Part of my recent conversation with Yahoo's Scott Pianowski centered on closers, and in particular on how, prior to the last week or two, there's seemingly been relatively little closer attrition this season. Usually we can count on 12 to 15 teams changing their closers in a given season, either due to injury or poor performance, and for many of those changes to become permanent. It's one of the ways we can justify discounting their price in our preseason dollar valuations, and at the draft table. If saves are a category that you can capture in part by being active on the waiver wire, then by all means, don't overpay for these one-trick ponies.
However, I wanted to see if my instinct was correct: Have fewer closers lost their jobs this year? For this exercise, we're focusing upon DL stints or outright changes. So, the saves recorded by Blue Jays relievers other than B.J. Ryan count when he was on the DL, but not when he couldn't pitch on three consecutive days (thus, I'm not counting Scott Downs' five saves—your mileage may vary). Unless the team's original closer is currently on the DL, the replacement needs multiple saves to make our cut. We'll list the team; the default closer (the player expected to close for the bulk of the season who received the attention on Draft Day); and his replacements and their save totals.
Team Default Closer Replacements 1. Washington Chad Cordero Jon Rauch (17) 2. Milwaukee Eric Gagne Salomon Torres (15), Brian Shouse (2) 3. Colorado Manuel Corpas Brian Fuentes (14) 4. St. Louis Jason Isringhausen Ryan Franklin (12) 5. Seattle J.J. Putz Brandon Morrow (8), Ryan Rowland-Smith (2), Mark Lowe (1) 6. Cleveland Joe Borowski Masa Kobayashi (4), Rafael Betancourt (4) 7. Toronto B.J. Ryan Jeremy Accardo (4) 8. Atlanta Rafael Soriano Manny Acosta (3), Mike Gonzalez (2), Peter Moylan (0)*, Blaine Boyer (1) 9. Pittsburgh Matt Capps Damaso Marte (3)10. Tampa Bay Troy Percival Grant Balfour (3), Dan Wheeler (3)11. Chicago (AL) Bobby Jenks Octavio Dotel (1), Scott Linebrink (1), Matt Thornton (1)</PRE>
However, I wanted to see if my instinct was correct: Have fewer closers lost their jobs this year? For this exercise, we're focusing upon DL stints or outright changes. So, the saves recorded by Blue Jays relievers other than B.J. Ryan count when he was on the DL, but not when he couldn't pitch on three consecutive days (thus, I'm not counting Scott Downs' five saves—your mileage may vary). Unless the team's original closer is currently on the DL, the replacement needs multiple saves to make our cut. We'll list the team; the default closer (the player expected to close for the bulk of the season who received the attention on Draft Day); and his replacements and their save totals.
Team Default Closer Replacements 1. Washington Chad Cordero Jon Rauch (17) 2. Milwaukee Eric Gagne Salomon Torres (15), Brian Shouse (2) 3. Colorado Manuel Corpas Brian Fuentes (14) 4. St. Louis Jason Isringhausen Ryan Franklin (12) 5. Seattle J.J. Putz Brandon Morrow (8), Ryan Rowland-Smith (2), Mark Lowe (1) 6. Cleveland Joe Borowski Masa Kobayashi (4), Rafael Betancourt (4) 7. Toronto B.J. Ryan Jeremy Accardo (4) 8. Atlanta Rafael Soriano Manny Acosta (3), Mike Gonzalez (2), Peter Moylan (0)*, Blaine Boyer (1) 9. Pittsburgh Matt Capps Damaso Marte (3)10. Tampa Bay Troy Percival Grant Balfour (3), Dan Wheeler (3)11. Chicago (AL) Bobby Jenks Octavio Dotel (1), Scott Linebrink (1), Matt Thornton (1)</PRE>
