Fantasy Baseball Closer Hot Seat - AL

April 30, 2010 @ 12:30:00

By Tim Heaney
Edited by Nicholas Minnix

Fantasy Baseball Closer Hot Seat: AL | NL

Fantasy baseball closer depth charts: AL | NL

In fantasy baseball, the closer position remains volatile. Rarely does every closer hang on to the job for an entire season - injuries, poor performance and managerial decisions can cloud a team's bullpen picture.

Should you be concerned about a struggling stopper? Which relievers are climbing the depth chart? Are any injuries popping up? KFFL.com's Fantasy Baseball Closer Hot Seat keeps you informed when you're looking for saves.

Key

Job security (JS) score	1 (unstable) to 5 (untouchable)
Health (H) score	1 (injury-prone) to 5 (durable)

 

Baltimore Orioles

Closer: Committee

Understudy: Alfredo Simon, Jim Johnson

Lurkers: Cla Meredith

Disabled list: Mike Gonzalez (shoulder), Koji Uehara (hamstring)

Orioles manager Dave Trembley said Simon wouldn't have been available Wednesday. The skipper, however, also said he wouldn't be as careful with Simon as he was with Danys Baez last year. Baez was returning from Tommy John surgery; Simon had the procedure last May.

Simple, Simon? Said Skipper, seemingly

Trembley is confident that Simon can pitch on back-to-back days eventually. His decision to avoid the righty Wednesday was likely influenced by Simon's 29-pitch Tuesday, which went that long mainly because of an error by Baltimore shortstop Cesar Izturis.

You can't write Johnson out of the interim saves picture, but given Johnson's struggles in slamming the door, Simon is in a better spot to lock down the position outright with more successful outings.

Uehara remains a dark horse. He'll be a one-inning reliever when he returns from the DL, which could come as early as next week.

Job security score: 1

Health score: 4

Mound meetings

• Though Neftali Feliz remains the top stopper for the Texas Rangers, a note: Frank Francisco was warming up in the 'pen Wednesday after their lead was cut to one run in the ninth. The tying run was on first, and if Feliz hadn't retired what was the final batter, Francisco would've relieved him.

Fantasy Baseball Closer Hot Seat: AL | NL

Fantasy baseball closer depth charts: AL | NL

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Tim Heaney

Since the Boston University alum joined KFFL in 2006, his work has been featured by USA Today/Sports Weekly and Yahoo! Sports, among numerous publications.

Tim competes in Tout Wars and LABR and appears every Wednesday on 1570 AM WNST in Baltimore, as well as frequently on Sirius XM Fantasy Sports Radio.

Follow him on Twitter.

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