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Bleacher Features - The closer issue
Bill DeMartini is a 24-year-old marketing consultant playing in three Fantasy baseball leagues. John Wetteland and Mike Jackson have him fighting for first place in all three.
So, your in a Fantasy baseball league and your team is stacked. You have top 10 players at each position and solid starting pitching from both leagues. But you waited until the 30th round to draft a closer, thinking you could just pick one up later. Well, your team is doing pretty well but your really in trouble at the relief spot. Everyone knows your suppossed to draft a closer who picked up a lot of saves the year before, right? Not necessarily.
Can you remember who one of the most dominant closers in 1996 was? A guy named Mel Rojas. What happened to him in 1997? He got signed by the Cubs! Good closers on bad teams make 'bad closers'. I'm convinced of this. Look at Trevor Hoffman's stats from last year. Same deal. The Padres were not that great. In 1996 he was great, and the team was great. So, first and foremost -- get a closer on a good team. Can anyone believe the success Tom Gordon has had this year? It's all about the team he's playing on. Don't get me wrong. I'm not taking anything away from him. Flash is a good pitcher. But the Red Sox offense is on a tear. On the opposite end, Roberto Hernandez and Jeff Shaw are perfect examples of good closers off to rough starts Fantasy-wise because of their teams. What happens if your main closer tears his ACL in the dugout while playing catch with sunflower seeds during a rain delay? I'm not sold on the idea of using middle relievers in this case. Yeah, they get innings and some strikeouts. But they also give up home runs, walks, and wins. It's not worth the pain. Go with the backup closer. If you have a decent pitcher and he's on a good team, he shouldn't have a problem getting three people out in a game for some good save points. Take me to the Fantasy Baseball Forum Take me back to the Bleacher Feature page. |
