Wait - didn't we use this photo last week and say good things about Benoit? Um, well, our bad.

Billy Broken Again

Thursday night, the Mets found themselves up three runs against the Marlins heading into the bottom of the ninth inning with the Phillies already having won in Washington and their lead down to just two games. Instead of calling upon closer Billy Wagner, the Mets turned the ball over to Jorge Sosa, and they would watch their lead in the game evaporate and their lead in the division continue to erode. Why did the Mets not go to Wagner? Once again, he is hurting – this time, his upper back – and, once again, he is not available to the Mets when needed most. For now, Wagner is supposedly day-to-day, but there is no reason to trust him at this point for the final week of the season.

In Boston, Papelbon or Bust

At this point, other than Jonathan Papelbon, there is no one left that the Red Sox can trust in their bullpen. Eric Gagne blew up in spectacular fashion in his last outing, coming in with a 2-1 lead and leaving down 4-2 – and that was after retiring the first two batters. Walk, hit, walk, walk with the bases loaded, and a double – as I said, in spectacular fashion. Hideki Okajima, meanwhile, was been shut down for an indefinite period after having shown signs of a dead arm, and he will probably not be back until after the regular season ends. Mike Timlin has allowed ten hits, four walks, and seven earned runs in his last ten games. Their lefty specialist, Javier Lopez, has allowed ten baserunners in his last 5 2/3 innings. Finally, Julian Tavarez is, well, Julian Tavarez. Other than Papelbon and journeyman middle reliever Bryan Corey, there is no one safe here.

Now Closing For The Orioles…?

Danys Baez has been shelved for the season, and the one save the Orioles have had of late went to Jamie Walker. Walker was one of the candidates for the closer’s job when Chris Ray went down, so there is no reason to believe that he will not hold the role for the rest of the season. Of course, that might be at best one save – this is not a good team – so do not go crazy here.

Trouble in Tejas

C.J. Wilson lost the closer’s role to Joaquin Benoit due to ineffectiveness, and now Benoit is having the same problem. Benoit has blown two straight save opportunities, allowing a hit, walk, and two earned runs in two-thirds of an inning on September 17 to the Twins and two hits and one earned run on September 20 to the Orioles. Wilson also had the chance to pick up a blown save on September 17, and he has not received another. Both are as likely to harm as to help over the last week of the season.

The Rankings

With one week left to go, here is how the rankings stand:

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

Trevor Hoffman, San Diego Padres

Mariano Rivera, New York Yankees

Tier Three: Solid, But Unspectacular

Huston Street, Oakland Athletics

Chad Cordero, Washington Nationals

Kevin Gregg, Florida Marlins

Brad Lidge, Houston Astros

Brett Myers, Philadelphia Phillies

Rafael Soriano, Atlanta Braves

Todd Jones, Detroit Tigers

Tier Four: At Least They Get Saves…

David Weathers, Cincinnati Reds

Joe Borowski, Cleveland Indians

Al Reyes, Tampa Bay Devil Rays

Ryan Dempster, Chicago Cubs

Brad Hennessey, San Francisco Giants

Tier Five: On Shaky Ground

Billy Wagner, New York Mets

Joakim Soria, Kansas City Royals

Jamie Walker, Baltimore Orioles

Joaquin Benoit, Texas Rangers

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