Holds...

[GotowarMissAgnes]

Sauerbeck is out because of the surgery. I just forgot to cut him out.

[LBJackal]

This thread somewhat died, so I thought I' d bring it back to life because holds don't get enough attention.

I think Mota is projected for too few holds. Quantrill is outta there and all the holds that don't go to lefty specialist Tom Martin will go to Mota, who was awesome last year. Him and Valverde could be huge this year, and along with Lidge and Donnelly, I think those 4 are the best ones. But Mota and Valverde didn't get a lot of holds last year but should do so this year, so are great "sleeper-holds guys" IMO. I really like Valverde for this year (he was 2nd in K/9 last year to the best of all time - Eric Gagne) but people don't realize how many K's he can get because he only played in a partial season last year. If Mantei gets traded or injured (pretty good chance that one of those will happen) then Valverde will be a great closer option.

[Guest]

totally agree - not enough is said about Valverde, but i like it that way.. his k ratio was amazing last year

[GotowarMissAgnes]

There's a good chance Mota could get more, though don't forget that they have Shuey out there, too. My guess is that those two split Quantrill's holds evenly, unless one of them emerges as ineffective. I also doubt that the Dodgers starting pitching will be as effective this year, leading to fewer hold opportunities.

Valverde does have Koplove, Lyon, and Villareal as competition for RH set-up. The D'backs also don't seem to settle into a consistent pattern of reliever usage and have taken a step back in starting pitching this winter.

But, still, those are probably low for Mota and Valverde.