[EmpireMaker]

Uehara is about ready to come back from his sore shoulder

[dudekid]

well it looks like the oakland picture is getting a little clearer, jim johnson has 5 straight clean appearances and im guessing will be reinstated soon. gregerson will probably get a couple more chances since sean doolittle coughed up the lead last night.

still no clarity whatsoever in the cubs and astros pens, would avoid these entirely.

[MexicanStallion]

I'm banking on Strop to get first chance with Chicago. He pitched well with hem down the stretch last season.

[dudekid]

on top of the doolittle blown save tues, now gregerson blew a save for oakland last night...buy low window on jim johnson is closing fast...

craig kimbrel's arm is feeling better and he is saying he is ready to go, crisis averted

valverde came in for a non-save situation and gave up 2 homers...we already know he is a roller coaster ride, but when you get the unfortunate "non save situation" with him, it is almost guaranteed to torch your ratios every time...that being said, manager terry collins (one of the worst managers in baseball, imo) gave valverde a vote of confidence

i agree that strop may be a candidate, but one dark horse coming out of that cubs pen worth keeping an eye on is Hector Rondon...he is pitching very well, strikes out a good amount of guys, and has yet to allow a run this year with pretty solid ratios. that is, if the cubs ever get another save opportunity...

quick update on joel hanrahan, its being reported that the mets, yankees, royals, athletics, red sox, and dodgers will be expected to watch him pitch today...not sure if he values being a closer more than pitching for a contender, but a lot of experts are guessing he could end up with the mets if he wants to close

[dudekid]

didnt have much time to report this yesterday, but it looks like the valverde saga already came to a close. the mets have named kyle farnsworth the closer...not sure if you even want to action this other than dropping valverde completely. farnsworth is just as much of a roller coaster ride if not worse. he did have a good season for tampa, but his velocity is nowhere near what it used to be, clocking in at about 90-91 mph. good luck save chasers

[Otters27]

Latroy Hawkins is off to a good start. Rockies are better than we thought they might be.

[dudekid]

rockies are one of the "best kept secrets" in baseball. i am trying to load my team with rockies this year...their lineup is actually really solid, they have a good bullpen, and they score plenty of runs especially at coors field. the only thing they lack is great pitching, but for fantasy baseball we love the offensive production

1. Charlie Blackmon
2. Michael Cuddyer
3. Carlos Gonzalez
4. Troy Tulowitzki
5. Justin Morneau
6. Nolan Arenado
7. Wilin Rosario

that is a really tough 1-6, and rosario is decent for a backstop. going to be a lot of offensive firepower once the weather heats up for those colorado home games. i already scooped morneau on my team and he is really tearing the cover off the ball, and i drafted cargo. just hope these guys can stay healthy, should be fun to watch

[EmpireMaker]

rockies are one of the "best kept secrets" in baseball. i am trying to load my team with rockies this year...their lineup is actually really solid, they have a good bullpen, and they score plenty of runs especially at coors field. the only thing they lack is great pitching, but for fantasy baseball we love the offensive production

1. Charlie Blackmon
2. Michael Cuddyer
3. Carlos Gonzalez
4. Troy Tulowitzki
5. Justin Morneau
6. Nolan Arenado
7. Wilin Rosario

that is a really tough 1-6, and rosario is decent for a backstop. going to be a lot of offensive firepower once the weather heats up for those colorado home games. i already scooped morneau on my team and he is really tearing the cover off the ball, and i drafted cargo. just hope these guys can stay healthy, should be fun to watch

They will definitely score a lot of runs this season, but they may need them with some of their pitching. If their pitching somehow clicks they may actually contend (but that is a big if).

[dudekid]

i like ernesto frieri and jim johnson as buy low targets. frieri has already given up 4 homers and has a bad ERA and whip, but you gotta look at the underlying numbers. he also has 11K and only 2BB in 8.1 innings. he is only bound to get better in my opinion and has the stuff to be a good closer

jim johnson, while he doesnt really pitch like a closer (not high K, livewire act) has been putting up solid numbers in relief. bob melvin claims the a's will use a closer-by-committee but im just not buying it. they are paying johnson too much to be a 7th or even 8th inning guy. i think ideally long term they want johnson in the 9th, ryan cook in the 8th, and gregerson in the 7th with sean doolittle as a specialist. that right there is a very solid bullpen. they are trying to let johnson right the ship a bit in lower leverage innings.

[dudekid]

well that was a quick turnaround. frieri is out as closer, joe smith is now closing for the angels. also, jason grilli isout as closer for the pirates, mark the shark melancon is now their closer, he has been dominant and is a must add if still available. rumors also coming from the mets that dice-k could get a shot at closing if farnsworth doesnt work out. mets also considering a deal with joel hanrahan.

[Cross]

That Rockies lineup has some tough outs!

[dudekid]

hector rondon appears to have taken over the closing role for the cubs, he has looked good and has been racking up strike outs. add accordingly

[dudekid]

no real closer changes to report, but wanted to just comment on K-Rod this year. guy is having an unbelieveable year for the brewers. kudos to anyone who drafted him or snagged him early. it was looking like jim henderson would be back in the pen closing, but at this point, k-rod has taken the job by storm and is blowing people away. great start

[dudekid]

jim henderson let up 5 runs and hit the DL, its the k-rod show in milwaukee

jim johnson basically saved his own win, pitching 1.2 innings in a 10th inning win over the sox. he seems to have regained the trust of bob melvin for the closers role, buy low window rapidly closing

ernesto frieri remains a buy low. he has been effective lately and had some clean innings, and there is talk of the angels wanting to reinsert him in the 9th

sergio santos is out as toronto's closer, but unfortunately since casey jansen is still sidelined with an oblique injury, they are going closer-by-committee for now, avoidable situation

[dudekid]

really liking cody allen of the indians as a pre-emptive add, i just picked him up on my team. john axford is getting crushed lately, and he has been known to lose the closer role before. allen has amazing ratios, he wont kill your team even if he isnt getting saves. he has 20 strikeouts to 5 walks in 13.1 innings so far with a 2.03 ERA. could take over the closer role soon if axford keeps failing!

[dudekid]

as expected, axford out as closer in cleveland. sucky part (for me at least) is bryan shaw gets the nod not cody allen...apparently a teams best reliever really isnt always the closer

[dudekid]

jim johnson another shaky outing, doolittle the closer to own in oakland...mets going full blown closerby ccommittee