Joe Borowski is on the DL for now. Hang on to him though, because the Indians will give him the closers job back once he is healthy, despite having better options.

The most pertinent news this week comes from Cleveland and removal of Joe Borowski from the closer’s role via a trip to the disabled list. It has been obvious to most observers that Borowski’s high wire act was wearing thin and his convenient disabling enables the Indians to reshuffle their talented relief corps into roles that are more apropos to their skill set. Elite setup man Rafael Betancourt will get the first shot at the closer’s role and it would be a surprise to see him (early season struggles aside) relinquish it in the short-term. A popular name bandied about when news of Borowski’s fate was known was Japanese import Masahide Kobayashi. While Kobayashi has extensive experience in Japan as a closer (Kobayashi was among the elite in his home country) he wasn’t considered as an adequate replacement and will continue to pitch lower levereage innings. If Betancourt were to falter, look for youngster Jensen Lewis to be in the mix. Betancourt should be owned in all leagues, and in deeper leagues Borowski should be disabled but not dropped as Cleveland has shown an illogical commitment to Borowski before, and there is no guarantee they will not show it again.

In Washington it appears that closer, Chad Cordero, fresh off the disabled list, may be headed back soon enough, or banished to low leverage inning work for the immediate future. After having trouble warming up in his first appearance off the DL and throwing a fastball that would barely break a pane of glass, it is safe to say that manager Manny Acta’s vote of no confidence is warranted. In his stead, it appears the Nats will continue to turn to setup man Jon Rauch. There is no denying that Rauch has been shaky this season, (he is reportedly dealing with personal matters) but he stands head and shoulders above any other candidate in the Nats bullpen as the prime candidate for the closer spot. He should be owned in all leagues.

The first save opportunity in Atlanta following the disabling of closer Rafael Soriano was given to Aussie Peter Moylan, who figured to be adequate short-term fix. Wrong. After one save, Moylan has been disabled and looks to be headed for Tommy John surgery. The de facto replacement appears to be Manny Acosta. There are a number of warning signs with Acosta as he has never exhibited consistent control and has little experience pitching high leverage innings. Unfortunately for the Braves, there are essentially no other candidates currently in their pen. Blaine Boyer has exhibited an usually high strikeout rate in the early going, and could be a name to know in NL-only leagues, but is unlikely to receive a chance. As with the above situations, Acosta should be picked up in all leagues but is a lesser option than both Betancourt especially and Rauch.

Seattle’s situation has been pretty static and they are utterly lacking in save chances over the past week. Mark Lowe is still thought to be the preferred short-term option and Brandon Morrow has emerged as interesting name to watch in the Seattle pen. Morrow, a first round pick, has closer stuff but has battled walks at the profession level, including his volatile stint in the Seattle pen in 2007. Lowe should continue to be owned until the return of J.J. Putz, with Morrow emerging as an option in deep AL-only leagues.

An emerging situation to watch currently is the Houston Astros. Newly acquired Jose Valverde has been off to a horrendous start to his Astros career, giving up 11 runs (10 of them earned) in his first seven and a third innings. Fortunately for Valverde, (and his owners) the Astros committed a great deal of money and trade assets in order to acquire his services, so the likelihood of outright removal from his job is slimmer than it would be for other relievers. Also, there is the complete and utter lack of depth in this pen beyond average bullpen fodder. In NL-only leagues and deep mixed formats it makes sense to pick up the primary setup man for Valverde, the ageless Doug Brocail, in the event that Valverde’s fortunes continue to spiral downward.

A couple of interesting names in middle relief to watch are two pitchers who seem to be taking advantage of key opportunities given to them by their mega-market employers. Brian Bruney for the Yankees and David Aardsma of the Red Sox have both always exhibited above average strikeout rates throughout their professional career, but have always and without fail been doomed to mediocrity by an inability to prevent the free pass. Both have avoided the walks this year and predictably are succeeding. There is no guarantee the improvement is for real, but given their ages it would not be out of the realm of possibility. Both have slight AL-only value as long as they are posting zeroes and retiring batters via the strikeout.

Tier One: The Elite Closers

Jonathan Papelbon – Boston Red Sox

Joe Nathan – Minnesota Twins

Mariano Rivera – New York Yankees

Billy Wagner – New York Mets

Francisco Rodriguez – LA Angels of Anaheim

Tier Two:  Your  Average  Joes

Joakim Soria – Kansas City Royals

Takashi Saito – LA Dodgers

Francisco Cordero – Cincinnati Reds

Bobby Jenks – Chicago White Sox

Matt Capps – Pittsburgh Pirates

Manny Corpas – Colorado Rockies

Brad Lidge – Philadelphia Phillies

Jason Isringhausen – St Louis Cardinals

Huston Street – Oakland Athletics

George Sherrill – Baltimore Orioles

B.J. Ryan – Toronto Blue Jays

Kerry Wood – Chicago Cubs

Trevor Hoffman – San Diego Padres

Rafael Betancourt – Cleveland Indians

Tier Three -  Looking Over  Their  Shoulders

Kevin Gregg – Florida Marlins

Todd Jones – Detroit Tigers

C.J. Wilson – Texas Rangers

Brian Wilson – San Francisco Giants

Troy Percival – Tampa Bay Rays

Eric Gagne – Milwaukee Brewers

Jose Valverde – Houston Astros

Brandon Lyon – Arizona Diamondbacks

Jon Rauch – Washington Nationals

Mark Lowe – Seattle Mariners

Manny Acosta – Atlanta Braves

Disabled:

J.J. Putz – Seattle Mariners

Rafael Soriano – Atlanta Braves

Chad Cordero (still recovering, removed from closer’s role) – Washington Nationals

Top 5 middle relievers:

Carlos Marmol – Chicago Cubs

Joba Chamberlain – New York Yankees

Jonathan Broxton – LA Dodgers

Hideki Okajima – Boston Red Sox

Scot Shields – LA Angels of Anaheim