Is This Good Enough To Win Saves?

[YankFan51]

I got Borowski(Alfonseca on bench as backup), Lyon, Mike Williams, and Politte?

[The Jury]

You'll be fine in head to head. If you're playing roto, I think you'll finish somewhere in the middle in a 10 team league.

[Guest]

can't really say without knowing the other teams' rps.

but most likely not.

[sinicalypse]

i don't think so. it all depends on what the teams with gagne and smoltz are doing. those two closers are sure to tear it up for ~40+ saves this season... so if they're on good teams with other complimentary closers like a jose mesa, jorge julio, braden looper, jose jimenez.. then you will probably not compete for the lead in saves.

i think that alfonseca will get his job back within a month, but from there, you['re looking at maybe 20-30 saves tops, depending on how well the cubs do. other than that one HR to scott podsednik the other day, pulpo has looked quite fine. lyon isn't a sure thing. mike williams is ~30-40 saves, one of those complimentary closers i spoke of... and politte? well, you know, he might have a chance to save 30 because those scrappy blue jays are near .500 and their offense looks pretty good thus far. so between williams and politte (assuming that he holds the closer's role), you're looking at 50-60 saves. you hope for 20-30 out of borowski and alfonseca.

so look at the teams with gagne and smoltz. know that they've likely got half of your aggregate total with just one of those two studs, and then see how many complimentary closers they've got. that should tell you where you stand.

[jdh]

Probably won't be enough depending on whether one team in your league has all the elite closers or something. Mike Williams has really been struggling, and you can't expect anything close to last year's save totals. Expect 30 saves or so from him, although if he doesn't pull it together he could lose his spot. Lyon has no job security, and will likely be dumped at the first major implosion. Don't expect more than 15 saves from him.

I think that Politte will be fine as a closer, but he is unproven, and the Jays tend to either lose or really blow their opponents out. Few close games mean few save chances, so don't expect more than around 20 saves. Borowski has been shaky, so Alfonseca will likely get a shot soon, but he has been a shaky closer at best in the past so expect maybe 25-30 more saves between Alfornseca and Borowski, given that the Cubs are a decent team. There is an outside shot that Alfonseca will be dealt to a contender, with Borowski becoming their permanent closer. That would obviously help your save totals, but you can't count on that happening, just consider it a bonus if it does.

Essentially, what you are sorely lacking is an elite closer. In order to be in the top few teams in saves, you need to normally have one elite closer (I'd consider the elite closers to be Gagne, Smoltz, Foulke, Wagner, Percival, Guardado and Benitez), one mid range closer (Williams, Sasaki, Urbina type guys), and a couple of low end closers that you can probably grab from waivers during the season as closer situations clarify. Politte, Borowski, Alfonseca, and Lyon are all low end closers.

Basically, you need to make a deal to acquire a top closer, and then maybe offload two of your low end closers to another team for an offensive upgrade.