David Aardsma – Seattle Mariners

Chris Perez – Cleveland Indians

Kevin Gregg – Toronto Blue Jays

John Axford – Milwaukee Brewers

Joel Hanrahan – Pittsburgh Pirates

Drew Storen – Washington Nationals

Alfredo Simon – Baltimore Orioles

Aaron Heilman – Arizona Diamondbacks

David Aardsma – see above under Ryan Franklin.  Aarsdma has blown four saves this season and has also walked 16 batters over 34 1/3 innings.  With the chances of the Mariners actually having a lead during the ninth inning slim, Aardsma has little fantasy appeal.

Chris Perez finally ends up where he belongs – pitching in the ninth and closing out games, but too bad it’s for the Cleveland Indians.  With Kerry Wood leaving via a trade, Perez controls his own destiny and is a viable fantasy option for cheap saves the rest of the season.

Prior to Trevor Hoffman imploding back in May, most knew little or nothing about John Axford.  With little bullpen relief on the Brewers, Axford was given the job and hasn’t looked back since.  Yes, Axford has the unknown factor surrounding his name, but with a sweet mustache and a 10.8 K/9 ratio this season, he’s a reliable bottom tier closer.

With Octavio Dotel leaving for Los Angeles, Joel Hanrahan takes over the closer duties for the Bucs.  It was a toss up for the ninth inning job between Hanrahan and All Star Evan Meek, but with Hanrahan owning more ninth inning experience, the Pirates will roll the dice with Joel.  Hanrahan will have the same value as Dotel did when he was closing games for Pittsburgh, but fantasy owners shouldn’t be afraid to own either Meek or Hanrahan.

The Drew Storen era is officially set to begin in Washington.  The Nationals have stated that they will use a closer committee role the rest of the season with Storen, Tyler Clippard, and Sean Burnett, but Storen is your guy long term.  Tyler Clippard posted horrible July numbers with a 7.90 ERA during 12 appearances.  Clippard has already logged over 62 innings this season which is a career high for him, so fatigue could be playing a factor.  Burnett, a former first round pick for the Pirates, is holding right-handed hitters to just a .174/.245/.209 stat line over 86 at-bats this season, while lefties are hitting .302/.371/.476 over 63 at-bats.  Oh year, Burnett has a career 6.71 ERA and a 1.67 WHIP from the month of August until the end of the season.  Take in this order: Storen, Clippard, and Burnett.

Orioles’ manager Buck Showalter didn’t fool around with the bullpen during his fist game on Tuesday evening.  Mike Gonzalez recorded the first two outs during the ninth before being replaced by Alfredo Simon, who recorded the final out for the save.  With the Orioles having nothing to lose by trotting Simon out there, the whole closing situation in Baltimore is a toss-up.  Gonzalez wants to pitch in the ninth inning badly and appears to have regained the velocity on his fastball which has been missing all season, so anything can happen.  Be warned.

The Arizona Diamondbacks are in shambles this season, and the bullpen isn’t exempt from the mess.  In one of my earlier pieces, I wrote that Juan Gutierrez was the favorite to earn save opportunities for Arizona given the recent failures of Chad Qualls and Aaron Heilman.  With Qualls leaving for sunny Florida, D-backs’ manager Kirk Gibson was still reluctant to name a closer.  With Gutierrez hitting the disabled-list with a right shoulder injury, it’s Heilman’s turn on the carousel.  I also like rookie Sam Demel as a potential replacement for Gutierrez, as he’s posted 21/5 K/BB over 20 1/3 innings. 

– All statistical data provided via Baseball-Reference.com

Reggie Yinger is the Senior Editor at Baseball Press and his writing has appeared in a men's national magazine publication.  He also contributes exclusive writings to The Fantasy Fix. You can contact him at [email protected] or follow him on Twitter @sacksjacked.

Tags: The Fantasy Fix, Fantasy Baseball Advice, Closers, Relief Pitchers, Reggie Yinger