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Every week I take a look at the going's on in the life of relief pitching in fake baseball. These rankings are a pretty good indicator of who has been getting it done and who has wasted your roster space. So have a gander at how I would rank the best conclusionary pitchers and the guys that set them up.
- Well the Astros are just a dismal resource for saves. Maybe Brett Myers was underrated before he was traded. CoCo Cordero is not the short term or long term answer there. Look for a healthy dose of see what we got moing forward in Houston; Wilton Lopez and anyone else with a creditable arm could see chances if Cordero is shown the door,
- The situation in Milwaukee isn't much better. Axford was awful, them K-rod was worse than awful if that's entirely possible and now it looks like a committee thing. Now to make it worse the Brewers have fired bullpen coach Stan Kyles, because clearly it was his fault.
- In trade rumors it seems like Jonathon Broxton is going to get moved. He is rumored to be going to Texas and will assume a set-up role in front of Joe Nathan. Greg Holland will/should be the pick-up in the wake of a trade happening.
- Also in trade news Rafael Betancourt is being, well pun intended courted by several teams on the fringe of contention. He is signed cheaply for the next 2 years and would make sense for teams looking for an upgrade for next year in their closer situation. Rex Brothers or Matt Belisle would assume the closer role, if Colorado actually gets a save chance.
- Continuing with the trade rumors, Brandon League is drawing interest from the Giants. Now this is a situation where he may gain value. Bochy is a fickle beast and likes using his guys, Casilla and Romo in set-up roles, unfortunately he was forced to used Casilla there, with great results here and there. League could sneak his way into a closer role there and squeak out some late season value.
Stick around after the jump for closer rankings and Hold Tiers
2. Rafael Soriano
5. Jim Johnson
7. Joel Hanrahan
8. Jason Motte
9. Jonathan Papelbon
11. Joe Nathan
12. Ernesto Frieri
18. J.J. Putz
22. Alfredo Aceves
23. Jose Valverde
24. Francisco Rodriguez / Jon Axford
26.Francisco Cordero / Wilton Lopez
27. Carlos Marmol
28. Steve Cishek
29. Bobby Parnell / Frank Francisco
30. Jared Burton / Glen Perkins / Matt Capps
Tier 1.
Mike Adams TEX
Sergio Romo SF
Vinnie Pestano CLE
Joaquin Benoit DET
Sean Burnett WAS
Sean Marshall CIN
David Hernandez ARI
Jason Grilli PIT
Antonio Bastardo PHI
Scott Downs ANA
David Robertson NYY
Vincente Padilla BOS
Ronald Belisario LAD
Tier 2:
Tim Byrdak NYM
Pedro Strop BAL
Eric O'Flaherty ATL
Aaron Crow KC
Joel Peralta TB
Josh Lindblom LAD
Matt Belisle COL
James Russell CHC
Jake McGee TB
Grant Balfour OAK
Mitchell Boggs STL
Shawn Camp CHC
Tier 3:
Chad Durbin ATL
Greg Holland KC
Juan Cruz PIT
Bryan Shaw ARI
Luke Gregerson SD
Juan Cruz PIT
Joe Smith CLE
Matt Thornton CHW
Jose Arredondo CIN
Brad Ziegler ARI
Boone Logan NYY
Jesse Crain CHW
Andrew Miller BOS
Brett Myers CHW