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. Each week The Closer Report will give you that information. And if that wasn't good enough we'll rank the closers from top to bottom.
Here's an interesting statistic. Somewhere between 30 percent and 40 percent of the closers who are listed as the the team's official closer will not be in that role by the end of the season. It's the case every year. Whether a closer loses his job due to injury or just plain can't get the job done, you're going to learn that you can find saves on the waiver wire throughout the season. You just have to know where to look.
Starting Five is our wrapup of the previous day's baseball action, with a quick nod to what is ahead.
You Oughta Know ... The White Sox visited the White House, and apparently the visit was without much drama. You had to wonder if a team led by Ozzie Guillen and including A.J. Pierzynski could get through such a public event without sparking some sort of controversy.
In fact, it was quite a friendly visit the team had with President Obama, a die-hard Sox fan. White Sox reliever Octavio Dotel even got a hug from the First Fan.
"Just to be close to him and have that chance ... I saw the opportunity to ask for a hug. He said, 'Of course.' That was really nice of him. He knows a lot about us. He noticed that we've been playing well lately. He's a big fan. I can tell he really enjoyed [the visit].''
Poppin' out the box scores and right into your cubicle, the Roto Rush is your double espresso shot of fantasy baseball advice every weekday.
There were a bunch of eye-opening performances scattered throughout Thursday's games, but none bigger than the seven one-hit innings hurled by Chris Carpenter. The 33-year-old hadn't won a game for the Cardinals since the 2006 World Series, yet there he was, striking out seven Pirates and needing just 92 pitches to get through his day of work. Is Carpenter already back to fantasy ace status, or was this just the stinkin' Bucs making him look good?
Back in early March I wrote about drafting middle relievers late in the draft instead of starters who might be in the back of a team's rotation.
What if I told you that taking two middle relievers would be a better option for your fantasy team? Let's first look at Blanton's 5x5 stats from last season. He had nine wins, 111 strikeouts, a 4.69 ERA and a 1.40 WHIP.
Now, let's look at a few middle relievers who should also be available in those late rounds. J.P. Howell and Matt Thornton both have average draft positions well above 300. If you were to use your final two selections on them and combine their stats here's what you'd get. You have a pitcher with 11 wins, 169 strikeouts, a 2.41 ERA and a 1.07 WHIP in 156.2 innings of work.
This is sound advice that I have always followed. It gets even better if your league uses holds as a stat category, but I digress. You see the strategy at work there. Now let me share with you two relievers, who I am targeting now, who are lighting it up early in middle relief roles.
Fantasy baseball draft season is coming, so you best be prepared by delving through every major player on each team. Fantasy FanHouse is here to help with a quick once-over.
Meet the ... Team who loves to mash the ball.The 2008 White Sox led Major League Baseball in home runs with 235. Even though the team lost Nick Swisher, there are still six hitters in this lineup with 25-plus home run potential; three that could easily amass 30-plus. The infield is all shook up headed into the new season. Only Paul Konerko is back in his position from 2008 at first base. Josh Fields will be given the reigns at third base to see if he can finally live up to his potential. Alexei Ramirez will be shifting from second base to shortstop to fill the spot vacated by Orlando Cabrera. The pitching staff lost Javier Vazquez to Atlanta but still has three credible front-line starters. Gavin Floyd and John Danks exploded onto the scene in '08 and Mark Buehrle is as consistent as they come. The White Sox won their division in 2008 and still have the talent to compete again in 2009.
When drafting in fantasy baseball, I often find rankings are a lot less useful than using the tier system. Simply group guys together with others who will perform similarly, and you won't focus on single players. Being frazzled when that single player is taken immediately before your pick is a good way to ruin your draft.
We're definitely not proponents of drafting closers high, but getting the last member of a tier at good value could work in the right situations.
The Daily Jolt is a dose of baseball reality every weekday.
Can you feel it? Spring is in the air. Real, actual baseball games were played Wednesday in the Grapefruit and Cactus Leagues. The arrival of baseball games is mostly pleasant for fans, even if the contests mean nothing and their favorite players end up doing wind-sprints in the outfield by the fourth inning. But it can also bring a bit of anxiety.
Winter is mostly gloomy with the next nine innings so far away, but it is also a time for boundless optimism. Squint hard enough between the leafless trees and falling snow and you can almost see Carl Pavano pitching 200 innings. Maybe that's why Spring Training can cause a little panic -- all it takes is one bad start to shatter the wildly optimistic construct of the 2009 season we've spent all winter putting together in our heads.
Every four years, Major League Baseball's postseason intersects with a presidential election. This is one of those years. In the spirit of the season, we here at MLB FanHouse have divided the playoff teams up for a series of debates. Tom Fornelli and Eamonn Brennan discuss the ALDS between the Rays and White Sox.
Eamonn and I took a look at this series and broke it down into six key areas: Starting rotation, Bullpen, Defense, Lineup, Bench, and Manager. Then for good measure we throw in our five-star lock of the week predictions, because we're psychic mediums in our spare time.
There have been many great love affairs throughout history, whether real or fictional. There was Romeo and Juliet, Homer and Marge, Marc Antony and Cleopatra, and of course, the Chicago White Sox and Kansas City Royals relievers. In the past few years the White Sox have taken their fair share of Royals relievers and brought them to Chicago. Mike MacDougal and Andrew Sisco come to mind as two recent examples.
The White Sox are no strangers to pursuing relievers who recently wore the powder blue of the Kansas City Royals, but as of Friday afternoon, the club was keeping mum on reports that it had agreed on a two-year, $11 million contract with Octavio Dotel.
Neither Dotel's agent or Kenny Williams will confirm the report, but I'm guessing that due to his injury history, the White Sox would like Dotel to pass a physical first before making anything official.
If the reports are true, and Dotel does join the Sox bullpen, he'll be the second major addition to the unit this offseason. Earlier this winter the White Sox added Scott Linebrink to the back of their bullpen.
Don't go handing the Atlanta Braves that division title yet on the strength of their excellent trade deadline moves. Because one of those moves is now threatening to be somewhat of a question mark as Octavio Dotel is already on the DL.
Dotel was placed on the 15-day DL with a strained right shoulder, which he said occurred Sunday while he was pitching against Colorado - his fifth appearance in seven days since being traded to the Braves. Rookie right-hander Manny Acosta, who had been brought from Class AAA Richmond in case he was needed to replace Wickman, was instead activated to fill the roster spot vacated by Dotel.
"It's not like my rotator cuff or anything, nothing serious like a shoulder or elbow," said Dotel, 33, who had elbow ligament-transplant surgery in June 2005. "This injury isn't to be worried about, not anything dangerous."
So don't worry folks, because it's not like it's serious like a shoulder. It's just his shoulder. Wait ... what?
Good thing that Bob Wickman has been diagnosed with "inflammation and not structural damage", or that Braves pen which has been a strength all year could have turned into a weakness quickly. But the way Dotel makes it sound, he may have tried to pitch through his pain if Wickman's injury was more serious. After all, it's just his shoulder. It's not serious like a shoulder*.
(*Before you ask, I know what he meant. Really, I did.)
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. Each week The Closer Report will give you that information. And if that wasn't good enough we'll rank the closers from top to bottom.
Back in early March I wrote about 
The 
There have been many great love affairs throughout history, whether real or fictional. There was Romeo and Juliet, Homer and Marge, Marc Antony and Cleopatra, and of course, the Chicago White Sox and Kansas City Royals relievers. In the past few years the White Sox have taken their fair share of Royals relievers and brought them to Chicago. 
Don't go handing the Atlanta Braves that division title yet on the strength of their 
