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If I were writing a weekly first-baseman ranking column, it would be pretty boring. If Adrian Gonzalez goes 2-for-24 over a week, I'm not likely to move him much at all; things just tend to work themselves out in the long run. Even mid-level position players won't change much in a week or two; I wouldn't have, say, Emilio Bonifacio ranked much different now than I did a few weeks ago.
Closers, though, can be a different story. Sure, if Craig Kimbrel had blown two saves and given up two homers in two outings last week, I would probably still rank him well. The top guys are the top guys. But something like two-thirds of closers entered the season with questions, be they health, job security, or simply not-suckiness, and questions like that can often resolve - or further muddle - themselves quickly.
As such, there are six closers listed in my top 30 this week who were unranked a week ago. And next week, there will be likely be a few more showing up as well.
The rankings that follow are my rest-of-season rankings for fantasy closers:
Rank | Player | Team | Previous | Thoughts |
1 | Craig Kimbrel | ATL | 1 | What, you were expecting Mark Wohlers? |
2 | Kenley Jansen | LAD | 2 | Nowhere else to put this, so: Brian Wilson hit the DL with nerve irritation. HE GOT ON HIS OWN NERVES. |
3 | Greg Holland | KCR | 3 | I love that baseball-reference.com lists league leaders this early; Holland is No. 1 in games finished! |
4 | Koji Uehara | BOS | 5 | The only number on his stat line that makes me nervous is that age (39). |
5 | Glen Perkins | MIN | 4 | Two awful outings out of three cost him one spot in the rankings. |
6 | Trevor Rosenthal | SLC | 6 | Scarcely could have looked sharper so far. |
7 | David Robertson | NYY | 8 | There haven't been any concerns so far. |
8 | Sergio Romo | SFG | 9 | Those spring worries have faded somewhat. |
9 | Joe Nathan | DET | 7 | It's only been three appearances, but he hasn't exactly looked dominant. |
10 | Aroldis Chapman | CIN | 11 | Every week that passes is another week closer to his return. |
11 |
Huston Street |
SDP | 13 | No reason to worry unless and until we hear about injuries. |
12 | Rafael Soriano | WAS |
14 | He's looked good enough to stem the Tyler Clippard/Drew Storen tide. For now. |
13 | Addison Reed | ARI | 12 | If he struggles, the team does have several fallback options. |
14 | Grant Balfour | TBR | 16 | Always has to keep his walks in check to be really successful. |
15 | Steve Cishek | MIA | 19 | This is his fifth MLB season and you still can't find any ugly stats. |
16 | Sergio Santos | TOR | NR | If he performs well, could keep the job even when Janssen returns. |
17 | Jason Grilli | PIT | 20 |
Mark Melancon is breathing down his neck, so he has to be on his game. |
18 | Jim Johnson | OAK | 18 | He has rough weeks; can he get it back together before he loses the gig? |
19 | Josh Fields | HOU | NR | Liked him in spring; like him even more now that it looks like Houston is leaning his way. |
20 | Joakim Soria | TEX | 27 | He's looked decent; other Texas relievers have not. |
21 | John Axford | CLE | 23 | Could leaving Milwaukee really have been his career salve? |
22 | Tommy Hunter | BAL | 29 | Well, lefties haven't hit him yet; will it last? |
23 | Fernando Rodney | SEA | 30 | It'll take more than one week for me to trust him, but looks good so far. |
24 | Matt Lindstrom | CWS | NR | Best of a rough lot in the Chicago bullpen. |
25 | Jonathan Papelbon | PHI | 17 | Biggest faller to remain ranked, but how could you possibly trust him? |
26 | LaTroy Hawkins | COL | 26 | I still don't see why a team unlikely to compete would sign a 41-year-old to close. |
27 | Francisco Rodriguez | MIL | NR | The Michael Myers of closers; dude is unkillable. |
28 | Ernesto Frieri | LAA | 28 | Oh, he gave up home runs. Also, water is wet. |
29 | Pedro Strop | CHC | NR | Veras has struggled; Strop stands to benefit. |
30 | Jonathan Broxton | CIN | NR | He'd rank higher in short-term ranks, but he'll only have the job so long. |
Dropped from rankings: Casey Janssen (10), Bobby Parnell (15), Jim Henderson (21), Jose Veras (22), J.J. Hoover (24), Nate Jones (25)
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