Welcome back to the Closer Report. As always, we have news from the most volatile position in fantasy baseball. On with the show…

Boston Red Sox

This is the next hot spot in bullpens across MLB. I can see a lot of carnage here before the season is out. Joel Hanrahan was in trouble at the end of last season. His walk rate spiked to 5.4/9 after back to back seasons below 3.5.  He’s not going to last long in his role if he can’t get his walks under control. Andrew Bailey is next in line and should be owned in most leagues as a speculative saves guy. The Red Sox have more than enough behind Bailey (Koji Uehara and Junichi Tazawa each have skills to close and close well).

The deep league acquisition for me is Rubby de la Rosa. I know that many believe he should start. And, in the long term, the Red Sox will try to stretch him out. However, he’s not going to pitch more than 120 to 130 innings this year. I think they will be quite cautious with Rubby and he could see some work in high leverage situations in the major league pen late in 2013.

Chicago Cubs

I have a feeling we’re going to see the Cubs on this report every week. Carlos Marmol was kind enough to pick up a win this week after everyone benched or dropped him. Then, Friday afternoon, Kyuji Fujikawa picked up a win after he gave up three runs to blow the save.

It’s still Fujikawa’s job and I believe Dale Sveum will have a longer leash with him (even if it’s just to keep Marmol off the mound in high leverage situations).

Is there anyone else to consider? James Russell and Shawn Camp have been mentioned as potential fill-ins. They don’t offer much – Camp is a righty and is 37 years old; Russell is a lefty and the son of a former big league closer. Beyond that, I can’t see either getting a chance and even if they did, I don’t hold out much hope for success.

Digging extremely deep, we head to Iowa to the Cubs AAA affiliate and find 28 year old Blake Parker closing games. Parker has spent his entire minor league career as a reliever amassing 60 saves over 244 appearances with a 9.6 K/9 ratio, but a 4.3 BB/9 ratio. He’s not on the 40-man roster, but stranger things have happened.

Kansas City Royals

Greg Holland has not instilled confidence so far this season. He’s struggled with his control – he’s walked six batters in three IP. Manager Ned Yost has sent mixed signals by endorsing Holland by day and then inserting Kelvin Herrera into a save chance that night.

The clear handcuff to Holland is Herrera. Herrera has been lights out in the early season. He’s bring top-notch skills to the role. I think he could succeed and be a top 10 to 12 closer for the rest of the season if the job is exclusively his. I don’t think Yost is ready hand the keys over the Herrera.

Aaron Crow also picked up a save, but I don’t expect much more out of him this season. He pitched because Holland and Herrera were both unavailable. Crow is probably third on the closer depth chart, but he’d need a couple of injuries or awful performances of epic proportions to snake the role from Holland or Herrera.

I still believe Holland will lead the Royals in saves for the season, but he needs to figure out his issues quickly as Herrera is ready to go.

Washington Nationals

Rafael Soriano is fine as a closer, but I have my concerns about the rest of the Nationals’ bullpen (as tonight’s implosion illustrated so nicely for me).

Tyler Clippard has thrown the second most pitches over the last three seasons in the majors.  Maybe that arm is finally fraying at the edges.

Drew Storen looks to have not fully regained confidence in his stuff. Perhaps he’s still wary of his elbow injury or maybe that sapped some power from him man he hasn’t figured out how to adapt. ‘

Monitor this situation as the Nats may have problems bridging the gap between the fifth or sixth inning when their starters tie to the ninth.

Close Calls

Jimmy Henderson is in as closer for the Milwaukee Brewers. John Axford is out. I can see this job changing hands a couple of more times before the season is out. Neither of these guys is to be trusted.

Jose Valverde finally made it to America and threw an inning in the instructional league. I still believe he leads the Detroit Tigers in saves this season even if Jim Leyland said Joaquin Benoit is his closer.

Jason Motte is likely done for the season with a tear in his UCL. Mitchell Boggs is the closer du jour in St. Louis and has a relatively long leash. He’s not flashy, but he can get the job done as long as he can ensure that his BB/9 rate doesn’t equal his K/9 rate (as it does now) in the future. Trevor Rosenthal is a must own as he will have value even if he doesn’t close.

Glen Perkins was inserted to pitch the ninth inning of Friday night’s blowout loss. He was kind enough to give up two runs which should surprise no one. Perkins is fine. It’s Ron Gardenhire who might some professional help. Perkins is a top 10 closer in my eyes – nothing to worry about here.

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