Fantasy Baseball Closer Hot Seat - AL

June 22, 2010 @ 12:00:00

By Bryce McRae
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.

Mound meetings

• New York Yankees closer Mariano Rivera's fastball has consistently been in the low 90s after sitting around 89 mph in '09. His heater has even reached 95 mph, according to a report.
  Mo is up for free agency, and the vet is open to working on one-year deals akin to how starting pitcher Andy Pettitte has. Oh, and Rivera has retired 21 straight batters. What's that about wine and aging? Maybe it also applies to the Yanks stopper.

• Mo: still going strong ... for how long?

  Chicago White Sox manager Ozzie Guillen stayed away from closer Bobby Jenks over the weekend because the burly righty is nursing a sore arm. The injury is not believed to be serious.
  J.J. Putz (righty) or Matt Thornton (lefty) would be in line to close in his stead, probably depending on the situation. Putz earned the save Sunday, though Thornton faced the more dangerous hitters in the eighth inning.
• Andrew Bailey gave up a tying home run in the ninth inning of the Oakland Athletics' 6-4 loss yesterday. He kept the damage to one run; Michael Wuertz and Cedrick Bowers were responsible for the four runs scored by the Cincinnati Reds in the 10th inning.
• The Baltimore Orioles' Mike Gonzalez (shoulder) threw a scoreless inning in the Gulf Coast League today as he started his rehab assignment. He could return in a couple of weeks.

Fantasy Baseball Closer Hot Seat: AL | NL

Fantasy baseball closer depth charts: AL | NL

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Bryce McRae
Bryce McRae is a Managing Editor with KFFL and has been involved in fantasy sports since 1999. He joined KFFL as a volunteer writer in March 2005 before becoming a Hot off the Wire Analyst in March 2006. He began working in his current capacity in September 2008. His work has appeared on fantasy sports sites such as Yahoo! and CBS Sportsline as well as in print. He graduated from the University of British Columbia in 2008 with a B.A. in History and U.S. Studies.

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