Greetings everyone. I registered today and this is my first post. I am in a 5X5 league and I have attempted to trade Armando Benitez 3 separate times. (I have 3 additional closers currently: Issringhausen, Nunez, and Nenn.) I have Lowe, Pedro Martinez, Appier, Burnett, Duckworth. amd Tomko for SP's. My 3 separate trade offers for Zito, Vazquez and Wood were declined by 3 teams in my league who are, in my estimation, hurting for closers. Am I asking for too much?
My writing skills are lacking today! To clarify, I offered Armando Benitez to one team for Zito, Benitez to a second team for Kerry Wood, and Benitez to yet a 3rd team for Vazquez. What is your thoughts on carrying 4 closers or do I need to upgrade my starters?
This site is cool. I hope that more people will join soon. In advance, thank you for your input!
I would definitely have taken Benitez for Wood in a 4x4 league, although in a 5x5 with K's counting, Wood gains a lot of value. Vazquez is undervalued by almost everyone, so I'm very surprised that that guy didn't accept as well, and Zito is pretty much in the same boat with Wood. All 3 starting pitchers will contribute more K's than Benitez, and their Wins will pretty much offset his Saves. So they might have more value than him.
It's fairly close, although if the other teams were hurting for saves, I'm a little surprised that no one bit.
In terms of "objective" value - assuming there is such a thing - I'd rank the three starters you mention a bit higher than Benitez, although it's close enough that I'd trade one of them for Armando if I were truly hurting for saves. One thing you could try is adding one of your lesser sp's, Appier for instance, to the offer, and asking the other guy to add a second-tier closer in return.
On the whole though, I see nothing wrong with carrying four closers as long as you have daily lineup changes. You'll dominate saves, get great peripheral stats on a per inning basis, and be in the driver's seat when mid-season trades come around. Sure, adding another top sp couldn't hurt, but your rotation is excellent as it is.
If you can make a deal of this nature, great - if not, you should still be in great shape, especially if your hitters are equally good.
Personally, by the way, I'd hang on to Benitez even if you could land a top starter, but take that with a grain of salt - I'm a sucker for closers and the tactics they allow you to use...
Thank you Obi-Wan and Cub Fan for your response. I am in 2 leagues at the present time. My league with the 4 closers is dominating and in 1st whereas my second team in struggling and in 9th. I am actually enjoying the challenge of rebuilding my 9th place team, but there is only so much one can do. (I actually acquired both Rueter and Radke this week and as you know, they kicked tail yesterday!)
Do you think Nunez will continue his dominance for Florida or will his stats suffer once the Marlins begin to dump some of their players?
Tough question. I think Nunez will be solid all season, but not as lights-out as he's been lately. I'm not too concerned about a Marlins sell-off at the moment, even if a couple more moves are likely, but he isn't getting enough k's for my taste. Also, while he's been great so far, he has a bit less job security than most other closers. If you want to deal him, now is definitely the time, but I think his owners will be satisfied with the rest of his season as well.
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by 84' Tigers » Wed May 08, 2002 4:05 pm 
