Bleacher Features - The closer issue
CBS SportsLine Fantasy Baseball
'Closers Who Breed Hatred' May 1, 1998

Woody Sweet has a genuine disliking for Mets' closer John Franco. He plays in an auction league in Houston and is a self-described Roto-Fanatic.

My strategy is simple. Take the person who is most likely to replace John Franco.

Do you agree or disagree with Mr. Sweet? Send an e mail

Do you think Woody would hate Franco if he was on the Astros? (Allsport)

Since I got stuck with Franco while trying to take advantage of a friend by bidding Franco up in an auction several years back, I have a great dislike of Franco. After a few uneventful saves he will do one of three things.

1. Get hurt: He will invariably go on the DL usually in the middle of the summer.
2. Pitch hurt: He will pitch horribly for a week or so doing a great deal of ERA and Ratio damage.
3. Just pitch lousy: He will for some reason just pitch lousy without being hurt, usually due to a tired arm. Those 50-70 innings a year must be a terrible burden.

This year my partner and I got Mel Rojas for $6 and we are just watching the meltdown of Franco. How many more times will Bobby Valentine have to get burned before Franco becomes a middle reliever? The Astros have been tearing up the old Frankster something terrible. The added bonus is that I live in Houston and I love the Astros. I also have Scott Radinsky who we think will split saves with Antonio Osuna. As an injury replacement my partner picked up Juan Acevedo who should get a few saves for Jeff Brantley, as I hear Jeff can't pitch two days in a row.