In what is most likely music to many fantasy owners' ears, Jose Valverde is back from the disabled list and ready to close out games for the Astros. He's thrown in two games since his return and has struck out three batters and hasn't allowed a hit in 1.1 innings of work. It's likely that he'll re-assume the role of closer for the Astros upon their next save opportunity.
Manny Ramirez still gets all of the press in Los Angeles, even when he's not on the field. That's a shame because Jonathan Broxton has become a dominant force on the mound, and one of the games top closers. He's closed out his last eight save opportunities and leads all closers in strikeouts with 53. He also frustrates hitters more than other closers as hitters only have been able to muster a .103 batting average against Broxton.
When a player with a long injury history like Jason Isringhausen leaves a game with elbow pain, it's easy to immediately assume the worst. That's where I assume most Rays fans placed themselves after Izzy pulled himself out of Saturday's game against the Nationals and Monday, the worst-case scenario was confirmed; Isringhausen has a torn ulnar collateral ligament and will require Tommy John surgery for the second time in his career.
Most people expected this announcement to come coupled with Izzy's retirement, but he's not going softly into the night. His agent indicated Monday that Isringhausen will have the surgery, rehab, and try to be in pitching shape again by the middle of next season.
It's always nice to know how secure a closer's job is and who's next in line if somebody loses their 9th inning job. The Closer Report will give you that info. And if that wasn't good enough, we'll rank the closers from top to bottom.
As you'll see, Heath Bell has taken over the top spot on this edition of The Closer Report. A few big-name, top-of-the-charts closers from years past have fallen off quite a bit. How weird is it to see Brad Lidge near the bottom of the closer rankings and Joe Nathan stuck in the middle?
Starting Five is our wrapup of the previous day's baseball action, with a quick nod to what is ahead.
You Oughta Know ... That there were two particularly thrilling games Monday -- of totally different ilk.
The Cardinals and Brewers, who entered the game tied for first in the NL Central, played a classic pitchers' duel. St. Louis' Chris Carpenter (0.00 ERA in 23 innings this season) took a perfect game to the seventh, but Yovani Gallardo matched the zeros. Then Milwaukee scored a run off Kyle McClellan in the bottom of the 10th to win 1-0.
Later, the Indians rallied from a 10-run deficit against the Rays, scoring seven runs in the bottom of the ninth for an 11-10 win. Cleveland benefited from five walks in the ninth inning, including three straight by Jason Isringhausen before Victor Martinez snapped a 0-for-18 slide with the game-winning, two-run single.
FanHouse continues its 2009 MLB Preview with a look at the Tampa Bay Rays.
Although they ended up falling short at the end, 2008 was the year of the Rays. After being the butt of jokes for the first 10 years of its existence, Tampa Bay turned an impressive collection of baseball talent into an impressive team, finally assembling a competent bullpen, and utilizing some position shifts to put a much improved defense on the field. With the pieces in place, everything came together, and the Rays increased their win total by 31 games on their way to winning both the AL East and AL pennant.
Sure, Jason Isringhausen is 36 years old and he had some injury issues last season with the Cardinals, but injury concerns, along with a long time away from the game, didn't stop the Rays from signing Troy Percival to a deal. And it's not stopping them from signing Isringhausen to a minor-league deal, as they did on Friday night.
The ironic part of it all is that Isringhausen could be the guy to replace Percival as the closer in Tampa, if the low risk of signing him reaps a high reward. But whether he's the closer or not, signing Isringhausen is a shrewd move either way.
The story of the Detroit Tigers has been pretty much the same over the last two seasons. In 2007, their bullpen cost them a chance to reach the playoffs and get back to the World Series, and in 2008 it was the bullpen bringing down a team that many thought would be the best in the American League after a winter trade for Miguel Cabrera and Dontrelle Willis. So obviously general manager Dave Dombrowski's to-do list this offseason consists of fixing the Tiger bullpen if he wants his team to have a chance in 2009.
The Cardinals lead the majors with 30 blown saves and have had to rely on no fewer than eight different pitchers to close out a game. Needless to say, it's not hard to see why they're rumored to have interest in free-agent-to-be Francisco Rodriguez. Sure, K-Rod would be expensive, but the Cards will have an extra $8.5 million to re-invest into their bullpen, thanks to Jason Isringhausen's expiring contract.
But do the Cardinals need to spend big to find stability? Maybe not. Rookie Chris Perez has quietly excelled in the closer role since taking over in August, saving seven games and allowing four earned runs in 16 innings (2.25 ERA). Plus, he has the prototypical power arm you like to see in the ninth inning with a strikeout rate (8.87 K/9) that ranks second on the team among pitchers with more the five innings.
So what's the hold up? As effective as Perez's fastball is, they want to see more polish on the rest of his pitches. From the St. Louis Post-Dispatch:
They believe his slider needs to be more reliable. He has dusted off his curve to give himself a third, slower pitch. Overall improvement of his command is needed, coaches said. But if the Cardinals consider him close to ready, it would mean not delving into the pricey free-agent closer market.
"Going into spring, hopefully I'm considered for that spot (the closer)," Perez said. "That will drive me all offseason."
Perez still needs work, but he's close enough not to spend $15 million a year (or more) paying K-Rod. For that price, the Cards could sign a couple of relievers to fortify the rest of the bullpen and still have enough left over to replace the blackhole at short that is Cesar Izturis.
When the news came down about Jason isringhausen's latest injury, a torn muscle in his pitching elbow, it seemed pretty certain that it would be a career-ending injury for Izzy. Given a couple days to consider the injury, the ways to treat it, and his future, Isringhausen sounds much further away from retirement today. His elbow was apparently feeling well enough today for him to send a text to the St. Louis Post-Dispatch:
"Tons of desire," Isringhausen wrote in a text message to the Post-Dispatch on Wednesday. "Mind is willing. Just gotta get the body there."
[...]
"That is a fair statement," [Isringhausen's agent Dan] Horwits said. "Jason's desire is to play. Let's figure out if he has to have surgery and then we'll set out a plan that gets him back."
The fair statement that Horwitz refers to whether or not Isringhausen wants to go through a tough rehab at the age of 36 after one of his worst big-league seasons. The torn flexor muscle may heal on its own or it may require surgery and neither option is an attractive one at this point in Isringahausen's career. Whatever his decision is, he seems unlikely to make it for a while.
One day after setting the date for Adam Wainwright's rehab start with AAA Memphis, the Cardinals have moved it up a day. They've also floated the idea that he's likely going to return to the big club in the role that he broke in with; closer. It's an idea that's been discussed for a while with the Cardinals' pen constantly struggling and Jason isringhausen's second failure as a closer this year. From the St. Louis Post-Dispatch:
"We moved him up since he's probably going to come back as a reliever," general manager John Mozeliak said. "It's not set. There's a chance before he comes back that we have a solution and it's not a need. Then he'll come back as a starter. We want to be prepared. Right now, everything is on the table."
This is one of those things that's been said a million times, but a good starter is always better than a good reliever. There's no indication if this is a long-term move for Wainwright, or just one to shore up the pen and get Wainwright back on the field as quickly as possible. If that's the plan and this is a short-term move, it makes sense. With the Cardinals in the heart of the NL Wild Card race, maybe short-term is the only term they're worried about at the moment.
In what is most likely music to many fantasy owners' ears, Jose Valverde is back from the disabled list and ready to close out games for the Astros. He's thrown in two games since his return and has struck out three batters and hasn't allowed a hit in 1.1 innings of work. It's likely that he'll re-assume the role of closer for the Astros upon their next save opportunity.
When a player with a long injury history like 
Starting Five
Sure, 
The story of the Detroit Tigers has been pretty much the same over the last two seasons. In 2007, their bullpen cost them a chance to reach the playoffs and get back to the World Series, and in 2008 it was the bullpen bringing down a team that many thought would be the best in the American League after a winter trade for 
The Cardinals lead the majors with 30 blown saves and have had to rely on no fewer than eight different pitchers to close out a game. Needless to say, it's not hard to see why 
When the news came down about 
One day after setting the date for 
