Jeff zimmerman

[Guest]

Whens he coming back and will he for surely have the closer job now that irabu is doing good.

[Arlo]

I haven't heard any definite date mentioned yet. Zimmerman is just starting to throw again; we'll know more once we see how this goes. If he does return at full strength, I expect the Rangers to hand him the closer's role again, but even that isn't a given. If it were my decision to make, I'd probably leave well enough alone with Irabu and use Zimmerman as a setup man; the bullpen as a whole might be better off that way.

If you have him on your disabled list, be patient and hope for the best; if you're targeting him in a trade, don't give up too much for him until you've heard how his first throwing sessions went.

[2times]

I've read that the Rangers aren't sure if they will give Zimmerman the closer's job. The Rangers reasoning is that if they gave Zim the closer's job it would force Irabu to going back to the rotation or to a set up role, two roles he has not done well in. They are considering leaving Irabu as the closer because they think it helps his concentration and because Zim as we have already seen in years past, pitches very well in a set up role.