Madson's Value: How hard a Hit?

[Fireball Express]

Uggie is now the Phils' new set up man. How big a hit does Madson's value take in a Holds league?

[nosoup4u]

Madsen will cover all close innings that are not the 8th and 9th.

[George_Foreman]

his value goes back up to where it was at the begining of the year. i drafted him to be a very good semi-long reliever. he vultured more than a few wins last year, and it's because the phils used him as a guy to bring in when they were losing in close games to keep them close. this gave him opprotunities to vulture wins that an 8th inning-when-your-up guy doesn't have. since my league doesn't count holds, i see this as strictly an improvement.

[BobbyRoberto]

Madson had one brutal outing in mid-May, in which he gave up 6 earned in 1/3 of an inning. His ERA is currently 3.51 but without that one game, it drops to 1.91. He's been great, especially if you're in a Holds league. Now, even though Urbina is there and will be the 8th inning guy, I think Madson will still have enough Hold opportunities to be valuable, like Linebrink and Otsuka did last year with the Padres.

[ike301]

with all said, what tier does madson rank as a MR?

[matmat]

madison does take a hit from time to time, I think.
(you gotta excuse me my eyes are still mostly shut from the night).

seriously, though. he probably will get 1/2 to 1/3 fewer hold chances than he has had thus far.

[Secret Avatar]

I picked up Madsen with the hope that he'll end up replacing the injured (and injury-prone) Wolf in the rotation. Madsen was a starter that was made into a reliever. Uggy's presence means Philly doesn't need Madsen as an 8th-inning guy. He's got some great stuff and could be a valuable starter. If he does get moved into the rotation, his value with sky-rocket IMO.

[AKhomebrewer]

Part of me would like to see Madson in the rotation as well, but I doubt the Phillies are thinking along those lines. Long relievers are far more valuable to real teams than to fantasy teams, and he's one of the better ones around.
His holds will slip, but he should still provide nice ERA, WHIP and K/9 numbers while vulturing the occasional win. In a holds league he's still a solid 2nd-tier MR; in non-holds, probably the top of Tier 3 (graded as 1) solid closers; 2) other closers and lights-out set-up guys; 3) untested closers-in-waiting and guys who help with peripherals in a favorable situation.