Middle Relievers for Roto?

[yakimancan]

Which guys do you think are the "glue" guys that you should have on your team for middle relief. Guys like Kuo last year and Heath Bell, Taylor Buccholz that keep your numbers down. Every year it's a different group, just seeing early on if anyone has any favorites this year to finish very well.

[silverZ]

Well I thought Shields/Arrendondo combo would help my ratios after a few bad starts from my staff. Boy did that blow up in my face. Now I'm rocking Madson, Nunez, Cruz, Ray, R.Soriano.

[yakimancan]

Any thoughts on a guy like Ramon Ramirez? Middle relievers are impossible to predict.

[j24jags]

GTWMA's Holds thread is very popular and is a great list of MRs. Obviously he takes holds into account, but what separates the great from the good is the ratios (ERA/WHIP/K/9), there's tons of usual info in that thread

[jsphlly]

If R. Soriano is available I'd grab him. Good K's and ratios, think he'll get a few more SV opps here and there when the matchups present themselves.

[BrewCrew6]

Octavio Dotel for K's

[MasterX1918]

I have Ramon Ramirez in a few of my leagues. Andrew Bailey in Oakland is pitching really well also but i'm not sure how long he'll keep it up. Putz is probably a solid pickup as well even though he's had a couple of cruddy outings.

[AussieDodger]

I have Ramon Ramirez in a few of my leagues. Andrew Bailey in Oakland is pitching really well also but i'm not sure how long he'll keep it up. Putz is probably a solid pickup as well even though he's had a couple of cruddy outings.

Putz hasn't really gotten in the groove yet - we can blame WBC on that.
Good to see no HRs and OK control so far.

[Spartans Rule]

Middle relievers are impossible to predict.

Key thing to remember about MRs is when you only pitch 70 IP or so per season, you're subject to a lot more variance than SP. Sabathia's ERA was just a touch under 5 when he reached 70 IP last year - if he was a reliever, that's his season right there.

You can get a pretty good idea of which MR are actually the best pitchers by looking at K, BB and HR rates. I try to find guys who are consistently good in those categories over the span of a couple years. Manny Delcarmen is an example that's working well for me this season.