Top 10 Closers

[Pogotheostrich]

There seems to be a lot of different opinions on who comes after Smoltz and Gagne. Just wanted to see what everyone thought.

1. Smoltz
2. Gagne
3. Foulke
4. Wagner
5. Rivera
6. Guardado
7. Percival
8. Izzy
9. Williams (yes I know the era is over 6 but he has 25 saves and a safe job)
10. MacDougal

[easygoing]

1. Gagne
2. Smoltz
3. Wagner
4. Percival
5. Foulke
6. Kim
7. Guardado
8. McDougal
9. Worrell
10. Izzy

That would be my top 10 for the next half of baseball

[pkarr5000]

1. Mariano Rivera- hardest to hit off of
2. John Smoltz- overpowering plus has so many pitches...
3. Eric Gagne- lots of offspeed stuff with good control
4. Keith Foulke- one of the best changeup pitchers
5. Billy Wagner- rare southpaw is fastest thrower
6. Mike MacDougal- throws 100 with movement
7. Jason Isringhausen- throws lots of late-moving pitches
8. Troy Percival- uses fastball most of time, has decent curve
9. Scott Williamson- good fastball with overpowering slider
10. Danys Baez- can cut, sink, or throw a straight fastball

[stupidllamas]

1. Gagne
2. Smoltz
3. Wagner
4. Foulke
5. Kim
6. Percival
7. Guardado (his ERA's been getting up there lately)
8. Williamson
9. McDougal
10. Izzy

[jdh]

1. John Smoltz (more saves, lower ERA and WHIP than Gagne)
2. Eric Gagne (lots of Ks)
3. Keith Foulke (plenty of saves and vulture wins makes him great fantasy closer)
4. Billy Wagner (great K's but can't take him over Foulke due to injury risk)
5. Mariano Rivera (should get more save opps second half, but injury risk is always there)
6. Troy Percival (ditto what I said for Rivera)
7. Byung Hyun Kim (plays for great team, always been a stud at closer)
8. Tim Worrell (Not a great closer but team he plays for makes him very valuable for this year only)
9. Matt Mantei (Extreme injury risk, but with RJ and Schilling back and DBacks looking to make a run, save opps will be there. His strikeout rate is second only to Gagne.)
10. Eddie Guardado (very overrated, mediocre repetoire at best)

[pkarr5000]

if this is just in general, hoffman and nen both belong in my list.

[d]

Smoltz
Gagne
Foulke
Rivera
Kim
Wagner
Percival
Williamson
Guardado
Baez

[Guest]

Smoltz
Gagne
Foulke
Rivera
Kim
Wagner
Percival
Williamson
Guardado
Baez

baez

[Lofunzo]

easy and stupid.......I don't see how you guys could have a Top 10 list of closers and NOT have Rivera on it. Injury risk or not, he's gotta be in the top 3-4. Actually, other than Smoltz and Gagne RIGHT NOW, is there anyone definitively that anyone would rather have than Rivera? Best money closer out there. You guys also can't use the injury card here because you have Izzy on your lists.

While I see your list, I respectfully disagree. I would go with this list with a little room for movement after the first 7. After 7, there are a lot of guys that you could mix and match there. Here goes:

1. Smoltz (over Gagne because of experience)
2. Gagne
3. Rivera
4. Percival
5. Wagner
6. Foulke
7. Kim
8. Guardado
9. Izzy
10. Baez

And that is leaving 3 potential slots for a HEALTHY Sasaki, Nen, and Hoffman. I just switched Smoltz and Gagne because if this was in the playoffs in a big spot, I would rather have Smoltz than Gagne with the ball. I would have moved up Rivera as well but I don't want to go crazy with this.

[kentx12]

Gagne sucks. He single handedly cost the Braves home field advantage in the worls series.

Smoltz
Gagne
Rivera
Foulke
Wagner
Percival
Kim
MacDougal
Izzy
Worrell