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2011 Fantasy Baseball Week Four Closer Report: Mariano Rivera Still Top Dog

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Sunday marks the first day of May and also marks one full month of baseball, meaning its a good time to step back and rerank the top 40 relievers for fantasy. These rankings are my answer to the question, "Who would you rather have right now and for the rest of the season?" I will do these rankings the last week of each month, and we'll keep track of any big jumps or drops. Feel free to leave any and all thoughts in the comments. Any stats are up to date as of the 29th of April.

1) Mariano Rivera
2) Heath Bell
3) Huston Street
4) Joakim Soria
5) Jonathan Papelbon
6) Brian Wilson

The top two guys are the same as the preseason with Rivera and Bell leading the way, and the top four are still in this month's top six. Joining them in the top six are red-hot Huston Street at #3 and Jonathan Papelbon at #5. Both guys are deserving of their spots, having shown no problems through one month of this season.

Huston Street is leading the league so far in saves with 9 and has an ERA and WHIP ahead of both Joakim Soria and Brian Wilson. My only concern is his usage rate, as he has already pitched 15.1 innings, the most of anyone with at least 2 saves. At some point, the Rockies as going to have to slow down in the use of him, which will open the door for Matt Lindstrom to get some saves.

Jonathan Papelbon has withstood a slow start by the Boston offense to post a K/9 rate of about 11, as well as a sub-2 ERA and a sub-1 WHIP. If he had 7 or 8 saves rather than just the 5 he has, I would be inclined to put him as high as #1, but #5 is the right place for him at this moment. Many Red Sox fans were hoping he would be traded in the offseaso, and he wasn't a sexy pick in fantasy drafts, but both fans and fantasy owners should be very happy with what they've gotten
from him so far, and can expect more of the same.

7) J.J. Putz
8) Carlos Marmol
9) Neftali Feliz (DL)
10) Jose Valverde
11) Leo Nunez
12) Craig Kimbrel
13) Chris Perez

J.J. Putz was a guy I was high on in the preseason due to his past success as a closer and he has continued that success in Arizona. He's been a great value in the late rounds of your draft and there's no reason to believe that will change. Putz is a no-worry closer for me, a guy I just plug into my lineup and just let him go. If there's an owner in your league that doesn't believe, there is a chance for you to pick up a great value if you can buy him from a nonbeliever.

Leo Nunez has been lights out this season and has shown great improvements in his ERA and WHIP numbers without dropping his solid 9.00 K/9. At age 27, his career stats make me wonder if he's turning into a stud pitcher or if he will spend the rest of the season regressing to the mean. I want to see him continue to succeed before he cracks the top 10, but there's definitely a possibility there.

14) Francisco Rodriguez
15) Jordan Walden
16) Kyle Farnsworth
17) Mitchell Boggs
18) John Axford
19) Joel Hanrahan
20) Brandon League
21) Andrew Bailey (DL)
22) Drew Storen
23) Francisco Cordero

One of the biggest surprises may be the early success of Kyle Farnsworth, who is 1-0 with 5 saves, no blown, a 1.23 ERA and an 0.82 WHIP. He has taken the closer job in Tampa and run with it, allowing Jake McGee to set up games in a less stressful role. McGee may be the guy for the future, but Farnsworth is giving Tampa very good innings.
I now believe Farnsworth is the guy for the rest of the season barring an injury, and McGee may get spot duty when Farnsworth is unavailable.

Washington got its good innings out of Sean Burnett at the beginning of the season, but lately Drew Storen has been the closer for the Nationals after Burnett had a couple rough outings. Storen has not allowed an earned run in his last 10 outings and has yet to blow a save. If Storen continues to play this well he will join that elite group of closers in no time. He is definitely a guy that should be targeted in keeper and dynasty leagues.

Andrew Bailey is another coveted closer in keeper and dynasty leagues, especially for his low ERA and WHIP numbers. At age 26, he is well known for those numbers and his low number of blown saves while in the closer role. Unfortunately, he's been banged up this year and has yet to pitch, spending this first month on the DL. He's been throwing
bullpen sessions earlier this week, but it still looks like it'll be a couple weeks before he'll be back. If he's been dropped in your league and you have a DL spot available, he should definitely be owned.

Francisco Cordero is a guy I was down on in the preseason and with reason; most closers don't last with a 1.36 career WHIP. But he is having a resurgence at age 35 and has the closer job locked down in Cincinnati, allowing Aroldis Chapman to get used to the major leagues in a setup role. If he can continue on a similar pace, his ERA and WHIP numbers would be some of the best of his career (currently 1.80 and 0.90 respectively). I still have a little worry about him, so don't get too attached, but enjoy the ride while its still going.

24) Jonathan Broxton
25) Ryan Madson
26) Matt Capps
27) Jon Rauch
28) Jose Contreras (DL)
29) Brandon Lyon
30) Brian Fuentes

The news of the week has been the confusion around Jonathan Broxton's job status with the Dodgers. The end result seems to be a committee involving Broxton, currently injured Hong-Khih Kuo, and Vicente Padilla. Padilla got the save chance Wednesday night and was successful in the 10th inning of a game against the Marlins. I wouldn't drop Broxton until we see Kuo come back and the situation clears itself out, but Kuo might be an interesting pickup if you have
an available DL spot.

Jose Contreras has been put on the DL with a forearm strain and is expected to miss 3-4 weeks, allowing Ryan Madson to take over the closer role. Madson this year has been good with an 0.90 ERA and a 1.00 WHIP. Madson has the chance to take the closer role past the return of Contreras and if he does not, he will continue to be a successful setup guy. I wouldn't hang on to Contreras unless you are already struggling for saves and there are no other options available.

Brandon Lyon is the closer in Houston just by sheer lack of competition, and he clearly knows it giving up a 4.82 ERA and a crazy high 1.82 WHIP. Really the only thing he's contributing in is saves but as long as he keeps the job he could get 30 saves. There won't be many blowouts by the Houston offense which may give him more opportunites for saves than normal. He's not a very desirable option, but he's serviceable as a 3rd or 4th closer on your team.

31) Sergio Santos
32) Kevin Gregg
33) Joe Nathan
34) Chris Sale
35) Hong-Khih Kuo (DL)
36) Matt Lindstrom
37) Jonny Venters
38) Koji Uehara
39) Fernando Rodney
40) Darren Oliver

Sergio Santos is the most interesting name of this group, clearly having the most upside of any of them in that atrocious White Sox bullpen. For the time being, he'll get the save chances against right handed lineups with Sale and Thornton splitting the left handed lineups. Santos has the chance to take over the role permanently and a good couple weeks of saves should do the trick.

Many of these guys are the second man in the bullpen and will get the save chance when the primary closer is unavailable due to use. Lindstrom is the highest ranked of that type of guy as closer Huston Street will surely have to rest after pitching the most innings this early in the season. Venters will get an occasional chance, and has been a good strikeout guy. Fernando Rodney will get chances to give Jordan Walden a rest and hasn't been as bad as people thiink this season. All three are worth rostering in deep leagues and will give you save chances every once in a while.

Others Receiving Votes
Antonio Bastardo
David Aardsma (DL)
Sean Burnett
Jeremy Jeffress
Frank Francisco
Matt Thornton
Brad Lidge (DL)
Sean Marshall
Arthur Rhodes
Jake McGee

Written by Jim Dingeman (@gentleman_jim) exclusively for www.thefantasyfix.com

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