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Now that we’ve finished with the starting pitchers and the positional players, it’s time to rank the closers. There are a few teams that haven’t finalized their closer role yet, and in those cases I took the candidate that is most likely to secure the job, rather than listing all of them. The number of saves a closer might get was obviously a big factor, but just as with starting pitchers, ERA, WHIP, and strikeouts have a great deal of influence on the rankings. Luckily, there seems to be a good number of closers this year who are capable of helping you on all fronts, based on PECOTA’s projections.


Rank Name                Team       W   SV   SO  WHIP   ERA  Beta
 1.  Francisco Rodriguez Mets       5   45   74  1.21  2.74  0.71
 2.  Jonathan Papelbon   Red Sox    5   33   67  1.01  2.49  0.86
 3.  Carlos Marmol       Cubs       4    6   86  1.23  3.42  0.82
 4.  Joe Nathan          Twins      4   31   64  1.08  2.54  0.82
 5.  Mariano Rivera      Yankees    5   36   64  1.03  2.42  0.85
 6.  Brad Lidge          Phillies   4   25   71  1.34  3.49  0.80
 7.  Jonathan Broxton    Dodgers    5   13   85  1.17  2.83  0.82
 8.  Joakim Soria        Royals     4   32   60  1.19  3.11  0.70
 9.  Jose Valverde       Astros     3   25   62  1.25  3.56  0.90
10.  Frank Francisco     Rangers    3    6   66  1.30  3.84  0.85

While being the reigning king of saves has something to do with his top ranking, Francisco Rodriguez is here more because PECOTA still likes him to strike out plenty of hitters while posting a great ERA; the move to the weaker National League should help out his rate stats as well. Jonathan Papelbon had fewer strikeouts last year, instead using ground balls to close out games. While that strategy hurts his K rate a bit, his ERA and WHIP still look great, and he’ll pick up plenty of saves to boot.

PECOTA doesn’t forecast many saves for Marmol, but he’s the ninth-inning man out in Chicago. There’s a very good chance that if he lasts at the position all year he’ll rank #1 in both K and K/9 among closers. His ERA forecast is a little high for my tastes; I think he will be able to dominate once again and keep runners off base. If the Cubs end up slotting Kevin Gregg into the closer role, then Marmol’s ranking obviously takes a hit, but he’s still worth a spot on your bench for the punchouts and the great rate stats.

Joe Nathan is another pitcher who has lost a few strikeouts along the way, but made up for it with an increased ground-ball rate. He’s one of the few consistently dependable closers out there. Mariano Rivera made up for his poor (by his own standards) 2007 season by slashing his walk rate to well under one per nine. He’s been very stingy the past three years on that front, but it’s unrealistic to expect a repeat of last year’s insane peripherals. Even without those numbers, he’s still easily a top five closer.

PECOTA loves Lidge, even with the somewhat high ERA. His projected K/9 is 10.7, third best among these first six pitchers. I like him to be better than that though; his 2008 season had him post the lowest HR/FB ratio of his career, while also having his highest pop-up rate. Home runs have been an issue for him, so if he can eliminate them as he did last year, he’ll be very dangerous to the opposition. If you don’t think Lidge will be able to keep it up, move along down the list to Jonathan Broxton, whose forecast essentially mirrors what I believe Lidge is capable of.

Joakim Soria doesn’t get much love toiling out of the bullpen for the Royals, but he’s a great fantasy closer with quality strikeout rates and solid peripherals. PECOTA is very sure that this is what we’ll see from Soria this year, assigning him a Beta score of 0.70, one of the lowest on any of these lists that we’ve done. While I wish Valverde would not give up so many homers, his punchout rates make him an attractive pick at closer; PECOTA thinks he can hit 9.8 per nine, and considering he’s never been that low in his career, it shouldn’t be a problem. His velocity was about two miles per hour higher last year than it was the three seasons prior, so strikeouts are the last thing I’m worried about with Valverde.

Frank Francisco would be more appealing if he didn’t pitch in Texas, but someone has to close there. His fastball averaged a tick faster last year than in previous seasons, and that, along with more fastball usage and fewer curveballs, propelled his strikeout rate from solid to spectacular. PECOTA thinks the change is real, and has Francisco averaging well over a strikeout per nine.


Rank Name                Team       W   SV   SO  WHIP   ERA  Beta
11.  Francisco Cordero   Reds       3   17   58  1.38  4.03  0.83
12.  Brian Fuentes       Angels     4   23   61  1.24  3.53  0.82
13.  Heath Bell          Padres     3    4   56  1.27  3.24  0.86
14.  George Sherrill     Orioles    3   21   53  1.36  3.91  0.77
15.  Brian Wilson        Giants     3   25   54  1.41  3.92  0.87
16.  Mike Gonzalez       Braves     2   10   41  1.34  3.69  0.82
17.  Kerry Wood          Indians    4   19   55  1.30  3.68  0.81
18.  B.J. Ryan           Jays       3   19   48  1.32  3.68  0.81
19.  Bobby Jenks         White Sox  3   18   41  1.30  3.61  0.84
20.  Matt Capps          Pirates    3   16   45  1.16  3.44  0.93

Francisco Cordero should have had an ERA about a half-run higher than his actual figure last season, but I still think this projection is a little rough on him. I’d feel safer if his walk rate were to return to the level he’s posted in the recent past, because 4.5 unintentional passes per nine is not a good thing, especially when your strikeout rate is no longer three times that. Brian Fuentes is leaving Colorado, which should make him a better pitcher. PECOTA doesn’t buy the increase in strikeouts though, which may have something to do with the fact that he’s moving to the AL.

Once Heath Bell regained his velocity last year, things went smoothly. With Trevor Hoffman out of town, Bell is the closer, and he should rack up the strikeouts while easily beating that saves projection. George Sherrill’s most appealing trait is his whiff rate, as you’re not drafting him for his ERA. PECOTA thinks his bases-on-balls issue from 2008 was overblown, as you can tell by his forecasted WHIP, so he’s worth a shot. He’s definitely not an elite-level closer though (the end of that line was with Bell, if you’re being generous about what constitutes “elite”), even if his K/9 lets him fake it now and then.

Brian Wilson is going to get saves as the Giants’ closer, but how he does it may not always be pretty. Still, he shouldn’t hurt your stats, he’s just not going to help as much as the guys in front of him. This is the point in the draft where it starts to become a good idea to take chances or just wait on closers in case you’ve missed the boat on the best picks for the position.

Mike Gonzalez, Kerry Wood, and B.J. Ryan all have one thing in common, and that’s injury risk. If you could guarantee all three of them would be healthy for the duration of the 2009 season, then you’d see the list of elite-level closers grow by three. It’s hard enough to get me to draft a closer rather than a full-time player though, so getting me to draft a closer who may not even pitch all year is near impossible, unless it’s very late in the draft. If you don’t share the same caution about closers, feel free to bump them up in your personal rankings, because I certainly hope these three will stay healthy and productive.

Bobby Jenks is one of those guys who you draft because you need someone to give you saves without hurting your numbers. He’s not going to add anything on a strikeout level (especially if your league uses K/9) but he has become stingier with the free passes the last two seasons, and he is capable of posting a solid ERA. His FIP from last year has much in common with his PECOTA forecast, which makes believing in his 2008 ERA that much more difficult. Matt Capps strikes me as that one-pitch closer who doesn’t survive very long in the role. His superb control is at the heart of his success, but I worry about his WHIP and ERA taking a hit when his BABIP regresses; he was at .272 last year, despite giving up a ton of liners. If he’s that hittable again in ’09, banking on a BABIP that far below expectations is a bad idea. He’s still worth a shot thanks to the chance that he might do it again though-you have to love the small sample-size problems with relievers when you can exploit them in fantasy.


Rank Name                Team       W   SV   SO  WHIP   ERA  Beta
21.  Brandon Lyon        Tigers     3   12   35  1.37  4.27  0.92
22.  Chad Qualls         D'backs    4    6   53  1.31  3.54  0.84
23.  Brad Ziegler        A's        2    5   25  1.43  3.96  0.95
24.  Chris Perez         Cardinals  2    5   42  1.35  3.63  1.15
25.  Huston Street       Rockies    3   10   55  1.27  3.88  0.91
26.  Joel Hanrahan       Nats       2    3   47  1.44  4.28  1.18
27.  Trevor Hoffman      Brewers    3   19   36  1.16  3.41  0.73
28.  Matt Lindstrom      Marlins    2    3   38  1.44  4.08  0.99
29.  Troy Percival       Rays       2    9   30  1.38  4.71  1.01
30.  Miguel Batista      Mariners   4    1   46  1.66  5.36  1.08

Brandon Lyon posted his best strikeout and walk rates in years, but he also reverted to giving up home runs, which cut into his value. His 3.84 FIP was far better than his actual ERA of 4.70, but it’s still not enough to bump him up higher than this, especially as he’s moving to the more difficult league and is just one year removed from a below-average strikeout rate. Chad Qualls is a good fit for the D’backs thanks to his ground-ball tendencies. It’s strange though that he couldn’t keep the ball in the park as well in Houston as he had in Arizona last year. If he keeps the strikeout rate up where it’s been the past two years, he’s probably deserving of a higher rank than this, but I worry about seeing his homer rate jump back up, especially in that bandbox of a home park.

Brad Ziegler was a great story in 2008, coming up and stringing together 39 scoreless innings to begin his career. PECOTA doesn’t think he can come anywhere near that level of success again-this makes sense; his peripherals give him an FIP of 3.72 last year, well above his actual ERA of 1.06. While he may keep runners from scoring, he has a below-average strikeout rate and will have to rely on his fielders if he’s to maintain that elite-level ERA. I like Ziegler a lot, but moreso in real life than in fantasy baseball. Chris Perez is one of the many Cardinals’ relievers vying for the closer’s job, but he’s the one who you hope will keep it if you’re a fantasy player. He’s going to give you strikeouts, but he needs to lower his walk rate to be a more effective pitcher. In addition, it would be nice if we knew for sure that the Cardinals were planning on keeping him in this role for the long haul; it would be lame to draft Perez early only to see the keys handed to Ryan Franklin in June.

Huston Street is leaving the comfort of Oakland for every pitcher’s nightmare out in Colorado. While he’s been a very good fantasy closer during his years in the majors, he’s also a fly-ball pitcher in Denver, so you may want to think about severing your loyalties to him. He may be able to succeed-many pitchers have, especially relievers-but banking on that with an early draft pick when there are so many other options available would be silly.

Joel Hanrahan is not well loved by PECOTA for 2009, as everything except for his strikeout rate seems rather ordinary and unexciting. His Beta is also high, meaning that his forecast is volatile, so if you think there’s a reason to like him more than PECOTA does right now, PECOTA is telling you that you may be on to something.

Trevor Hoffman has left the comfort of Petco Park, and is now in Milwaukee. He gave up 1.6 homers per nine last year, despite pitching in a park that should be sponsored by the Dead Ball Era rather than your pet’s grocery store. He gave up liners at a significantly lower rate than he has since that data began to be tracked back in 2002, which most likely means we’ll see that and his BABIP shoot back up in ’09. While the increase in his K rate is promising, it’s going to be hard for him to avoid getting into trouble if he keeps throwing pitches in the zone that the opposition sends flying into the stands.

Matt Lindstrom would be ranked higher if not for a few issues. First, he walked 3.5 batters per nine last season (not counting his intentional passes), but struck out just 6.8 per nine. Neither of those figures stands out much, and while he is stingy with the home runs, he’s not exactly unhittable, as you can see by his 2008 WHIP of 1.45 and his forecasted WHIP above. There’s also the Jose Ceda issue; Ceda was acquired this offseason in the Kevin Gregg deal with the Cubs, and with the Marlins’ tendency to throw live, young arms into their bullpen to see what comes of it, Lindstrom could be challenged for the job at some point.

When my options are down to Troy Percival and Miguel Batista for starting closers, I think it’s time to punt saves and draft a closer-in-waiting who will put up great numbers, or maybe just wait until someone is promoted to the role when a closer explodes or is injured. I can’t bring myself to draft either of them; Percival posted an ERA of 4.53 last year, which may seem high until you realize that his FIP was 5.87. These things happen when you give up 1.8 home runs per nine after filling the bases with 5.3 walks per nine. If he had not posted a .181 BABIP last year, then his line would have looked even uglier than it is. As for Batista, he should be a better reliever than a starter, but he’s in an organization that is trying to get a feel for its useful parts; if he struggles in the role, I can see the new front office trying out someone else to see who fits as they attempt to rebuild the roster and see just what it is they’ve inherited.

Thank you for reading

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tonipeluso
3/16
Devine is probably going to be the A's closer, if he can stay healthy, with Ziegler setting-up. Not sure if that really makes much of a difference in terms of ranking though.
yankeehater32
3/16
Agreed. The depth charts keep swapping the two back and forth. For example, now Devine is on top with no closer listed at mlb.com, but before Ziegler was there with the (CL) tag attached to him. Make this easier for me, Oakland ;-)
willjosh09
3/16
it seems minor, but Devine hurt his elbow lats week and hasn't pitched. I haven't heard anything recently, but not a good start for a guy that's injury prone to begin with.
fantasy
3/16
Jason Motte would likely give you as many strikeouts as Chris Perez would.
Werty83
3/16
How do you justify Francisco being ranked above Fuentes here? Fuentes will get more save opps and is projected for better rate stats. Francisco might edge him out in K's but that is all.
airlifting
3/16
"PECOTA thinks the change is real, and has Francisco averaging well over a strikeout per nine."

I think you mean well over a strike out per inning.
yankeehater32
3/17
Indeed. If I ever rank someone that high when he's just going to strike out one per nine innings, I think I'm going to need to reevaluate things :-)
theguarantee
3/16
Sure hope Devine is closing as I have Mo, Qualls and him as I more or less punted saves...Would be interested in seeing a list ranking those "closers in waiting" you mentioned.
dpdst10
3/16
Marmol may not get the job, so if I'm drafting soon I'd bump him to the middle of the pack, as good as he is.
jthom17
3/16
You indicated you going to do a composite rating of the outfielders. Have I missed?
Thanks,
dianagramr
3/16
Marc .... thanks for these reviews. Very helpful.

General roto question here ...

In a standard 5x5, 12 team, non-keeper league with a straight draft, is there ever a case where you'd take a pitcher in the 1st round? Is there such a pitcher(s) in 2009? Lincecum?
Ophidian
3/16
Marc, are you going to have anything separate that goes deeper than just the 30 closers? (for those of us that love the High-K middle relievers like Broxton, K-Rod, etc in years past)
funkyfunk1
3/17
Aaron/YYZ what type of stratgey do use for pitching with going after the non closer with the kigh K/9 .
TheSportsIdiot
3/17
I can't speak for dude, but I can tell you that having a guy like Scot Shields in the past has been a very successful strategy for me in the past. Gets you an occasional win (sometimes in less than an inning of work), save, good Ks, WHIP and ERA. Plus, if the closer goes down...
BeplerP
3/16
Heath Bell's record is full of contradictions I can't begin to figure out. Career: High BABIP, Above Average STF, good ERA, low WHIP. Recent: BABIP down, STF down, ERA steady, WHIP still at level. K/9, H/9 are a continuing contradiction. Can this all be park effects? Shea was also a pitcher's park, although my impression was, less so than PETCO. What to make of that? Are his recent results all PETCO effects? What does his road record look like in comparison w/ his PETCO results? I guess I'll have to look all that up. One guess: This is how a "successful" finesse pitcher looks? If so, is the evidence of any future instability all in his peripherals? What a puzzle.
jthom17
3/16
If Rodriguez has 9 more Save's than any other closer in 09 as PECOTA projects he deserves to ranked #1. The record 62 Save's inflated his 2009 projection of 45 saves. He will not get 70 Save opportunities like he did in 08. Also, his velocity was down last year & Putz is likely to take away a few Save's.
Why are the PECOTA Save's projection so low? Nearly every projection is considerably lower than 08 Save's. (i.e. Papelbon:33/41 & Nathan:31/39).
EnderCN
3/16
Hoffman's HR spike is more likely to just be variance than anything else, especially since most of them were at home.
raef12
3/17
hey funkyfunk1,

Use a couple of quality middle relievers and/or set-up men with high K rates instead of scraping the bottom of the starter barrel for guys who might win a few games but also stand a good chance of nuking your rates.

The idea is wins are so hard to figure, why chase'em. The rub is, if you're employing only four or five starters (out of nine), for much of the season, the best you're going to do is middle of the pack in wins.

Hard to finish near top in Ks in 5x5 doing this, but you'd be surprised how well you can do if you can grab the right middle relievers.

Another plus, you save money on pitching. Another key to making the strategy work in 5X5 (the real roto heads call it the LIMA plan ) you must do well in saves.

G'luck.



Oleoay
3/17
Very good points raef12. Your comments are even more important these days without the starting K kings like Randy Johnson and Pedro Martinez running around and with overall K/9 rates being diminished. However, it is still possible to find quality K/9 rates in middle relievers who can vulture wins and they'll tend to provide a lower ERA/WHIP as well.
funkyfunk1
3/17
so would you not draft starters and just draft middle relievers and closers? we have a 500 IP minimum. we start 8 Pitchers. i would think you would need 2 studs, 3 closers and 4 good relief pitchers with high k/9 and low whip/era to make it work. is that correct?
TheSportsIdiot
3/17
I would not do that, no. I don't punt wins though, and I don't play H2H leagues, so depending on your format you should draft accordingly. I try to draft a few top line starters if the value is there when I'm selecting, and then stock up on low level closers and a few dominant setup men/closers in waiting on teams where the hammer is getting rusty. Make sense?

I think what raef12 is trying to say is that rather than take a low lever starter, take a high level reliever, which makes loads of sense to me. No need to start an Adam Eaton if you can start a guy like Shields circa 2007.
TheSportsIdiot
3/17
Marc, I have a question in regards to Mike Gonzalez. How do you guys figure he will only get 10 saves, and who is going to get the rest of the saves in Atlanta? You have him pegged for 41 Ks, so I'm trying to figure out what role you have him playing in Atlanta, and who will be the full time closer. Surely you do not think that the top closer for the Braves will only get 10 saves, when their starting rotation could be the best in the NL.
yankeehater32
3/17
His forecast for both innings and saves is low thanks to the injuries he has suffered the past few years. His ranking is a better indication of what I expect out of him counting stats wise than his forecast.
TheSportsIdiot
3/17
Fair enough, but with a BETA like his, wouldn't you say that you guys are pretty solid in your stat predictions for him? I'm trying to figure out how your projections are working here, because if he is the 9th inning guy, and gets 41Ks, then he damned well better have more than 10 saves or he won't be the 9th inning guy, which means you guys think he will be serving another role. Does that make any sense to you? I'm mainly trying to figure out who will get the saves in Atlanta this year, if it isn't Gonzo, and from everything your predictions are telling me it won't be him.
TheSportsIdiot
3/17
I'm also interested in your thoughts on Broxton. His projected numbers and BETA confuse me as well. 85 Ks, but only 13 saves? Who will be getting the saves in LA?

I'm not trying to be an ass, I'm merely trying to figure out what it is that I am missing here.
aquavator44
3/17
Roughly speaking, PECOTA works by comparing a player's recent history with all the players in its historical database and finding the most similar players at that age, then creating a probabilistic range of outcomes based on what those players did the following season. In the case of Gonzalez, it looks at his statistics over the past few years and finds a bunch of left-handed relievers with similar stats. It sees that he doesn't have a ton of games pitched and likely compares him to some injured guys. His PECOTA card has a playing time adjustment that shows a more appropriate amount of saves. He had 14 saves last year and in the database, there probably aren't an overwhelming number of guys who go from 14 saves to 35-40 the next season.

Just keep in mind that PECOTA doesn't know some of these guys are closers, at least in the numbers Marc is using. Look at the rate stats, bump up the number of innings if it seems appropriate, and try not to predict raw save totals.
TheSportsIdiot
3/18
Thanks Patrick, it makes a lot more sense now. I have been scratching my head trying to figure these things out. I'm on board now!