 3 | 97 | 2.594 | 1.231 | 2.94 |
| Capps Matt | PIT | 80.67 | 9 | 1 | 56 | 3.793 | 1.153 | 4.67 |
| Otsuka Akinori | TEX | 59.67 | 2 | 32 | 47 | 2.112 | 1.073 | 4.27 |
| Wheeler Dan | HOU | 71.33 | 3 | 9 | 68 | 2.523 | 1.150 | 2.83 |
| Linebrink Scott | SD | 75.67 | 7 | 2 | 68 | 3.568 | 1.216 | 3.09 |
| Wainwright Adam | STL | 75.00 | 2 | 3 | 72 | 3.120 | 1.147 | 3.27 |
| Duchscherer Justin | OAK | 55.67 | 2 | 9 | 51 | 2.910 | 1.096 | 5.67 |
| Soriano Rafael | ATL | 60.00 | 1 | 2 | 65 | 2.250 | 1.083 | 3.10 |
| MacDougal Mike | CHW | 29.00 | 1 | 1 | 21 | 1.552 | 0.931 | 3.50 |
| Rincon Juan | MIN | 74.33 | 3 | 1 | 65 | 2.906 | 1.345 | 2.71 |
| Nolasco Ricky | FLA | 140.00 | 11 | 0 | 99 | 4.821 | 1.414 | 2.41 |
| Gregg Kevin | FLA | 78.33 | 3 | 0 | 71 | 4.136 | 1.391 | 3.38 |
| Gonzalez Mike | PIT | 54.00 | 3 | 24 | 64 | 2.167 | 1.352 | 2.06 |
| League Brandon | TOR | 42.67 | 1 | 1 | 29 | 2.531 | 1.008 | 3.22 |
| Farnsworth Kyle | NYY | 66.00 | 3 | 6 | 75 | 4.364 | 1.364 | 2.68 |
| Julio Jorge | AZ | 66.00 | 2 | 16 | 88 | 4.227 | 1.318 | 2.51 |
| Coffey Todd | CIN | 78.00 | 6 | 8 | 60 | 3.577 | 1.436 | 2.22 |
| Tankersley Taylor | FLA | 41.00 | 2 | 3 | 46 | 2.854 | 1.439 | 1.77 |
| Timlin Mike | BOS | 64.00 | 6 | 9 | 30 | 4.359 | 1.469 | 1.88 |
| Bray Bill | CIN | 50.67 | 3 | 2 | 39 | 4.086 | 1.480 | 2.17 |
| Turnbow Derrick | MIL | 56.33 | 4 | 24 | 69 | 6.870 | 1.686 | 1.77 |
| Pena Tony | AZ | 30.67 | 3 | 1 | 21 | 5.576 | 1.435 | 2.63 |
| Tavarez Julian | BOS | 98.67 | 5 | 1 | 56 | 4.470 | 1.561 | 1.27 |
| Nelson Joe | KC | 44.67 | 1 | 9 | 44 | 4.433 | 1.366 | 1.83 |
| Hernandez Roberto | CLE | 63.67 | 0 | 2 | 48 | 3.110 | 1.461 | 1.50 |
| Wood Kerry | CHC | 19.67 | 1 | 0 | 13 | 4.119 | 1.373 | 1.63 |
| Fruto Emiliano | WSH | 36.00 | 2 | 1 | 34 | 5.500 | 1.611 | 1.42 |
| Wilson Brian | SF | 30.00 | 2 | 1 | 23 | 5.400 | 1.767 | 1.10 |
| Mastny Thomas | CLE | 16.33 | 0 | 5 | 14 | 5.510 | 1.531 | 1.75 |
| Reitsma Chris | FA | 28.00 | 1 | 8 | 13 | 8.679 | 1.929 | 1.63 |
| Owens Henry | FLA | 4.00 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 9.000 | 2.000 | 0.50 |