• Well it didn’t take long for us to have our first closer controversy in 2016 as John Gibbons announced that Roberto Osuna will be their closer on Opening Day. After trading Ben Revere for Drew Storen this offseason, it was assumed that Storen would be in the driver’s seat for the closing gig in Toronto but 2015 rookie sensation Roberto Osuna should take the job and run with it again. Adding insult to injury, after learning about his demotion from the closer’s chair, Storen allowed two runs in one inning of work yesterday. For those of you who had their drafts already, I’m sorry for your loss and you should try to convince the commissioner to hold the draft closer to Opening Day. For those of you who have not had their draft, please bump up Osuna’s value. While there is very stiff competition at the top of the relief rankings (these are a bit outdated and we hope to have an update soon), Osuna was darn impressive as a 20-year old and I could see him touching the top ten by the end of 2016.

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Guess what’s back. Back again. OK, so we probably aren’t quite nightly yet (although we should hit the wire a handful more times before opening day). And the closer grid may need some tweaking as final roster cuts get made. This is our spring training. But, hey, at least there’s something to read at midnight again.

First goal is to get a semi-functional grid out tonight. Don’t worry, iterations to come. As for some notes and notes…

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Some of this is being repeated from the Primer piece that went up this morning. 

We’re bringing them to you earlier this year, but that also means that they’re far from set in stone so take that into consideration as you peruse them. There are still strong arms on the free agent market, let alone all the moving and shaking that happens once players start reporting to camp.

• Outfielder (Jan. 18)
• Starting Pitcher (Jan. 20)
• Shortstop (Jan. 22)
• First Base (Jan. 25)
• Catcher (Jan. 26)
• Second Base (Jan. 27)
• Third Base (Jan. 28)
• Reliever (Jan. 29 courtesy of the Bullpen Report crew-today)
• DH (Jan. 29-later today)

We’re using Yahoo! eligibility requirements which is 5 starts or 10 appearances. These rankings assume the standard 5×5 categories and a re-draft league.  If we forgot someone, please let us know in the comments and we’ll make sure he’s added for the updates. If you have questions for a specific ranker on something he did, let us know in the comments.

We can also be reached via Twitter:

• Paul Sporer
• Alan Harrison
• Darren Schienbein 
• Benjamin Pasinkoff
• Colin Zarzycki
• Brad Johnson
• Paul Kastava

There will be differences, sharp differences, within the rankings. The rankers have different philosophies when it comes to ranking, some of which you’re no doubt familiar with through previous iterations. Of course the idea that we’d all think the same would be silly because then what would be the point of including multiple rankers?!

Think someone should be higher or lower? Make a case. Let us know why you think that. Like I said, it’s early. Things are going to change.

The chart is sortable and by default it’s sorted by AVG. If a ranker didn’t rank someone that the others did, he was given that ranker’s last rank +1. That would be 61 for Alan and Paul K., 56 for Colin, 54 for Ben, and 51 for Brad. They are indicated in red on the chart.

Key:

• AVG– just the average of the seven ranking sets
• Adj. AVG– the average minus the high and low rankings
• SPLIT– the difference between the high and low rankings

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Through the first half of last season, the A’s ranked 2nd in baseball in starting pitcher’s ERA. They were also tied for 1st in HR allowed per 9 and second in the AL in GB%. Offensively, the A’s were 5th in the AL in runs scored, entering the All-Star break with a +44 run differential. And a -9 win differential. So what happened?

Well, they were terrible defensively. They ranked 29th in Defensive Runs Above Average and UZR and led the AL in unearned runs. With catcher Stephen Vogt rating as 2015’s 8th worst pitch framer, it’s a wonder the rotation fared as well as it did. And the bullpen? Is a -0.1 WAR something you might be interested in? Me neither.  

Out of contention by the trade deadline, Billy Beane traded Scott Kazmir, Ryan Cook, Tyler Clippard, and Eric O’Flaherty. Then in the offseason, he exiled Jesse Chavez to Canada, Evan Scribner to the Mariners, Drew Pomeranz to the Padres, and lost Dan Otero on waivers and Edward Mujica to free agency. Caught all that? 9 pitchers, most of whom started 2015 in the East Bay, gone.

But you know the good news? The A’s never tear it down completely. In rebuilding his pitching staff, Beane assembled an intriguing posse of youngsters and Methuselastic veterans you might not recognize if you were sitting next to one on BART. Your league mates definitely won’t either.

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Injury is perhaps the greatest vehicle of luck in sports. The haphazard bounce of the ball, twinge of the tendon, strain of the muscle — these things not only rob the player of playing time, but they also keep them from performing at 100%. And though we’ve had some success predicting injury, mostly on the basis of past injury, we haven’t come that far. Even the most basic advice with respect to injury wouldn’t have helped us avoid this trio of injured backstops, anyway.

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Aroldis Chapman helped your ratios again last night, striking out a pair in his inning of work. Sure he didn’t garner a save, but sweet fancy Moses did he look good. Jeff Brantley is on the shelf, so don’t roster him. Mark Melancon pitched a scoreless top of the ninth, helping my Scoresheet team, but doing nothing for your saves category. Kent Tekulve missed the game when the wind blew his hat down the street and he had to chase it. He has glasses, so his vision is already compromised.
Jeff Manship has pitched almost 40 innings and has an ERA under 1.00. I’m guessing you haven’t rostered him, and I don’t blame you! He did go 1.7 last night, striking out a pair and only giving up a solitary baserunner. What did you do last night? Jeff Manship is on Cleveland.
Tom Henke and Duane Ward were unavailable last night, so Brett Cecil and Roberto Osuna paired up to strike out three Rays in the ninth.
Arodys Vizcaino lowered his ERA again last night and firmed up his grasp on the Braves closer role for 2016. Don’t be shy about keeping him if you’re in a deep league, he’s likely going to be earning saves in Georgia next year. Hopefully in Atlanta, not Gwinnett. John Rocker is nursing a sore hammy and is unavailable this weekend.
Shawn Tolleson pitched his fourth day in a row on Friday for the first time ever. Well, probably not ever, but at least in documented history. The Rangers are in the first inning as this is being written, but maybe Keone Kela sees a save opp today? Joe Smith picked up his fourth save though, and if the Angels get saves the next couple days, he’s the guy, as Greg Minton is down with a bum being old.
David Robertson struck out two as he saved his 34th of the year Friday night. Bobby Thigpen was probably enjoying being retired at an early age. I could probably look him up and see what he was doing, but I’d prefer to just think he was saving more important things than baseball games. Like his money?
Wade Davis emphatically saved his 16th game for the Royals on Friday. Mark Davis was unavailable for comment. Well, maybe he was available, I just didn’t bother reaching out. And even if I did, like he’d talk to me!
Michael Feliz was tasked with protecting an 18-run lead on Friday and he didn’t disappoint. The Astros walked away with a win, even though Feliz gave up a pair of runs . He struck out two and let four batters reach base. A couple of them scored. This Feliz won’t help your ratios.
Dennis Eckersley was dealing with a body issue and was unavailable, so Sean Doolittle ripped a save on Friday night and Ryan Dull held the nuts out of that game.
Thanks for reading my nonsense this year. I’m just a small part of the bullpen report machine, but this is my last outing of the season. I apologize for costing you hella skrilla, but I tried my best. Sweet winter dreams y’all. There will be a bullpen report on Sunday to get you through the winter!

Closer Grid:

[Green light, yellow light, red light: the colors represent the volatility of the bullpen order.]

Here’s just a quick handful of bullpen notes for this whacky Thursday slate in baseball:

At the time of this writing 11 of the 12 games scheduled for today are in the books. And at the time of this writing each of the 11 games have finished with a save. The 12th game — Colorado at Arizona — is in the final frame and also in a save situation. Looks as if we could go 12-for-12 in games and saves on the day. Has to be some sort of record. Right?
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It’s the last Wednesday of the regular season and Adam Wainwright pitched in relief! He’s not going to crack the grid, but it’s sure nice to see him return.

Brad Boxberger picked up his 40th save of the year. That moves him into a tie with Huston Street, whose groin will not permit him to pick up another save this year. The Box could have the most saves in the AL. With an ERA well north of 3.50. He’ll be closing the rest of the season if you need some saves. Jake McGee is there if he gets tired, so don’t sleep on him. He’s probably lumpy anyway.
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• He allowed a two-run homer to Lucas Duda, but Ken Giles otherwise held on for his 14th save of the year. Giles was a top tier non-save relief option last year and he’s kept it up this season while accumulating saves. His K% dropped to 29.6% from a ridiculous 38.6% last year but a 30% strikeout rate is still elite and although he’ll continue to close on the Phillies, Giles should be a prime target in 2016.

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• Although Matt Williams let Jonathan Papelbon stay in the game after his throat grab on Bryce Harper, he’s now been suspended by the Washington Nationals for four games. Other people have been discussing the fight all day so I’ll only talk as it relates to the bullpen. I wouldn’t necessarily expect Papelbon to be welcomed with open arms after his suspension is over so his days of closing might be done this season and possibly even next year as well. I’ve removed him from the grid, putting Casey Janssen in his place. Matt Thornton threw a scoreless ninth today in a four-run game and could also be used in the ninth in Papelbon’s absence.

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