The best closer, in baseball's best pen.

San Diego Padres
Rank: 3
Closer: Trevor Hoffman
Second in Line: Heath Bell
Confidence Level in Closer: 70%

There is not too much that really needs to be said about Hoffman. Hoffman has had nine years with 40 saves or more, a major league record. He is one of only seven relief pitchers all-time to strike out 1,000 batters. In 2002, Sports Illustrated called him the best closer ever. Get the picture?

Of course, all those numbers and accolades refer to his past, and what counts is what he will do in 2008. He will be 40 this year, so some sort of slide is inevitable, right? Wrong. The player who the Reds originally drafted as a shortstop will continue to be one of the best in history.

Entrusted with ensuring Hoffman has leads to close will be setup man Heath Bell. Following a few non-descript years with the Mets, Bell had a career-best 2007 for the Pads, posting a 2.02 ERA, a 0.961 WHIP, and 34 holds.

The wildcard in the pen will be 25-year-old Joe Thatcher. In 22 games as a rookie last summer, he had an excellent 1.29 ERA and 0.905 WHIP. Given that over the past three years in the minors his numbers were quite close (1.39 ERA, .96 WHIP), he is a good bet to surpass Bell as the set up man at some point in 2008.

Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim
Rank: 2
Closer: Francisco Rodriguez
Second in Line: Scot Shields
Confidence Level in Closer: 85%

Since succeeding Troy Percival as the full-time closer for the Angels in 2005, Francisco Rodriguez has had at least 40 saves each summer and never an ERA above three. He is only 25 years old, so a drop off in production is extremely unlikely. Heading into his prime, there is no reason why 2008 cannot be the best season of his already elite career.

Taking care of the eighth inning will be one of the game’s best set-up men, Scot Shields. 2007 was a slightly down year for Shields, but that is only because he has averaged a 2.95 ERA and 1.179 WHIP for his career. He’s not quite old enough that the decline can be directly caused by his age, so he is a good bet to return to his career average numbers in 2008.

Boston Red Sox
Rank: 1
Closer: Jonathan Papelbon
Second in Line: Hideki Okajima
Confidence Level in Closer: 86%

Papelbon was simply the best closer in baseball last summer. His save total of 37 was not quite as high as some others, but that is only because he many times when he pitched the Red Sox were already up by five runs, so no matter how well he did a save was impossible. He had a .77 WHIP, a 1.85 ERA, and struck out 84 batters in only 59 innings. Given that he is only 27 and in his prime, there is no reason why the same cannot be expected of him for this coming season.

His setup man will once again be Hideki Okajima. It is tough to know what to expect from Hideki, but that is only because he has only pitched one year in America. It is fair to say following his first full off-season in the States, now that he will be comfortable all year, he can improve upon his 2007 numbers (2.22 ERA, .971 WHIP) and become one of the best setup men in the game.

Andy Freidman contributed to this report.