Fantasy Baseball Closer Hot Seat - AL

June 18, 2010 @ 11:50:00

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)

 

Cleveland Indians

Closer: Kerry Wood

Understudy: Chris Perez

Wood hasn't registered a save in 13 days, though in all fairness he hasn't had a chance since his June 10 gaffe. Wood's dominance is down, but his groundballs are up, and he has a strand rate that is already improving. After a disastrous May, Wood has posted a 3.60 ERA with just 1.80 walks per nine in five June innings.

It's hard to justify trading anything significant for Wood to try to buy low, though, especially since he's real-life trade bait himself with Perez waiting in the wings. It's unlikely that saves would be available for dirt cheap, too, and you'd have to assess your willingness to accept the risk of Wood entering setup duty elsewhere.

If you own Wood, try to secure Perez if you're short of saves outside of Cleveland; the former has room to make strides this season, and if he remains a stopper, he could pay dividends.

Job security score: 3

Health score: 3

Mound meetings

• What would you swap for Wood?

  The Oakland Athletics are aiming to restrict Andrew Bailey's appearances to one inning this year in order to keep him fresh and divvy up more defined bullpen roles to other relievers.
  Well, yesterday against the Chicago Cubs, Bailey entered in the eighth with a one-run lead and the bases loaded. The righty surrendered a run-scoring sac fly to blow the save.
  Bailey's new restrictions - if kept - might take away some save chances if more immediate outs arise earlier in the game, but you shouldn't let this affect his fantasy stock.
• Bobby Jenks' stellar June is solidifying either his closer duties or his trade value. Another two K's highlighted a scoreless Chicago White Sox save Thursday. He has walked just one batter while registering 13 K's in letting up just one run in 8 2/3 innings this month.
• Neftali Feliz reportedly was supposed to rest for the Texas Rangers yesterday but instead pitched a scoreless ninth for the closure. Safe bet he won't be in for a save if the need arises tonight.
• The Kansas City Royals' Joakim Soria might be held out tonight as well; his Thursday save was his second appearance in as many days.

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.

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