MLB Closer Watch 2012

Baseball closer is not a position with much job security. We update our Closer Watch grid daily in-season (and pretty often off-season) so you know who's in line for saves with each MLB club.

Update: TOR5/10/2012

Still looking for the right combination, the Toronto Blue Jays shook up their bullpen again today, demoting volatile closer Francisco Cordero and escalating Casey Janssen to closing duty, at least for now. Sergio Santos, cleared to resume throwing after sitting out the last two weeks, is still another dozen games away from ready to return to the bullpen, giving Janssen a two-week window in which to firm up the job.

[ Last Update: Thu, 05/17 ]

HOU
HOU		 Myers 
Lyon 
Lopez 
Gervacio 
Rh-Cruz 
 Brett Myers, who was actually the most reliable starter in the bunch, was named official Astros closer at the opening of Spring Training, a role he hasn't filled since 2007 with the Phillies. Behind him is the so-so Brandon Lyon, but Wilton Lopez is certainly as capable here. As longer shots, Sammy Gervacio should be back from surgery this year, and sneaky dark horse pickup Rhiner Cruz (if he sticks on the roster) could even sneak into the role by June. And then there's David Carpenter, who could also do the job in a pinch. If you're getting the idea this is a very messy bullpen situation, you're right.

 
CHC
CHC		 Dolis 
Marmol 
Wood 
Corpas 
Bowden 
Weathers 
 The rebuilding Cubs finally bit the bullet, giving someone other than the too-much-excitement Carlos Marmol a chance to close games for the team. Rafael Dolis is capable, and has looked good in early action, so unless he stumbles hard, he should be good for some serious closing time. Marmol, always better in setup anyway, is joined by Kerry Wood and Manny Corpas as backup options, with young Casey Weathers the best of the long-term home-grown options for the future.

 
CIN
CIN		 Marshall 
Chapman 
Arredondo 
Simon 
Masset 
Madson (DL) 
 A great reliever is better than a flaky starter, especially when that starter suffers elbow soreness while stretching himself out. So front office posturing to the contrary notwithstanding, we suspect Aroldis Chapman will get at least one more year in the bullpen for the Reds, though he'll be jousting with fellow lefty Sean Marshall and new Red Alfredo Simon for the closer's role this time around. (Often-overlooked Jose Arredondo would actually be a safe choice here, too.) Beyond that, the team looks awfully thin in the relief corps, so some additional trades should be in the offing before midsummer, too.

 
MLW
MLW		 Axford 
Rodriguez 
Veras 
Braddock 
 Antihero John 'Snidely' Axford has quietly grown into one of the most reliable closers in baseball. With Franky Rodriguez returning again for at least one more season of trying to increase his Free Agency value, the Brewers will have a back-heavy but capable bullpen for 2012. Lefty breakout Zach Braddock remains one of the next-best arms overall, despite sophomore struggles. Other than the Axford, this bullpen could still look pretty different come midseason.

 
PIT
PIT		 Hanrahan 
Meek 
Grilli 
Resop 
Leroux 
Watson 
 Pittsburgh has churned through a half-dozen veteran closers in the last several years, but no matter how good or bad they have been, their opportunities to impact games were always severely limited by the eternal ineptitude of the Pirates as a team. You can't save a game if you never have a lead. Should the Pirates ever turn the corner and return to credibility, Evan Meek remains the best of the home-grown options going forward, despite his struggles in '11.

 
STL
STL		 Motte 
Salas 
Boggs 
McLellan 
 Now that the LaRussa / Duncan era is over, will the Cardinals take up the tradition of actually naming a closer? If so, Jason Motte seems to have done the most to earn it, though Fernando Salas was no slouch in 2011, either. Veteran Octavio Dotel, such a big part of the Cards' historic push in 2011, is gone again, but he shouldn't be missed much: this bullpen is solid.

 
ATL
ATL		 Kimbrel 
Venters 
O'Flaherty 
Hoover 
Vizcaino 
 Atlanta's young setup duo of Craig Kimbrel (right) and Johnny Venters (left) was excellent again in 2011, even though Fredi Gonzalez received some heat for overusing the baby arms. Unless either one breaks down in March, it seems very very likely that they'll be used in the same 1-2 punch that almost took Atlanta to the playoffs. And on a slightly more-refined and seasoned Braves team, they might actually make it this time. Young Arodys Vizcaino, one of the next wave of phenom Braves arms, should open the year in the bullpen, though he'd be better deployed as a starter in seasons to come.

 
MIA
MIA		 Mujica 
Bell 
Cishek 
Hensley 
Oviedo 
Buente 
 Heath Bell remains the marquee name in neon Miami, but he has a bevy of high-power arms behind him now, all ready to take over at any time. Edward Mujica is Ozzie's most trusted hand, but there are other options, too, including the impressive (and overperforming?) 2011 rookie Steve Cishek and an older man with a new name, Juan Oviedo (a.k.a. Leo Nunez). While the exact ordering of this bullpen is pretty tenuous, its overall quality should be quite reasonable, no matter who does what.

 
NYM
NYM		 F-Francisco 
Rauch 
R-Ramirez 
Parnell 
Byrdak 
 The Mets were nobody's latecomer at the 2011 winter meetings, and it looks like they were well aware of the sad state of the bullpen in Flushing. In addition to landing workhorse Ramon Ramirez, the team quickly signed free agent closers Jon Rauch and Frank Francisco. We like Franky two-times to close here, but any of the newest three Mets could perform better in the ninth than the 2010 bullpen. Tim Byrdak remains the invaluable LOOGY here, with hard-throwing Bobby Parnell very likely to hold a late-inning job as well. Suddenly the Mets bullpen looks pretty good, even if the roles are pretty interchangeable.

 
PHI
PHI		 Papelbon 
Bastardo 
Qualls 
Aumont 
De Fratus 
 The Phils sure know how to play fantasy-style baseball in the real world, jumping out quickly to snag the biggest name closer on the market in Jon Papelbon for a long-term deal. Papelbon is exciting, and can be frustrating, but his fiery personality should fit in just fine in feisty Philly. Of course, with a returning rotation still topped by workhorses Halladay, Lee and Oswalt, it's possible the Phillies could finish dead last in save opportunities for their new prize, too. If Papelbon breaks down and Bastardo can't do the job this year, the two most interesting relief options on the Philly farm are probably ex-starter Phil Aumont and young Justin De Fratus, who looked great at the tail end of 2011.

 
WAS
WAS		 H-Rodriguez 
Lidge 
Burnett 
Clippard 
Storen (DL) 
 The Nats were counting on first round pick Drew Storen to hold down the role of everyday closer in 2012, with Sean Burnett as the nominal lefty behind him, but Storen's April arm problems threw a monkey wrench into that plan. Veteran Brad Lidge is the name brand backup, but young Henry Rodriguez is the premium choice with the most long-term upside: his heat is tough to top.

 
ARZ
ARZ		 Putz 
D-Hernandez 
Ziegler 
Shaw 
Saito 
 The Diamondbacks have been through more relievers than most entire divisions during the past few seasons, and 2012 doesn't look to be much more stable. The signing of free agent Takashi Saito could help a little, but this still looks a lot like a team struggling to build an identity from spare parts. Mature rookie Bryan Shaw, whose revitalized cutter looked great late last season, is a sleeper candidate here.

 
COL
COL		 Betancourt 
Belisle 
Brothers 
Roenicke 
 With Huston Street gone to happier fields in San Diego, Colorado's closer situation is a bit up in the air once more. There's an assortment of veterans and scrap parts available: Rafael Betancourt has been around the block more than most, which should give him the inside track. For the long-term, Colorada's always preferred to look within, so this year could be interesting. Casey Weathers, a premium college closer working his way up the farm system, was shipped to the Cubs in the offseason, but fellow youngster Rex Brothers looks ready to rock even sooner. This will be a great young bullpen in 2014 or so.

 
LAD
LAD		 Guerra 
K-Jansen 
MacDougal 
Troncoso 
Coffey 
 It's hard to nail down what the half-rebuilt Dodgers will do in the bullpen for 2012: Lefty Hong-Chi Kuo underwent surprise elbow surgery (his fourth) in the winter and will try to re-revive his career elsewhere. That means that unless the team brings in someone new, it'll be young Javy Guerra (the early choice) and Kenley Jansen (most scouts' preference) holding down the job early on, with import Todd Coffey acting as extra setup support.

 
SD
SD		 Street (DL) 
Thayer 
Cashner 
Gregerson 
Frieri 
 Huston Street, one of the best closers in baseball no matter what uniform he changes into, will take over for Heath Bell in San Diego for 2011. Street was 29-for-33 in save opportunities in homer-happy Colorado last year, and he's got to be pleased to be upgrading his environment to the cavernous Petco Park. He's signed through 2011 with a 2012 player option that he's now almost certain to select, if the Padres don't sign him longer-term first. Young Andrew Cashner, part of the winter trading flurry, is a great setup candidate for now, and a good rotation candidate in years to come.

 
SF
SF		 Casilla 
Romo 
Affeldt 
Lopez 
Wilson (DL) 
 Sergio Romo might be the team's best reliever, but it's Santiago Casilla who gets the first chance to fill in for the shelved Brian Wilson, leaving Romo on familiar ground. Wilson won't return until mid-2013, but in the meantime, it's never a bad thing to have too much bullpen.

 

Notes and Updates

Update: TOR5/10/2012

Still looking for the right combination, the Toronto Blue Jays shook up their bullpen again today, demoting volatile closer Francisco Cordero and escalating Casey Janssen to closing duty, at least for now. Sergio Santos, cleared to resume throwing after sitting out the last two weeks, is still another dozen games away from ready to return to the bullpen, giving Janssen a two-week window in which to firm up the job.

Update: NYY5/10/2012

David Robertson, handed the second Yankee save opportunity since Mo Rivera went down for the count, promptly blew it to smithereens, giving up four earned runs in the ninth as the Yankees lost 4-1 last night. Robertson'll probably get another chance, though the other obvious choice, Rafael Soriano, could also get the opportunity next time. Robertson, remember, has been very good in the eighth for quite awhile now.

Update: SD5/9/2012

It looks like Dale Thayer, rather than Andrew Cashner, is the Padre-of-choice to close during Huston Street's absence. Thayer racked up his second consecutive save tonight, and hasn't given up a run in six innings of work overall.

Update: CHW5/8/2012

Because we need less clarity: despite reports he would close, Chicago manager Robin Ventura deployed Chris Sale to protect a lead in the eighth inning tonight. When Sale blew his first opportunity of the year, Ventura turned to Hector Santiago and then Addison Reed to tidy up, with Reed ultimately earning the comeback save. As we have been saying since January, Reed is the prettiest choice here, but we have little confidence in our own ability to predict Ventura's bullpen use. This isn't a condemnation of Ventura, of course.

Update: SD5/6/2012

Huston Street will take at least a 15-day breather to rest a sore right lat muscle, giving Andrew Cashner ample opportunity to raise his own stock value.

Update: MIA5/6/2012

Edward Mujica has officially replaced Heath Bell as the Marlins' closer, at least for the time being. Considering the size of Bell's paycheck, it seems likely he'll return to the job later, once he manages to get comfortable in lower-pressure situations.

Scouting Book Home Page