Closers

[gses]

Do u guys think Brandon Lyon is now "the" closer for the red sox since all the other guys in their commitee are either injured or suck. He has gotten 3 in the last week or so and is 4/5 overall.

After Borowski blew the save for the Cubs a few days ago and Alfonseca has pitched perfectly in his first 5 games, do u think Alfonseca wil be given the next chance.

The Cardianls must be begging for Issy, all their comitte guys are even worse the Red Sox guys, whats gonna happen there till Issy comes back.

Do u think the Royals are gonna go with Carasco over MacDougal, were those 10 saves lucky?

[jdh]

It's all really hard to tell. Clearly, Lyon is the BoSox closer for right now but long term, I can't see him keeping the job. They might try Person as a closer when he comes back, or more likely, they will realize how idiotic they were for not signing a legit closer on a contending team and then make a trade to get a real closer (probably Benitez or Williamson).

It's pretty obvious that eventually the Cubs are going to put Alfonseca back into the closer role, if for no other reason than they would like to let him prove he is still a decent closer so they could trade him to a team in need, like Boston, around the All Star break. Alfonseca, unless he totally bombs out in the next little while should be the closer by the end of the month I'd think.

I do think that MacDougal's 10 saves were pretty lucky. He has terrible control, walks as many as he strikes out and seems to have nightmarish command of where he places his pitches. He got lucky and pitched himself out of jams early in the year, but the last couple chances, he has been burned by beaning guys and throwing wild pitches in critical situations. Unless they can dramatically improve his control, I can't see him being a viable closer for too long more. If MacDougal falters, Carrasco is a possibility, but I would think that Grimsley would make the better closer. Pena might go to a committee with those two and MacDougal eventually.

[gses]

Ya I totally agree I for one traded for Macdougal after he got his 7th save. From there on he got a win and 3 more saves, after that he blew 2 saves badly, one of them 3 runs. The Royals started loosing and he didnt pitch for the last 2 weeks or so. I was able to trade him for Mariano Rivera.

Alfonseca is on the FA in my league and I would pick him up but have no room with Sosa and Hoffman on the DL. Alfonseca has been solid and I think he has to be given the chance sooner or later.

Who knows what the Red Sox will do. It was stupid like u said to trade their closer.

On the White Sox, I believe Marte is the real deal, 3 straight saves and all have been impressive. Billy Koch i think is the unofficial setup man.

[Super GM]

I posted a link to an article that will help you get an overview on the closer situations on different teams. The article is called "Don't panic on closers!". Have fun.

Incase you can't find the other post I'll just add a link to it here too.

http://games.espn.go.com/content/flb/20 ... age=shrink