I like Rhodes off that list. I am a believer in situations having a huge impact on performance, and as recent history has shown us, whoever is closing for OAK is money in the bank.
Rhodes- great staff in front of him, B.Beane picks good closers
Nathan- He is going to get the job IMO. JC romero struggled big time last year and craine isnt quite ready
Looper- i think the mets will be a decent team and that ballpark is good for pitchers
Kolb- limited body of work, crappy, eternally rebuilding team.
I agree with that, but if its a keeper league, I might be inclined to roll the dice with Nathan if this is your 2nd or 3rd closer. He definitely has the most upside of the four.
Seriously though, he was a stud second half of last year. I don't expect huge numbers out of him, but most people will pass him by for the David Riske's of the world.
Nathan
Rhodes
Kolb
Looper
"If I have seen further it is by standing on the shoulders of giants."
-Isaac Newton
1. Rhodes - On the fact that Billy Beane seems to have a magical touch with closers and because of all that foul ground.
2. Looper - He's in a good pitchers park, he's got a pretty good k/bb ratio, and the competition isn't stiff. He's got a 3.72 career era, so he's not that bad.
3. Nathan - He was good last year in SF, but he reached the majors late, he has a 4.94 cumulative minor league era, and I think that last year was a Hammond-like fluke.
4. Kolb - I think he'll lose the job by May. The guy has a 1.51 whip for his career. Sure, he was better last year. But so was Esteban Loaiza.
Good point about Kolb--he is a prime cnadidate for the "mediocre closer on crappy team" syndrome, i.e., he isn't good enough to be viewed as long-term solution by the crummy team he pitches for, so he gets traded at midseason to bolster a bullpen of contender and becomes completely worthless. It happens all the time.
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by ferris182 » Tue Feb 10, 2004 12:05 pm 
