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    Fantasy Rankings: Closers

    Tuesday, March 20, 2007, 07:10 PM EST [Joe Nathan]

    Standard Information (Yahoo! Defaults)
    12-Team, 5x5, Mixed, Rotisserie League
    Positions: C, 1B, 2B, 3B, SS, 3 OF, U, 2 SP, 2 RP, 3 P
    Stats: R, HR, RBI, SB, AVG, W, SV, K, ERA, WHIP
    Limits: 1250 IP & 162 G

    I'm not going to make guesses at who will end up as closers where they are up in the air, so the rankings will have only a player if he is currently their team's closer.

    Replacement Level
    3 W, 12 SV, 51 K, 3.46 ERA, 1.26 WHIP

    First Tier
    1. Joe Nathan, Minnesota Twins
    2. B.J. Ryan, Toronto Blue Jays
    3. Francisco Rodriguez, Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim
    4. Billy Wagner, New York Mets

    Second Tier
    5. Mariano Rivera, New York Yankees
    6. Huston Street, Oakland Athletics
    7. Tom Gordon, Philadelphia Phillies
    8. J.J. Putz, Seattle Mariners
    9. Trevor Hoffman, San Diego Padres
    10. Chad Cordero, Washington Nationals
    11. Francisco Cordero, Milwaukee Brewers
    12. Eric Gagne, Texas Rangers
    13. Bobby Jenks, Chicago White Sox
    14. Brian Fuentes, Colorado Rockies
    15. Jose Valverde, Arizona Diamondbacks
    16. Brad Lidge, Houston Astros

    If you take Gagne, make sure to handcuff him with Akinori Otsuka. I thought about dropping Lidge down to the next tier, but his stuff is still very good. Is Albert Pujols really powerful enough to ruin a former top-notch closer?

    Third Tier
    17. Chris Ray, Baltimore Orioles
    18. Jason Isringhausen, St. Louis Cardinals
    19. Takashi Saito, Los Angeles Dodgers
    20. Armando Benitez, San Francisco Giants
    21. Todd Jones, Detroit Tigers

    Handcuff Jonathan Broxton to Saito. I would say the same for Joel Zumaya and Jones, but Fernando Rodney is still in Detroit as well.

    Fourth Tier
    22. Salomon Torres, Pittsburgh Pirates
    23. Joe Borowski, Cleveland Indians
    24. Bob Wickman, Atlanta Braves
    25. Ryan Dempster, Chicago Cubs
    26. Octavio Dotel, Kansas City Royals

    If Wickman falters, keep an eye on who gets tapped to take his place. Mike Gonzalez and Rafael Soriano are both great pitchers. Will they go to Gonzalez because he has closer experience, or Soriano because Gonzalez can be used to match up with lefties in the earlier innings?

    0 (0 Ratings)