Before we get to the closer report, I want to throw a little plug in for the my FantasyFix podcast debut. You can catch me and Brett Talley talking baseball here. Enough shameless self-promotion. Did you pick up a save in the Marlins bullpen this week? It sounds like just about anyone who can throw a ball from a mound has a shot there. And just as I thought I was going to write 1000 words on the Marlins bullpen, Friday night implosions and injuries saved me (and you).

And I’m a sucker for plaintains so you get another week of Rodney and his plantain.

Miami Marlins

“We’re going to use everybody.” – Mike Redmond when asked who his closer is. Everybody? Me? You? Everybody? The Marlins don’t get a ton of save chances and likely won’t for the remainder of the season. However, a closer is a closer is a closer. When you are chasing saves (as I am in a couple of my leagues) any little indication of a new closer option gets your antennae up. The saves leader coming into this week was Steve Cishek, but he isn’t very good. What other options exist? Mike Redmond mentioned two by name so I’ll cover them below.

Chad Qualls had been a pretty horrible pitcher for the last few years. He was actually a closer at one point racking up 50 saves over three seasons. He’s pitched quite well this season, but I’m not sure it can continue. He’ll get his chances, but there aren’t many to be had in the Marlins bullpen. I would not speculate with Qualls at this point. He offers little at this point in his career and I can’t see him being successful as a closer.

Mike Dunn is a lefty who is generally used as a lefty specialist (though he’s been relatively effective against righties throughout his career. That said, I think he’d be a matchup closer and again would not be worth speculating on at this point.

A.J. Ramos is still my pick to close at some point this year. He’s a got a solid minor league track record and has performed well out of the pen this year.

Milwaukee Brewers

So, what do we have here? Jim Henderson left Friday night’s game with a hamstring injury. From reading the Twittersphere or Interblogs or whatever it looks like the injury is serious enough for Henderson to require a stint on the DL. If this was a week and a half ago, there would be little doubt that they’d try John Axford back in the role. However, there is a new sheriff in town.

Francisco Rodriguez came in for Henderson after he left and picked up the save throwing two pitches to get the final out. Quick quiz – how old is K-Rod? No cheating. Give up? He’s just 31 years old. I was stunned by that, but looking back he did come up as a 20 year-old in 2002. I think Rodriguez is the play here. Axford was available, but the Brewers went with Rodriguez. What does Rodriguez have left? He wasn’t terrible last year, but he certainly wasn’t great. I think the Brewers see what they have here first. If they can build some value in Rodriguez they could look to deal him at the deadline to a team desperate for bullpen help.

Axford has improved a bit, but he’s still prone to blow up outings. I think he maintains a setup role while Henderson mends. I don’t believe the Brewers have enough confidence in him yet.

Anaheim Angels

Garrett Richards picked up a five out save Friday night with Ernesto Frieri assumed to be unavailable after his 35 pitch outing the night before. Frieri has given up runs in his last three appearances (where he’s picked up two saves). His 16 walks in 20 2/3 innings does not engender a great deal of confidence in closing out games consistently. I think this may be the beginning of the end (at least for a short term) of Frieri as the closer. Richards makes an intriguing option as he has the stuff to close games that would play up out of the pen.

I could also see the Angels putting Jerome Williams back there (once Jered Weaver and Tommy Hanson return. Williams won’t have a spot in the rotation (though I could see Hanson or Joe Blanton losing their spot in the rotation as well).

Digging deeper, Scott Downs and Dane de la Rosa could be options. Downs has closed a bit in the past for the Angels. De la Rosa has some experience in the minor leagues at the job, but doesn’t seem to have enough to get it done in the majors.

This is a situation to monitor this week and be ready to pounce should Mike Sciosciamake a change.

Los Angeles Dodgers

In more closer confusion, Dodgers’ manager Don Mattingly refused to name a closer invoking the Jeff Spicoli.  Kenley Jansen blew a save last Saturday and gave up two runs in 1/3 of an inning against the Braves on Sunday. He hasn’t pitched since and there is no news of an injury.

Brandon Leauge’s last appearance was a clean inning against the Brewers in a 9-2 Dodgers win so perhaps he’s inched back past Jansen for the moment.

Jansen is still the long term play here and Paco Rodriguez continues to be a dark horse. I don’t see Roland Belisario has an option. Javy Guerra hasn’t been an effective pitcher for nearly a year even though he was the closer to start 2012.

Tampa Bay Rays

I covered the Rays’ pen in some detail last week. And I covered them a bit in the podcast above (and advised host Brett Talley to hold Junichi Tazawa, drop Rex Brothers and pick up Joel Peralta). Fernando Rodney did nothing this week to assuage any fears we have about his performance going forward. Joe Maddon was kind enough this week to come out and say that Rodney remains the closer and there hasn’t been a discussion about it. Well, except this one.

Joel Peralta is still the one to own in the Rays pen should Rodney finally be replaced. There is no instant gratification here though. Maddon has shown he’ll give a lot of leeway to his veterans. And part of this may be self-serving for Maddon as well. If he moves Rodney out of the closer’s role, where does he put him? Likely not into Peralta’s role as he’s too shaky. Perhaps it’s more important for us to look for who might replace Peralta as the setup man. If Maddon has someone to move into that role, he’d be more likely to slot Peralta in to close games.

Close Calls

Jose Veras blew a save Friday night giving up a three-run homer to Oakland’s Chris Young. It’s his second blown save this month, but he has been lights out since his early season struggles. Entering last night’s contest, he’d struck out 14 batters in 14 1/3 innings over his last 14 appearances while giving up only four hits.  He’s earned enough credit to keep the job for a lot longer than one poor outing. And, really, who would the Astros slot in there in his place? Wesley Wright? Hector Ambriz? Meh…

Andrew Bailey returned from the DL and promptly gave up a HR to Paul Konerko in his first appearance. The Red Sox will monitor his workload and shy away from using him on back to back days so Junichi Tazawa continues to have some value and should see five to eight saves for the remainder of the season. Also, Koji Uehara seems like a fun guy to hang around with. Just have your head on a swivel.

There was intrigue in Colorado earlier this week as Rafael Betancourt had some issues with his groin. Those turned out to be minor and Betancourt was available Friday night. Rex Brothers picked up a save in his absence and would be the closer if Betancourt misses time. I know many have discussed Wilton Lopez as the handcuff here, but I just don’t see it. Brothers is the more talented pitcher and has a longer future with the Rockies than Lopez does.

José Valverde es Papa Grande. That’s all. See everyone next week.