Your closer of the week for the Mariners?

Hello bullpen fanatics! I will be taking over your weekly bullpen update moving forward and, thankfully, there is plenty of news to report already this young season.

Let’s start with the closer situations that are in flux due to injury:

Washington Nationals – Chad Cordero will make presumably his final rehab appearance on Friday and return sometime during the weekend for the Nationals. In his stead, the interim “closer,” Jon Rauch has recorded exactly zero saves (one blown) and has surrendered three earned runs in the two innings he has pitched since Cordero was placed on the disabled list. With the lack of opportunity and Cordero’s impending return, it is safe to deposit Rauch back on the wire in non-holds leagues.

Seattle Mariners – The injury to All-Star closer J.J. Putz has done more to illuminate the inherent flaws in the Mariner bullpen than provide answers for fantasy owners.  There have been three save opportunities since the injury to Putz, one given to Mark Lowe (blown) one to Australian-born Ryan Rowland-Smith and one thing to resident poet and member of the starting rotation, Miguel Batista. Lowe has the strikeout potential but the Mariners are easing him back into the action following elbow surgery in 2007. Rowland-Smith was an underrated member of the M’s pen last season but has no obvious traits that indicate that he would be a reliable closer. The reality is that it does not hurt to pick up either but one should expect nothing much. Both Mariners fans and Putz owners have to hope for a resolution to this situation sooner than later.

Los Angeles Angels – Injuries continue to ravage the Angels pitching staff with an injury to the most notable member of the staff, Francisco Rodriguez. A midweek MRI revealed no severe damage but there is still reason to be cautious. Owners rushed to the waiver wire upon hearing of the injury only to find likely replacement, the overrated Scot Shields, drafted in many leagues. Even though Justin Speier has been the second-best reliever in the Angels pen for the past year, Shields will presumably be given the nod in the interim as his track record precedes him. It is worth noting though that Speier blew the first chance in K-Rod’s absence but he still warrants a pickup until this situation sorts itself out.

Atlanta Braves – The Braves placed oft-injured closer Rafael Soriano on the disabled list Wednesday with what is being termed as “elbow tendonitis.” Recovery time is currently unknown with missing a few weeks is likely the best-case scenario. There has emerged a definite split with fantasy owners as to who actually will be the interim replacement since the team has yet to make anything official. Australian Peter Moylan parlayed a successful World Baseball Classic into a role in the Braves bullpen in 2007 during which he arguably was their best reliever. Conventional wisdom would dictate that he would receive the first chance at filling in for Soriano. Unfortunately, conventional wisdom does not always prevail when we are talking closers. One of the final pitchers to make the Braves out of spring, Manny Acosta, has emerged as the choice of some fantasy owners (and some would say of the Braves themselves as Acosta was set to receive the first post-Soriano save opportunity only have Blaine Boyer blow the chance). Acosta impressed in his 232/3-inning stint at the end of last season, but if his first four innings are any indication (seven baserunners and a wild pitch), Bobby Cox should order up his antacids in advance.  This may be a situation similar to Cleveland: Rafael Betancourt (among others) is clearly superior reliever to Joe Borowski but the innings that he logs in order to get the game to the closer are too difficult to replace. This may be the case with Moylan in Atlanta, so you should pick up both, and the rest is up to the whim of management.

On to this weeks rankings, which we will use as a basis for changes, moving forward. These rankings take into account both save potential and the amount of help/damage the pitchers do to your ratios.

Tier 1: There Will Be Blood

Jonathan Papelbon – Boston Red Sox
Takashi Saito – Los Angeles Dodgers
Billy Wagner – New York Mets
Francisco Cordero – Cincinnati Reds
Joe Nathan – Minnesota Twins
Mariano Rivera – New York Yankees

Tier 2: No County for Old Men

Joakim Soria – Kansas City Royals
Brad Lidge – Philadelphia Phillies
Bobby Jenks – Chicago White Sox
Matt Capps – Pittsburgh Pirates
Jason Isringhausen – St. Louis Cardinals
Manuel Corpas – Colorado Rockies
Huston Street – Oakland Athletics
Jose Valverde – Houston Astros

Tier 3: Into the Wild

George Sherrill – Baltimore Orioles
Kerry Wood – Chicago Cubs
C.J. Wilson – Texas Rangers
Troy Percival – Tampa Bay Rays
Kevin Gregg – Florida Marlins
Trevor Hoffman - San Diego Padres

Tier 4: Semi-Pro

Brian Wilson – San Francisco Giants (Tyler Walker is starting to look enticing)
Brandon Lyon – Arizona Diamondbacks (On the thinner ice than most with Tony Pena behind him)
Todd Jones – Detroit Tigers
Joe Borowski – Cleveland Indians (Management shows steady irrational commitment to Jobo)
Éric Gagné – Milwaukee Brewers (He has a few chances remaining to prove he still belongs)

Tier 5: The Darjeeling Limited

Scot Shields/Justin Speier, Los Angeles Angels – One of these guys will fill in while K-Rod recovers
Jeremy Accardo – Toronto – He has until BJ Ryan comes back effective, er… if he’s effective
Peter Moylan/ Manny Acosta – Atlanta
Ryan Rowland-Smith/Mark Lowe – Seattle
Jon Rauch – Washington DC – Chad Cordero expected back soon.

Tier 6 (the DL): Atonement

J.J. Putz – Seattle Mariners
Francisco Rodriguez – Los Angeles Angels
Rafael Soriano – Atlanta Braves
BJ Ryan – Toronto Blue Jays
Chad Cordero – Washington Nationals

In addition to bringing you the skinny on closers and saves, I will be looking to bring you hot news on middle relievers, since not everyone drafted a full boat of closers (I hope). We will start next week by talking strategy for making the most of your relief spots, and then we will delve into the hold statistic, and eventually talk about the unpredictability of vulture wins.

In the mean time, here are my favorite middle relievers independent of saves.

Jonathan Broxton, Los Angeles Dodgers – Strikes out tons of guys and won’t hurt your ratios one bit
Joba Chamberlain, New York Yankees – Off to a great start; will help you in WHIP ERA, and K
Carlos Marmol, Chicago Cubs – See above; plus Kerry Wood’s health is not a smart bet
Tyler Walker, San Francisco Giants – Strikeouts are up, walks down, elbow holding
Pat Neshek, Minnesota Twins – The lefty specialist can help you win your ratio categories

Alright, I am already past my deadline, and the first Yankees/Sox tilt is upon us, so this will have to hold you over until next week. Best of luck with your leagues!