The closer in Texas. No, that does not say Wilson on the back of that jersey.

Setting It Up…

The excellent season for Jared Burton continues, as he has quickly become one of the better setup men in the league in his rookie season. Over his last ten games, Burton is 1-0 with a 1.93 ERA with six strikeouts and two walks in 9 1/3 innings, improving his line for the season to 4-1 with a 2.54 ERA, with 34 strikeouts and 21 walks in 39 innings. His numbers since the break have been spectacular – 4-0 with a 1.78 ERA in 32 appearances. While David Weathers has been solid this season as the closer, he will not last forever in that role, and he certainly does not fit into the Reds’ long-term plans, and all indications point are that Burton is next in line to assume the closer’s role once that opens up.

During this offseason, you can be sure that the Nationals will once again be fielding calls on Chad Cordero. Once again, they are more than likely going to ask for an excessive amount, but if their demands become actually reasonable, they have a closer in waiting in Jon Rauch. Rauch is leading the league in appearances with 81 and he is 8-4 with a 3.86 ERA. In 79 1/3 innings, Rauch has struck out 64 and walked just 19. If Cordero is out of the picture for the Nats for next year, Rauch should be the favorite to get the ball in the ninth.

Jimmy Gobble was supposed to have been a quality starter for the Royals, but that was never to be and he finally spent an entire season fully in the pen. It has been his best season to date too, as he is 4-1 with a 3.19 ERA, 42 strikeouts, and 23 walks in 48 innings. His is still too hittable, with a .286 batting average against, but at least he finally has a defined role and appears to have settled down into it.

After an absolutely dominating first half, things have not gone so well for Pat Neshek since the break. After going 3-1 with a 1.70 ERA in 42 appearances before the break, with 52 strikeouts and just 13 walks in 42 1/3 innings, Neshek is 4-1 with a 4.28 ERA since, with his K/BB ratio dropping to 22:13 over 27 1/3 innings. His pre-break WHIP was 0.73; post-break, 1.35. His pre-break batting average against was .129; post-break, .247. Lastly, his pre-break K/BB ratio was 4.00 while his post-break average is only 1.70.

Closing Notes

In Baltimore, Danys Baez has not even seen a save opportunity since the end of August, but he has seen game action four times since then, giving up runs in two of them. The Orioles are one of the worst teams in the game, so counting on them to be bringing many save opportunities his way is more than likely a mistake, and the negative numbers he will put up for the maybe two or three saves he gets before season’s end are just not worth it.

Another closer coming up short when it comes to save opportunities is Joakim Soria, whose last save opportunity was August 26, and that was a blown save. Soria has also allowed at least one run in four of his last appearances, a 6.23 appearance. The long rookie season is certainly getting to Soria at this point, and his struggles of late have Baez even more desirable than Soria right now.

It took the Athletics forever and a day to rightfully restore Huston Street to his rightful closing position, but now that he is back there, he has been spectacular of late. He has been not been scored upon in any of his last eight outings, and he has picked up saves in his last four.

In Texas, C.J. Wilson is out as the closer. Sure, their official website lists Wilson as the closer still, but the facts to not bear that out. Wilson converted saves on September 1, 2, and 4, but he allowed runs to score in all three of those. He has not received a save opportunity since then.  Let me repeat that – Wilson has not received a save opportunity since then. That is not to say that the Rangers have not had a save opportunity since then, as they have had two, both of which have gone to Joaquin Benoit. While the Rangers’ Webmaster might not want to acknowledge this, we do – Wilson’s out, Benoit in.

For now, it looks like we can rest a little easier when it comes to Billy Wagner. After getting pounded repeatedly to end August and begin September, Wagner has pitched in five consecutive scoreless outings. We can bump him up in the rankings this week, but not too much.

Over his last ten appearances, Ryan Dempster has been scored upon in seven of them, giving him an earned run average of 9.31 and two losses. If Ryan Dempster is not on shaky ground at this point, no one is.

Lastly, Jeremy Accardo can be removed from the rankings, and absolutely no one from Toronto added in his stead, as the Blue Jays are now going with everyone’s beloved closer by committee. Stay away from this situation.

The Rankings

Now, your updated closer rankings for September 15, 2007…

Tier One – the Crème de la Crème

J.J. Putz, Seattle Mariners

Jonathan Papelbon, Boston Red Sox

Jose Valverde, Arizona Diamondbacks

Bobby Jenks, Chicago White Sox

Takashi Saito, Los Angeles Dodgers

Joe Nathan, Minnesota Twins

Tier Two: the Elite

Francisco Cordero, Milwaukee Brewers

Francisco Rodriguez, Los Angeles Angels

Jason Isringhausen, St. Louis Cardinals

Manny Corpas, Colorado Rockies

Mariano Rivera, New York Yankees
Huston Street, Oakland Athletics


Tier Three: Solid, But Unspectacular

Trevor Hoffman, San Diego Padres

David Weathers, Cincinnati Reds

Chad Cordero, Washington Nationals

Kevin Gregg, Florida Marlins

Brad Lidge, Houston Astros

Brett Myers, Philadelphia Phillies

Rafael Soriano, Atlanta Braves

Todd Jones, Detroit Tigers
Joaquin Benoit, Texas Rangers

Tier Four: At Least They Get Saves…

Joe Borowski, Cleveland Indians

Al Reyes, Tampa Bay Devil Rays

Brad Hennessey, San Francisco Giants
Billy Wagner, New York Mets


Tier Five: On Shaky Ground

Ryan Dempster, Chicago Cubs

Joakim Soria, Kansas City Royals

Danys Baez, Baltimore Orioles


Questions and comments may be sent to markhaverty@sportsgrumblings.com