With the trade deadline looming and injuries affecting many contender’s bullpens, non-contending teams will start listening in on offers for closers. Many of these closers will lose value in roto leagues, but in holds leagues such as ottoneu or any other league that accounts for holds, the value of these relievers is still prevalent. Some teams may be looking to ditch these relievers as the deadline nears, but if you are looking to solidify your bullpen for the stretch run of the season, these closer trade candidates could be solid targets.
Read the rest of this entry »

Relief pitchers qualified at starters are great assets for fantasy teams with a limited number of RP slots (and IP limits). These pitchers can be played when a starter has a day off to pad a team’s rate stats. Also, they are a great source of creating Holds and on the rare occasion,a few Saves. Here is a look at some of the top SP qualified RP so far in 2012.

Brett Myers – 2.08 ERA, 6.6 K/9, 1.7 BB/9, 15 Saves
Brett’s main value comes from the Saves he generates. His strikeout rates are not ideal for a RP, but his low walk rate allows him to maintain a decent K/BB (4.0) and low WHIP (0.83). The one huge issue with Myers is that he may end up getting traded to a contender and lose his closer role

Read the rest of this entry »

Eric Wedge announced that Brandon League will regain his ninth inning role sooner than later, which is upsetting to Tom Wilhelmsen owners but is refreshing for those who have stuck with League through his early season struggles.

Despite Wilhelmsen’s three consecutive saves in three straight opportunities, he may soon be moved back to the set up role. In keeper or dynasty leagues, Wilhelmsen is certainly the player to target if you are looking for the closer of the future in Seattle. With League being an impending free agent, Wilhelmsen will most likely take over the role for next season. If League pitches well over the course of the next month and a half, he could even be a trade candidate for a team looking for right-handed pitching help.

Read the rest of this entry »

•After blowing his first save of  the year on Sunday, Rafael Soriano would have been available to pitch on Monday if it weren’t for a blister that developed on his pitching hand. Putting any blister issues to rest tonight, Soriano finished the game retiring the Braves in order while striking out two batters for his 10th save of the year. Boone Logan recorded the final two outs yesterday and although Soriano’s performance tonight likely means Logan will have little chance of seeing the ninth inning, it’s worth noting that he has quietly put together an excellent season with a 2.53 xFIP and an outstanding strikeout rate (13.29 K/9). Logan is still better used as a situational reliever as he has a minuscule .268 wOBA against left-handed hitters and a less than spectacular .347 wOBA against right-handed hitters, but should still be a solid contributor to holds and strikeouts for those in need of any relief help.

David Robertson meanwhile pitched another scoreless inning today in triple-A on his rehab stint and could join the Yankees over the weekend. The Yankees have previously said that Soriano will remain the closer even when Robertson returns and I see no reason why that won’t still be the plan based off of Soriano’s work tonight.

Read the rest of this entry »

•Texas Rangers reliever Robbie Ross doesn’t pitch in too many high leverage innings and isn’t close to being in line for any save opportunities, but after pitching four innings yesterday for win he is now 6-0 in 34.2 innings pitched this season with a shiny 1.30 ERA.  Ross’ 3.34 xFIP and 5.71 k/9 aren’t quite as jaw dropping but they aren’t particularly terrible either.  Roster space can be a very valuable thing and I wouldn’t recommend using a spot on a reliever who isn’t close to saving games and doesn’t have strikeout potential but if your league gives points for innings pitched, Ross could be a compelling add. He’s pitched the second most innings in the majors out of the bullpen this year and figures to continue that trend as we approach the Texas heat with a Rangers rotation battling with some injuries at the moment.

Read the rest of this entry »

• After we last left you on Friday night, Brian Fuentes had a mini-implosion versus the Diamondbacks, taking a win off the board for the A’s and Tommy Milone and probably taking himself out of the ninth inning on a full-time basis. On Saturday, Bob Melvin told assembled press before the game that he was going to use — something every fantasy owner longs to hear — a committee. Fuentes will remain in the mix for saves but Ryan Cook and Grant Balfour will get opportunities based on their availability and matchups.

Cook has been the sleeper darling of the group since the first few weeks of the season, putting up a sparkling 0.69 ERA in 26.0 IP so far in 2012. While his strikeout rate has been solid (8.7 K/9), his walk rate has been anything but (5.2 BB/9). Free passes are nothing new to Cook who had 9.2 BB/9 in limited action at the big league level for Arizona last year in addition to 4.2 BB/9 down at AAA. Thanks to the walks, a low BABIP (0.119) and the fact that he has allowed no homers this year with a 48.3% fly ball rate, his xFIP is a less-than-appetizing 4.39. Balfour’s fastball velocity and, subsequently, strikeouts are down this year (7.0 K/9, compared with a career average of 9.7), and his walk rate (3.9 BB/9) and xFIP (4.40) are nothing to write home about, either. Ironically, Fuentes still has the best peripherals of the three, thanks in large part to his 2.0 BB/9 (3.95 xFIP). Unfortunately for him, a poor strand rate (64.5% LOB%) and HR/FB% nearly four points above his career average (12.5% versus 8.4%) has his ERA the worst of the three at 5.24.

Read the rest of this entry »

• The Cubs bullpen situation is an absolute mess. Yesterday, Shawn Camp and James Russell (the two guys Dale Sveum publicly anointed as closers in the wake of Carlos Marmol’s demotion) pitched in the seventh and eighth innings, leaving the door open for what (at the time) appeared to be a Casey Coleman save opportunity (Coleman never got the opportunity, and took the loss in extras). Tonight, Russell straddled the seventh and eighth innings (giving up a run) while Camp got his crack at the ninth. In typical Cubs bullpen fashion, he immediately gave up a screaming single (off the left field wall, no less) to Josh Willingham and a Justin Morneau triple to blow the save before inducing a few weakly hit balls in wriggling out of the jam and getting the game to extras. At this column’s press time, that’s where the game was. Sveum left him in to pitch the tenth, and he gave up a walk and a couple singles to take the loss.

Read the rest of this entry »

Josh Lindblom

With 13 holds, Josh Lindbolm has the third highest total in all of baseball. This past year, Lindblom was rated the fourth best prospect in the Dodger’s system by Marc Hulet (8th by Baseball America), so the talent in the arm is certainly there. He has a big ERA-FIP split, as his 2.51 ERA is nearly half of his 4.98 FIP. Both numbers should begin to converge, as his HR/FB% will likely not remain at 18.2%. Lindblom has a nice fastball and slider mix, with both his four-seamer and two-seamer sitting in the low 90’s. A guy like Lindblom can help right now in a holds league and should be in the set up role for the next number of years. In dynasty or deep keeper leagues with high keeper totals that use holds, Lindblom is definitely an attractive target.

Read the rest of this entry »

In late February, the Astros shocked the baseball world by announcing they’d be converting longtime starter Brett Myers into the bullpen to serve as closer. Considering that the Houston rotation looked incredibly thin beyond Wandy Rodriguez & Bud Norris, many questioned the logic beyond trading ~200 innings of Myers as a starter for ~60 innings of him as a reliever. A third of the way through the season, the move has worked out reasonably well for the surprisingly competitive Astros, as Lucas Harrell & J.A. Happ have capability bolstered the rotation and Myers entered play on Tuesday tied for fourth in the NL with 14 saves, making him one of the few to survive the unending turnover and volatility in the ninth inning so far this year. Though I hardly need to remind you that saves don’t exactly equate to quality and that Myers’ sparkling 2.25 ERA isn’t backed up by his 4.08 FIP, saves are still a mainstay category in nearly every fantasy league, and that alone makes Myers valuable.

Yet it’s also that value which comes from saves that’s exactly why he’s one of the best sell-high players of the first half of the season. Read the rest of this entry »

• He’s mortal! Aroldis Chapman finally gave up a run tonight, and it only took him until the Reds’ 56th game to do so. The run came after consecutive doubles in the 10th inning of a tie game, but one run was enough for the Pirates who held on for the victory. Obviously, I think we all expect mass drops in many leagues tonight which should send Chapman’s ownership value plummeting. OK, maybe not. However, one thing for Chapman owners to keep in mind — he is on pace for 87 innings, which is well above league-average for a reliever generally appearing in single-inning, high-leverage situations. It wouldn’t be out of the question for the Reds to dial back his workload a bit, especially since they’ve historically treated him pretty softly when it comes to pitching multiple days in a row.

Read the rest of this entry »