Who are the REAL closers?

When you think about it, who's been a successful closer for a long period of time? I can only think of Rivera and Hoffman. Makes you really appreciate what those guys do.

Any other candidates that you can think of?

interesting thread. easier for me to say who are not great closers this year,one comes to mind who was dominant last year. brad lidge. how the mighty have fallen. he is a disaster.of course the entire atlanta bullpen are awful,we cannot forget them.
as far as impressive jenks for white sox is a great one, though he can be erratic but pretty impressive lately.toronto has a lefty who is impressive,wagner with mets,isringhausen with cardinals,rodriguez with angels, here is list of some ratings on bullpens.
Tm S-U All Top Leverage * IP With WPA Ranks
-- --- --- ---------------------------------
CIN 0.94 0.69 Coffey (1), Weathers (2), White (7), Mercker (3)
DET 0.88 0.71 Rodney (2), Zumaya (1), Jones* (6), Grilli (3)
BOS 0.87 0.82 Papelbon (1), Timlin (2), Foulke (3)
LAA 0.86 0.91 Rodriguez (1), Shields (2), Romero (3)
NYN 0.83 0.80 Sanchez (1), Heilman (2), Wagner (3)
STL 0.82 0.71 Isringhausen (2), Wainwright (1), Thomson (6), Looper (3)
PIT 0.81 0.83 Gonzalez (2), Torres (3), Hernandez (1)
ARI 0.79 0.87 Valverde (1), Vizcaino (3), Lyon (2)
SEA 0.72 -0.22 Guardado (7), Putz (1), Soriano (2), Sherrill (3)
OAK 0.65 0.50 Duchsherer (3), Kennedy (1), Street (6), Calero (2)
CHA 0.58 0.68 Jenks (2), Cotts (1), McCarthy (3)
MIN 0.55 0.67 Rincon (2), Nathan (1), Crain (7), Liriano (3)
HTN 0.44 -0.44 Lidge (7), Qualls (3), Wheller (2); Borkowksi (1 but 5 lev)
PHI 0.41 0.79 Gordon (1), Franklin (6), Rhodes (2), Cormier (3)
TOR 0.38 0.64 Ryan (1), Speier (2), Walker (7); Downs (3 but 7 lev)
LAN 0.37 -0.24 Baez (6), Saito (1), Kuo (3); Beimel (2 but 7 lev)
TEX 0.30 -0.36 Cordero (7), Otsula (3), Benoit (4), Alfonseca (1); Mahay (2 but 7 lev)
CHN 0.27 0.28 Howry (2), Williamson (6), Dempster (3), Eyre (1)
NYA 0.20 0.19 Rivera (4), Proctor (6), Farnsworth (1), Myers (2); Villone (3 but 7 lev)
SD 0.18 0.39 Linebrink (4), Cassidy (5), Hoffman (1), Embree (3), Sweeney (2)
TB 0.15 0.10 Walker (4), camp (1), Orvella (6); Meadows (2 but 7 lev)
MIL 0.10 0.53 Turnbow (1), Wise (6), Capellan (3); de la Rosa (2 but 5 lev)
COL 0.00 0.60 Fuentes (1), Mesa (3), King (7), R. Ramirez (2)
BAL -0.09 0.60 Ray (1), Rleal (4), Hawkins (2); Manon (3 but 7 lev)
KC -0.17 -0.30 Dessens (3), Burgos (5), Sisco (7), Wood (1), Peralta (2)
FLA -0.17 -0.17 Herges (7), Borowski (1), Wellemeyer (5)
SF -0.27 -0.27 Worrell (4), Benitez (5), Kline (1); Correia (2 but 6 lev)
WAS -0.44 -0.01 Cordero (2), majewski (5), Stanton (6), Rauch (1)
ATL -0.52 -0.03 Reitsma (1), Villareal (6), Remlinger (7), Ray (3), Cormier (2)
CLE -0.90 0.06 Mota (7), Wickman (1), Davis (6)

great thread puccini ,more people hould pay attention to bullpens as todays houston astro bettors learned after a great game by oswalt.
cheers idget

Papelbon will be a great closer for years if he stays in the 'pen.

Nathan

Eckersley




<TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width="97%" border=0><TBODY><TR><TD width="100%" bgColor=#000066 colSpan=11>

</TD></TR><TR><TD width="9%"></TD><TD align=right width="9%">1/3</TD><TD align=right width="9%">2/3</TD><TD align=right width="9%">1</TD><TD align=right width="9%">1 1/3</TD><TD align=right width="9%">1 2/3</TD><TD align=right width="9%">2</TD><TD align=right width="9%">2 1/3</TD><TD align=right width="9%">2 2/3</TD><TD align=right width="9%">3+</TD><TD align=right width="9%">Total</TD></TR><TR><TD width="9%" bgColor=#ffff99>Fingers</TD><TD align=right width="9%" bgColor=#ffff99>39</TD><TD align=right width="9%" bgColor=#ffff99>20</TD><TD align=right width="9%" bgColor=#ffff99>81</TD><TD align=right width="9%" bgColor=#ffff99>30</TD><TD align=right width="9%" bgColor=#ffff99>36</TD><TD align=right width="9%" bgColor=#ffff99>61</TD><TD align=right width="9%" bgColor=#ffff99>20</TD><TD align=right width="9%" bgColor=#ffff99>18</TD><TD align=right width="9%" bgColor=#ffff99>36</TD><TD align=right width="9%" bgColor=#ffff99>341</TD></TR><TR><TD width="9%" bgColor=#ffff99>'69-'85</TD><TD align=right width="9%" bgColor=#ffff99>11.4</TD><TD align=right width="9%" bgColor=#ffff99>5.9</TD><TD align=right width="9%" bgColor=#ffff99>23.8</TD><TD align=right width="9%" bgColor=#ffff99>8.8</TD><TD align=right width="9%" bgColor=#ffff99>10.6</TD><TD align=right width="9%" bgColor=#ffff99>17.9</TD><TD align=right width="9%" bgColor=#ffff99>5.9</TD><TD align=right width="9%" bgColor=#ffff99>5.3</TD><TD align=right width="9%" bgColor=#ffff99>10.6</TD><TD align=right width="9%" bgColor=#ffff99></TD></TR><TR><TD width="9%" bgColor=#c0c0c0>Gossage</TD><TD align=right width="9%" bgColor=#c0c0c0>24</TD><TD align=right width="9%" bgColor=#c0c0c0>23</TD><TD align=right width="9%" bgColor=#c0c0c0>70</TD><TD align=right width="9%" bgColor=#c0c0c0>33</TD><TD align=right width="9%" bgColor=#c0c0c0>35</TD><TD align=right width="9%" bgColor=#c0c0c0>73</TD><TD align=right width="9%" bgColor=#c0c0c0>16</TD><TD align=right width="9%" bgColor=#c0c0c0>12</TD><TD align=right width="9%" bgColor=#c0c0c0>24</TD><TD align=right width="9%" bgColor=#c0c0c0>310</TD></TR><TR><TD width="9%" bgColor=#c0c0c0>'72-'94</TD><TD align=right width="9%" bgColor=#c0c0c0>7.7</TD><TD align=right width="9%" bgColor=#c0c0c0>7.4</TD><TD align=right width="9%" bgColor=#c0c0c0>22.6</TD><TD align=right width="9%" bgColor=#c0c0c0>10.6</TD><TD align=right width="9%" bgColor=#c0c0c0>11.3</TD><TD align=right width="9%" bgColor=#c0c0c0>23.5</TD><TD align=right width="9%" bgColor=#c0c0c0>5.2</TD><TD align=right width="9%" bgColor=#c0c0c0>3.9</TD><TD align=right width="9%" bgColor=#c0c0c0>7.7</TD><TD align=right width="9%" bgColor=#c0c0c0></TD></TR><TR><TD width="9%" bgColor=#ffff99>Sutter</TD><TD align=right width="9%" bgColor=#ffff99>18</TD><TD align=right width="9%" bgColor=#ffff99>12</TD><TD align=right width="9%" bgColor=#ffff99>82</TD><TD align=right width="9%" bgColor=#ffff99>25</TD><TD align=right width="9%" bgColor=#ffff99>33</TD><TD align=right width="9%" bgColor=#ffff99>84</TD><TD align=right width="9%" bgColor=#ffff99>21</TD><TD align=right width="9%" bgColor=#ffff99>10</TD><TD align=right width="9%" bgColor=#ffff99>15</TD><TD align=right width="9%" bgColor=#ffff99>300</TD></TR><TR><TD width="9%" bgColor=#ffff99>'76-'88</TD><TD align=right width="9%" bgColor=#ffff99>6.0</TD><TD align=right width="9%" bgColor=#ffff99>4.0</TD><TD align=right width="9%" bgColor=#ffff99>27.3</TD><TD align=right width="9%" bgColor=#ffff99>8.3</TD><TD align=right width="9%" bgColor=#ffff99>11.0</TD><TD align=right width="9%" bgColor=#ffff99>28.0</TD><TD align=right width="9%" bgColor=#ffff99>7.0</TD><TD align=right width="9%" bgColor=#ffff99>3.3</TD><TD align=right width="9%" bgColor=#ffff99>5.0</TD><TD align=right width="9%" bgColor=#ffff99></TD></TR><TR><TD width="9%" bgColor=#c0c0c0>Eckersley</TD><TD align=right width="9%" bgColor=#c0c0c0>25</TD><TD align=right width="9%" bgColor=#c0c0c0>28</TD><TD align=right width="9%" bgColor=#c0c0c0>231</TD><TD align=right width="9%" bgColor=#c0c0c0>44</TD><TD align=right width="9%" bgColor=#c0c0c0>34</TD><TD align=right width="9%" bgColor=#c0c0c0>23</TD><TD align=right width="9%" bgColor=#c0c0c0>2</TD><TD align=right width="9%" bgColor=#c0c0c0>2</TD><TD align=right width="9%" bgColor=#c0c0c0>1</TD><TD align=right width="9%" bgColor=#c0c0c0>390</TD></TR><TR><TD width="9%" bgColor=#c0c0c0>'75-'98</TD><TD align=right width="9%" bgColor=#c0c0c0>6.4</TD><TD align=right width="9%" bgColor=#c0c0c0>7.2</TD><TD align=right width="9%" bgColor=#c0c0c0>59.2</TD><TD align=right width="9%" bgColor=#c0c0c0>11.3</TD><TD align=right width="9%" bgColor=#c0c0c0>8.7</TD><TD align=right width="9%" bgColor=#c0c0c0>5.9</TD><TD align=right width="9%" bgColor=#c0c0c0>0.5</TD><TD align=right width="9%" bgColor=#c0c0c0>0.5</TD><TD align=right width="9%" bgColor=#c0c0c0>0.3</TD><TD align=right width="9%" bgColor=#c0c0c0></TD></TR><TR><TD width="9%" bgColor=#ffff99>L. Smith</TD><TD align=right width="9%" bgColor=#ffff99>26</TD><TD align=right width="9%" bgColor=#ffff99>23</TD><TD align=right width="9%" bgColor=#ffff99>260</TD><TD align=right width="9%" bgColor=#ffff99>46</TD><TD align=right width="9%" bgColor=#ffff99>29</TD><TD align=right width="9%" bgColor=#ffff99>79</TD><TD align=right width="9%" bgColor=#ffff99>5</TD><TD align=right width="9%" bgColor=#ffff99>2</TD><TD align=right width="9%" bgColor=#ffff99>8</TD><TD align=right width="9%" bgColor=#ffff99>478</TD></TR><TR><TD width="9%" bgColor=#ffff99>'81-'97</TD><TD align=right width="9%" bgColor=#ffff99>5.4</TD><TD align=right width="9%" bgColor=#ffff99>4.8</TD><TD align=right width="9%" bgColor=#ffff99>54.4</TD><TD align=right width="9%" bgColor=#ffff99>9.6</TD><TD align=right width="9%" bgColor=#ffff99>6.1</TD><TD align=right width="9%" bgColor=#ffff99>16.5</TD><TD align=right width="9%" bgColor=#ffff99>1.0</TD><TD align=right width="9%" bgColor=#ffff99>0.4</TD><TD align=right width="9%" bgColor=#ffff99>1.7</TD><TD align=right width="9%" bgColor=#ffff99></TD></TR><TR><TD width="9%" bgColor=#c0c0c0>Hoffman</TD><TD align=right width="9%" bgColor=#c0c0c0>25</TD><TD align=right width="9%" bgColor=#c0c0c0>12</TD><TD align=right width="9%" bgColor=#c0c0c0>344</TD><TD align=right width="9%" bgColor=#c0c0c0>39</TD><TD align=right width="9%" bgColor=#c0c0c0>9</TD><TD align=right width="9%" bgColor=#c0c0c0>5</TD><TD align=right width="9%" bgColor=#c0c0c0>1</TD><TD align=right width="9%" bgColor=#c0c0c0>1</TD><TD align=right width="9%" bgColor=#c0c0c0>0</TD><TD align=right width="9%" bgColor=#c0c0c0>436</TD></TR><TR><TD width="9%" bgColor=#c0c0c0>'93-'05</TD><TD align=right width="9%" bgColor=#c0c0c0>5.7</TD><TD align=right width="9%" bgColor=#c0c0c0>2.8</TD><TD align=right width="9%" bgColor=#c0c0c0>78.9</TD><TD align=right width="9%" bgColor=#c0c0c0>8.9</TD><TD align=right width="9%" bgColor=#c0c0c0>2.1</TD><TD align=right width="9%" bgColor=#c0c0c0>1.1</TD><TD align=right width="9%" bgColor=#c0c0c0>0.2</TD><TD align=right width="9%" bgColor=#c0c0c0>0.2</TD><TD align=right width="9%" bgColor=#c0c0c0>0.0</TD><TD align=right width="9%" bgColor=#c0c0c0></TD></TR><TR><TD width="9%" bgColor=#ffff99>Rivera</TD><TD align=right width="9%" bgColor=#ffff99>16</TD><TD align=right width="9%" bgColor=#ffff99>10</TD><TD align=right width="9%" bgColor=#ffff99>273</TD><TD align=right width="9%" bgColor=#ffff99>45</TD><TD align=right width="9%" bgColor=#ffff99>26</TD><TD align=right width="9%" bgColor=#ffff99>8</TD><TD align=right width="9%" bgColor=#ffff99>1</TD><TD align=right width="9%" bgColor=#ffff99>0</TD><TD align=right width="9%" bgColor=#ffff99>0</TD><TD align=right width="9%" bgColor=#ffff99>379</TD></TR><TR><TD width="9%" bgColor=#ffff99>'96-'05</TD><TD align=right width="9%" bgColor=#ffff99>4.2</TD><TD align=right width="9%" bgColor=#ffff99>2.6</TD><TD align=right width="9%" bgColor=#ffff99>72.0</TD><TD align=right width="9%" bgColor=#ffff99>11.9</TD><TD align=right width="9%" bgColor=#ffff99>6.9</TD><TD align=right width="9%" bgColor=#ffff99>2.1</TD><TD align=right width="9%" bgColor=#ffff99>0.3</TD><TD align=right width="9%" bgColor=#ffff99>0.0</TD><TD align=right width="9%" bgColor=#ffff99>0.0</TD><TD align=right width="9%" bgColor=#ffff99></TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>

Gagne's streak was phenominal. He'll be back at it again this Wednesday to close for a Dodgers team that is winning on a personal record pace.

VALVERDE WILL BE 29 of 30 after he slams the door tonight.

rivera,pabalon,putz are the one that comes in my mind. gagne streak was unbeivalbe, no one will top that

5teamparlay said:

VALVERDE WILL BE 29 of 30 after he slams the door tonight.

Click to expand...

you mean 27 of 30?

franscisco rodrigues, eric gagne, joe nathan, hutson street, francisco cordero, chad cordero, bj ryan, and billy wagner have been great closers the last few years. rob nen was great for years also.

K-Rod is reaching elite status. Fastest to 100 saves.

Poker Ninja said:

franscisco rodrigues, eric gagne, joe nathan, hutson street, francisco cordero, chad cordero, bj ryan, and billy wagner have been great closers the last few years. rob nen was great for years also.

Click to expand...

Forgot about Wagner. He's been elite for years.

TRUE:

http://sports.yahoo.com/mlb/players/7151/;_ylt=AjIkBt9yH6Fp.eEVIWF4uEG4u7YF

Jose Valverde pitched the ninth for his 27th save in 30 chances, tying Milwaukee's Francisco Cordero for the major league lead

Click to expand...

http://sports.yahoo.com/mlb/players/7151/;_ylt=AjIkBt9yH6Fp.eEVIWF4uEG4u7YFhttp://sports.yahoo.com/mlb/players/7151/;_ylt=AjIkBt9yH6Fp.eEVIWF4uEG4u7YF.


Was watching the game live, must of heard 'em wrong.

Hoffman and Mo (425 tonight) are Hall of Famers.
K-Rod is on his way.
Nathan has been pretty much automatic the past few years.



I wouldn't put Valverde anywhere near the aforementioned.

anyone else get a nagging feeling krod will blow out his arm with that delivery?

FairWarning said:

Todd Jones. Look at his stats the last two years.

Click to expand...

tell me you are joking

idgethemidget said:

interesting thread. easier for me to say who are not great closers this year,one comes to mind who was dominant last year. brad lidge. how the mighty have fallen. he is a disaster.of course the entire atlanta bullpen are awful,we cannot forget them.
as far as impressive jenks for white sox is a great one, though he can be erratic but pretty impressive lately.toronto has a lefty who is impressive,wagner with mets,isringhausen with cardinals,rodriguez with angels, here is list of some ratings on bullpens.
Tm S-U All Top Leverage * IP With WPA Ranks
-- --- --- ---------------------------------
CIN 0.94 0.69 Coffey (1), Weathers (2), White (7), Mercker (3)
DET 0.88 0.71 Rodney (2), Zumaya (1), Jones* (6), Grilli (3)
BOS 0.87 0.82 Papelbon (1), Timlin (2), Foulke (3)
LAA 0.86 0.91 Rodriguez (1), Shields (2), Romero (3)
NYN 0.83 0.80 Sanchez (1), Heilman (2), Wagner (3)
STL 0.82 0.71 Isringhausen (2), Wainwright (1), Thomson (6), Looper (3)
PIT 0.81 0.83 Gonzalez (2), Torres (3), Hernandez (1)
ARI 0.79 0.87 Valverde (1), Vizcaino (3), Lyon (2)
SEA 0.72 -0.22 Guardado (7), Putz (1), Soriano (2), Sherrill (3)
OAK 0.65 0.50 Duchsherer (3), Kennedy (1), Street (6), Calero (2)
CHA 0.58 0.68 Jenks (2), Cotts (1), McCarthy (3)
MIN 0.55 0.67 Rincon (2), Nathan (1), Crain (7), Liriano (3)
HTN 0.44 -0.44 Lidge (7), Qualls (3), Wheller (2); Borkowksi (1 but 5 lev)
PHI 0.41 0.79 Gordon (1), Franklin (6), Rhodes (2), Cormier (3)
TOR 0.38 0.64 Ryan (1), Speier (2), Walker (7); Downs (3 but 7 lev)
LAN 0.37 -0.24 Baez (6), Saito (1), Kuo (3); Beimel (2 but 7 lev)
TEX 0.30 -0.36 Cordero (7), Otsula (3), Benoit (4), Alfonseca (1); Mahay (2 but 7 lev)
CHN 0.27 0.28 Howry (2), Williamson (6), Dempster (3), Eyre (1)
NYA 0.20 0.19 Rivera (4), Proctor (6), Farnsworth (1), Myers (2); Villone (3 but 7 lev)
SD 0.18 0.39 Linebrink (4), Cassidy (5), Hoffman (1), Embree (3), Sweeney (2)
TB 0.15 0.10 Walker (4), camp (1), Orvella (6); Meadows (2 but 7 lev)
MIL 0.10 0.53 Turnbow (1), Wise (6), Capellan (3); de la Rosa (2 but 5 lev)
COL 0.00 0.60 Fuentes (1), Mesa (3), King (7), R. Ramirez (2)
BAL -0.09 0.60 Ray (1), Rleal (4), Hawkins (2); Manon (3 but 7 lev)
KC -0.17 -0.30 Dessens (3), Burgos (5), Sisco (7), Wood (1), Peralta (2)
FLA -0.17 -0.17 Herges (7), Borowski (1), Wellemeyer (5)
SF -0.27 -0.27 Worrell (4), Benitez (5), Kline (1); Correia (2 but 6 lev)
WAS -0.44 -0.01 Cordero (2), majewski (5), Stanton (6), Rauch (1)
ATL -0.52 -0.03 Reitsma (1), Villareal (6), Remlinger (7), Ray (3), Cormier (2)
CLE -0.90 0.06 Mota (7), Wickman (1), Davis (6)

great thread puccini ,more people hould pay attention to bullpens as todays houston astro bettors learned after a great game by oswalt.
cheers idget

Click to expand...

Interesting, but these are last years bullpens! Where is this years????????

Lidge sucked last year to the last 4 months.

putz has looked real good this year for Seattle time will tell if he can do it over a long period of time.

sharky99 said:

putz has looked real good this year for Seattle time will tell if he can do it over a long period of time.

Click to expand...

Same with Paps.