Rockies’ Huston Street shut down…who’s the closer? UPDATE!

March 17, 2010

In what has become a painfully predictable annual occurrence, Rockies closer Huston Street is injured.  Aside from the fact that his 2008 with the Athletics destroyed my hope for scoring saves points, Street is one of the least reliable – and one of my least favorite – closers in baseball.  And today, he feels pain in his shoulder playing catch and is shut down, pending an MRI.

The obvious next choice is newly-signed reliever Rafael Betancourt…but he’s out with shoulder trouble too and manager Jim Tracy swears he’s an 8th inning-only guy.  So that leaves the two-headed monster of Manuel Corpas and Franklin Morales.  Both have closing experience (Corpas in 2007, Morales last September) but both are also boom-or-bust type pitchers who have had miserable springs.  Come to think of it, Corpas has had a miserable two years (even though he was the Rockies closer for 2 weeks last April), having been unable to recapture his 2007 mojo after replacing Brian Fuentes on the way to the World Series.  A converted starter, Morales took over last year after Street got hurt (really? Street got hurt?) and actually had a solid run as closer.  He saved 6 games in 9 days before running into a rough patch, but did show that he had the ability to get the job done (or at least as well as any other B-level closer).

So what do you do? Well, nothing yet.  In 2008, I drafted Cliff Lee and promptly cut him before the season started in favor of Miguel Batista who may or may not have been the Mariners closer that year.  He wasn’t, I lost Cliff Lee, and learned a valuable lesson – don’t fish for a player who may be worthless by cutting a guy you just drafted.  This is not your last chance to grab a closer, and these guys are really not that great.

FB101’s 411:  Jim Tracy said today its Morales…so pick him up.  Just don’t cut Cliff Lee for him, please.

Written by Jesse Mendelson · Filed Under Articles, Blog, M-Relief Pitchers, Miscellaneous, N-Relief Pitchers, Roster Management | 5 Comments 

Relief Pitchers

March 9, 2010

Closers

  1. Jonathan Broxton, LAD (7-36-114-2.61-0.96)
  2. Jonathan Papelbon, BOS (1-38-76-1.85-1.15)
  3. Mariano Rivera, NYY (3-44-72-1.76-0.91)
  4. Jose Valverde, DET (4-25-58-2.29-1.15)
  5. Francisco Cordero, CIN (2-39-58-2.16-1.32)
  6. Francisco Rodriguez, NYM (3-35-73-3.71-1.31)
  7. Joakim Soria, KC (3-30-69-2.21-1.13)
  8. Heath Bell, SD (6-42-79-2.71-1.12)
  9. Brian Wilson, SF (5-38-80-2.74-1.20)
  10. Andrew Bailey, OAK (6-26-91-1.84-0.88)
  11. Chad Qualls, AZ (2-24-45-3.53-1.12)
  12. Carlos Marmol, CHC (2-15-93-3.41-1.46)
  13. Ryan Franklin, STL (4-38-44-1.92-1.20)
  14. Trevor Hoffman, MIL (3-37-48-1.83-0.91)
  15. David Aardsma, SEA (3-38-80-2.52-1.16)
  16. Rafael Soriano, TB (1-27-102-2.99-1.06)
  17. Mike Gonzalez, BAL (5-10-90-2.41-1.19)
  18. Brian Fuentes, LAA (1-48-46-3.93-1.40)
  19. Huston Street, COL (4-35-70-3.06-0.91)
  20. Billy Wagner, ATL (1-27-52-2.30-0.89 in 2008)
  21. Bobby Jenks, CHW (3-29-49-3.71-1.28)
  22. Brad Lidge, PHI (0-31-61-7.21-1.81)
  23. Frank Francisco, TEX (2-25-57-3.83-1.12)
  24. Leo Nunez, FLA (4-26-60-4.06-1.25)
  25. Kerry Wood, CLE (3-20-63-4.25-1.38)
  26. Jon Rauch, MIN (7-2-49-3.60-1.21)
  27. Matt Guerrier, MIN (5-1-47-2.36-0.97)
  28. Joe Nathan, LAA (2-47-89-2.10-0.93)
  29. Octavio Dotel, PIT (3-0-75-3.32-1.44)
  30. Brandon Lyon/Matt Lindstrom, HOU (17 combined saves, ERA near 5.00)
  31. Jason Frasor/Scott Downs/Kevin Gregg, TOR (43 combined saves)
  32. Matt Capps/Brian Bruney, WAS (27 combined saves)

Middle Relievers/Saves Vultures

  1. Michael Wuertz, OAK
  2. J.P. Howell, TB
  3. Neftali Feliz, TEX
  4. Daniel Bard, BOS
  5. Takashi Saito, ATL
  6. Chris Perez, CLE
  7. Grant Balfour, TB
  8. Fernando Rodney, LAA
  9. Matt Thornton, CHW
  10. LaTroy Hawkins, MIL
  11. Chris Ray, BAL
  12. Rafael Betancourt, COL
  13. Phil Hughes, NYY
  14. Luke Gregerson, SD
  15. Dan Wheeler, TB
  16. Ryan Madson, PHL
  17. Joel Zumaya, DET
  18. Joey Devine, OAK (out all of 2009)
  19. Angel Guzman, CHC
  20. George Sherrill, LAD
  21. Franklin Morales, COL
  22. Brandon League, SEA
  23. Kevin Jepsen, LAA
  24. Juan Gutierrez, ARI
  25. David Robertson, NYY
  26. Hong-Chi Kuo, LAD
  27. Jason Motte, STL
  28. Ryan Perry, DET
  29. Juan Cruz, KC
  30. C.J. Wilson, TEX
  31. Joel Hanrahan, PIT
  32. Jeremy Affeldt, SF
  33. Phil Coke, NYY
  34. Ramon Troncoso, LAD
  35. Ronald Belisario, LAD
  36. Mark Lowe, SEA
  37. Kyle McClellan, STL
  38. Manny Delcarmen, BOS
  39. Hideki Okajima, BOS
  40. Ramon Ramirez, BOS
  41. Taylor Buchholz, COL
  42. Damaso Marte, NYY
  43. Peter Moylan, ATL
  44. Jim Johnson, BAL
  45. Pat Neshek, MIN
  46. Brad Ziegler, OAK
  47. Danys Baez, PHI

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