2009 Closers Thread (No Game Commentary Please)

[gmq]

Oh, so you're allowed to edit my posts? Fascist mother @#)($**#s...

[gmq]

Rotowire says Joe Nelson would be next in line?

[as834625]

I think Howell will be next in line. The rest of the Ray's pen has been very inconsistent thus far. As far as the KC situation .. I think (gulp) Kyle Farnsworth will get the next save opportunity while Soria is still out.. he has been lights out lately.. so if you are in the market for some cheap saves over the next 10-14 days.. I think he is the add.

[DbacksRback]

wilson looked terrible giving up 2 er and the bs.....did hit 100 i think on a pitch though

[Syfo-Dyas]

What is the situation with BJ Ryan, is he worth owning at all anymore? Yahoo still has 61% ownership... I don't think Downs is giving BJ any reasons to get hopeful.

Lots of comments on the situation if you look at the last few pages of this thread.

Basically there are 2 viewpoints:

1. It is Downs job for now, but IFF Ryan proves to be near his old self, he'll be given his job back. Some of that has to do with his salary, but mostly it is just the theory that "star" players get their jobs back when they are ready for the job back. People in this camp, don't necessarily believe that Ryan will end up proving himself up for the job though, so it is still probably 50/50 at best if you believe what this group believes.

2. The only way Downs losses his job is if he stinks it up. He probably has a shorter leash than say, Rivera or Nathan or whoever, but he is now the closer, and he is going to have blow at least a few saves before he loses HIS job.

(I am in group 1 - if Ryan can close effectively, he will get a chance to do so)

Another reason why star players get their job back:
if they are performing well, they expect to be put back into their star spot. They know, if they lose it for good, they have to earn it back again the hard way, and nobody wants to do that. So if they don't get "their spot" back, they can get upset, frustrated, causing the loss of the right mind-set, and they start suck again.
(So in this case, suddenly instead of two good pitchers Toronto will have only one.)
Then they will start demanding to be traded.
And coaches can't allow that to happen, if theres anything they can do about it.

Then again, I don't know anything about Ryan personally.

[daullaz]

Check the front page tomorrow for a new Closer Complex, highlighting the possible closer candidates in Tampa.

[ChasingSaves]

Do we think Brian Wilsons job is in danger soon. He has allowed runs in 4 of his last 6 outings....basically ever since I traded Oswalt to get him. Affeldt next in line I'm guessing.

[quitesanemax]

As far as the KC situation .. I think (gulp) Kyle Farnsworth will get the next save opportunity while Soria is still out.. he has been lights out lately.. so if you are in the market for some cheap saves over the next 10-14 days.. I think he is the add.

Just curious to get some opinions. Cruz was just a temporary fix, so who knows? But do you really thinks he loses the temporary gig because of blowing up in one non-save situation after he hadn't pitched for a while? Before that he had been doing very well.

Max

[perlick29]

Do we think Brian Wilsons job is in danger soon. He has allowed runs in 4 of his last 6 outings....basically ever since I traded Oswalt to get him. Affeldt next in line I'm guessing.

I'd like to think that Affeldt or Howry would be next but roto did write a little while back that Merkin Valdez would be the primary setup man so it's something to monitor if Wilson keeps struggling.

[knapplc]

I'm not seeing a lot of talk about Ramon Ramirez, RP - BoSox. I'm looking to replace some dead weight on my staff and I'm seeing some really consistent scoring from him so far. In H2H he's got to be considered a viable candidate for - at the least - a bench spot.

In just under 23 innings of work he has a 0.79 WHIP and 0.79 ERA. He only has 13K/7BB, but he's bogarted four wins so far, and looks like a decent option to pick up more as the season goes on.

The kicker is, he's only owned in 13% of CBS leagues, so he's available for the asking.