Our first week of baseball is just about in the books. I’m not sure I recall more bullpen upheaval in the first week of any season in recent memory. Who is sneaking up on incumbent closers? Who is knocking down the door? And what is DAS EFX doing in this column?

Chicago Cubs

I’m going to make this short and sweet. Acquire Kyuji Fujikiwa. Trade (or cut) Carlos Marmol. He is done. Dun dun dun dun dun, dun dun. Nothing else to see here.

Detroit Tigers

I covered the Tigers’ bullpen extensively last week. My analysis still stands. We’ve seen Phil Coke pick up a save (facing lefties) and blow a save (facing righties including the mighty Eduardo Escobar). It seems only Jim Leyland is unaware of Phil Coke’s inability to get right handers out.

Never you mind now though because Jose Valverde has been signed to a minor league deal by the Tigers! He has a May 5th opt out clause in this deal, but at this point I assume he’ll be up in the majors before long. Will he be the best closer out there? No. Will he be the best closer on the Tigers? Yes.

Jim Leyland wants one guy to close. He seems to trust Valverde (even after his late season implosion) and as long as Valverde hasn’t become Steve Blass or Rick Ankiel, he’ll probably offer value in most leagues. I went out and grabbed him on Thursday in a deep mixed league where I’m short on saves. He struggled a bit last year against lefties, but the Tigers have Phil Coke to take those save opportunities against lefty-heavy lineups.

Milwaukee Brewers

John Axford has instilled little confidence in the early part of the season. He gave up three home runs in his first two appearances after struggling to a 5.87 ERA in 7 2/3 spring innings.

The good news for Axford (and potential bad news for vultures waiting for him to give up the role) is that he had issues last year as well and lost his job for a while. He regained his job after fixing his issues so any vulture may only be a temporary one.

Jimmy Henderson picked up three saves last year and does have some experience closing in the minors. However, he’s struggled with some of the same control issues that have plagued Axford and isn’t a great bet to be any better than Axford. I do believe Henderson will have the job at some point this season, but may not have the skills to hold on to it.

Michael Gonzalez exists as well in the Milwaukee pen and he has closing experience at the major league level. But, that was long ago and Gonzalez is best suited for a match up role out of the pen. I can’t see him getting an opportunity to close for Milwaukee.

The dark horse in this race is Alfredo Figaro. Figaro got a little bit of prospect love when he was in the Tigers system (rating the #16 and #15 prospect in the system in 2008 and 2009 respectively). He had a cup of coffee in each of those years, and then disappeared into the minors and subsequently Japan. The scouting reports on him offered his ceiling as a bullpen arm and it looks like he’s finally being tried there at the major league level. As Marc Hulet of Fangraphs noted in 2009, Figaro did have a big ground ball profile (over 50%) early in his minor league career. If he can keep the ball on the ground and keep his K/9 rate at 7 or better, he’s got a shot to close at some point.

New York Mets

Frank Francisco threw an inning in a simulated game so it looks like he is on his way back to the big leagues at some point. However, there has been no clear indication when he’d return or what his role would be upon his return. Francisco is a free agent at season’s end and the Mets will likely want to see what they have in Parnell as he is still under Mets’ control for two more years beyond this season.

I can see Francisco coming back near the end of April and possibly taking the closer’s role back to build trade value so that he can be dealt at the deadline and Parnell closing the rest of the way. I see a pretty even split in saves between the two for the season.

St. Louis Cardinals

Jason Motte has an elbow injury that seemed to just ‘happen.’ He has a slight tear in his elbow and won’t be evaluated again until April 11. The linked report also notes that he is a ‘significant time away from picking up a baseball.’ That sounds like something that will keep Motte out of the closer’s role for an extended period of time. Could it mean the whole season? Possibly, but that’s not clear yet. However, I’d treat the closer situation as if Motte won’t be back until the All-Star break.

Mitchell Boggs is the current designated closer. He has just four saves in his major league career (and none in the minors). He doesn’t have wipe out stuff with a career 6.9 K/9 ratio (mostly as a reliever). He’s not the sexiest guy out there, but he has the job and likely has a pretty long leash because…

Trevor Rosenthal is the hot, young pitcher in the Cards bullpen and many assume he could ascend to the closer’s role. However, I think the Cards would rather he pitch multiple innings with the idea that he could be quickly and easily stretched out as a starter later in the year should the need arise. Rosenthal was the number 39 rated prospect by Baseball America coming into the season. He’s dominated at every level as he’s risen from a 21^st round pick in 2009 to potential star.

There are two other arms to consider in St. Louis – Fernando Salas (who held the closer’s job in 2011 and recorded 24 saves) and Edward Mujica (who has always had the ‘closer in waiting’ label, but has never been given a chance in the majors.  Salas has bigger stuff and is more of a strikeout pitcher and I see him as next in line. Mujica would need to see a lot of injuries in front of him to get an opportunity.

Toronto Blue Jays

Manager John Gibbons was nice enough to map out the bullpen hierarchy behind Casey Janssen.  There was some concern that Gibbons wouldn’t use Janssen on back to back days, but those fears were unfounded as Janssen pitched both Wednesday and Thursday. Janssen’s return from offseason should surgery seems to be progressing well.

Sergio Santos is the clear number two in Toronto and has closing experience of his own and has a better profile (not that Janssen is a slouch) as a closer. Santos will likely see the odd chance and is a good bet for five to eight saves for the year unless Janssen implodes.

Steve Delabar has produced mind-boggling K/9 rates in the majors (career ratio of 12.2), but didn’t have a save at any level until 2011. Drafted in 2003 out of Volunteer State Community College in Gallatin, TN in the 29th round, Delabar doesn’t have the pedigree that Santos (a former first round pick) has, but his stuff could be even better. Monitor him as the dark horse in this race and acquire him in leagues that value holds.

Digging deeper there a couple of options that may be in play for the Blue Jays – Esmil Rogers and Brett Cecil.

Esmil Rogers is a different pitcher as a reliever. His K/9 rate jumps from 6.7 to 9.4 for his career. However, he struggles with his control in either role. Should Rogers get a chance, I don’t expect him to hold the role for long as his propensity to walk hitters will quickly get him into trouble.

Brett Cecil was a closer as a college player at Maryland. He was converted to a starter because there was the belief that he had control and command of enough pitches to make the move. Unfortunately, he hasn’t succeeded and he’s in the bullpen for good. He would be a long shot to get the closing gig as the Jays would rather have him pitch multiple innings as a long reliever.

Chris is a contributor at TheFantasyFix.com and also writes at District Sports Page. Be wowed by Chris on twitter @chrisgarosi