There hasn't been a quiet week among the majors' corps of closers all season long, but the Angels and Pirates kicked off a weekend of even greater closer chaos with an unanticipated trade. In a swap of their former closers, the Angels sent Ernesto Frieri to Pittsburgh for Jason Grilli. The discarding of Frieri would seem to open the way for Joe Smith to get uncontested chances for saves, but it's not yet clear how Angels manager Mike Scioscia plans to use Smith or Grilli over the long haul.
Meanwhile, the Pirates appear content to stick with Mark Melancon as their closer, adding Frieri to their mix of setup options.
If only all teams had a closer situation as stable as Pittsburgh's.
On Monday's Injuries and Notes segment of Fantasy Baseball Today, Scott White, Adam Aizer and I assessed the bullpen situations for the Angels, Giants and White Sox, the latter two of which also changed over the weekend. Sergio Romo and Ronald Belisario have given way to closer committees, and we discussed who is likely to grab saves in San Francisco and Chicago, as well as how much we liked those options as compared to Melancon and Jake McGee, who appears to have the upper hand in the Rays' jumbled bullpen.
