Bottom of the Ninth: Every Closer Be Shuffling for @Razzball

Bottom of the Ninth: Every Closer Be Shuffling for Razzball: http://razzball.com/bottom-of-the-ninth-every-closer-be-shuffling. A fantasy baseball and roto analysis of the bullpens and closers in Major League Baseball, specifically: Grant Balfour, Brian Fuentes, Ryan Cook, Scott Downs, Jordan Walden, Joel Hanrahan, Brandon League, Huston Street, Kenley Jansen, Javy Guerra, Hector Santiago, Matt Thornton, Addison Reed, Dylan Axelrod, Frank Francisco, Jon Rauch, Bobby Parnell, Matt Capps, Glenn Perkins, Deolis Guerra, Heath Bell, Edward Mujica, Steve Cishek, Juan Cruz, Jason Grilli, Huston Street, Andrew Cashner, Ernesto Freiri, Tom Wilhelmsen, Brandon League, Rafael Betancourt, Matt Belisle, Rex Brothers, Kyle Farnsworth, Fernando Rodney, fantasy baseball, roto and much more!

I wrote the Closer Section of @TheFantasyFix Fantasy Baseball Draft Guide

The guide and my analysis isnt free, but totally worth the price of admission (like $4.99): http://www.thefantasyfix.com/2012-baseball-draft-guide.html.

I include a nifty closer chart breakdown modeled on Batman and cover Carlos Marmol, Joel Hanrahan, Rafael Betancourt, Sergio Santos, Joe Nathan, Jordan Walden, Addison Reed, Matt Thornton, Grant Balfour, Brian Fuentes, Fautino de los Santos, Javy Guerra, Kenley Jansen, Jim Johnson, Kevin Gregg, Jason Berken, Matt Lindstrom, Brandon Lyon, David Carpenter, Wilton Lopez, Anuery Rodriguez, Wesley Wright, Sean Marshall, Vinnie Pestano, Chris Perez, Frank Francisco, Jon Rauch, Andrew Bailey, Mark Melancon and much more!

h2h Corner ~ A save in the Hanrahan is worth two in the Bush

According to an important Twitterer that everyone should follow @KristiePie, Joel Hanrahan, not Evan Meek and not a timeshare will nail down the door for the Pittsburgh Pirates.

While this might seem like small potatoes, I think it is a relatively important change to note for the fantasy baseball community. I originally thought Hanrahan would see the multitude of early save chances in the hopes of driving up his value to trade him come the second half – but this adds a lot of certainty.

I’ve always been a big fan of Hanrahan (and for some reason Pirates closers, in general). Hanrahan burst on the scene in 2008 with a nine save performance and a brilliant 9.9 K/9 rate. Next season saw an increase in that K-rate to 10.13, however he had a .378 BABip, a 66.2% strand rate and some injuries. It was a down year by any measure.

However, he bounced back nicely in 2010 to post an even better k-rate (12.92) and a more stabilized BABip and strand rate, which lead to a 3.62 ERA.

Hanrahan has also averaged 88 Ks (including the somewhat short/injury-riddled 2009 campaign) over the last three seasons. While he’ll be volatile (given his career 4.7 BB/9 rate) and Evan Meek is always present, Hanrahan will be a top closer over the first part of the year.

Hanrahan has been the 251^st person off the board in early mock drafts, making him considerably undervalued. Obviously, that will change, but I see him as a top 90 pitcher (he was previously 119) and a top 20 reliever (he was previously 27).

You can follow me on twitter at http://twitter.com/h2h_Corner.

h2h Corner ~ Video Killed the Radio Star

Ok, I am, by no means, a star on the radio. Last night, I sure stumbled over my words in some parts, but I think we had some great discussions on fantasy and, more broadly, baseball related topics.

I was thankful to Joel Henard (of Baseball Daily Digest Radio, The Fantasy Insiders and Talking Baseball Live fame) for asking me to guest on his show. It was awesome to work with Kevin Orris as well. For those of you who don’t know, he is the founder and president of Baseball Insiders. Follow them on twitter, they are chalk full of great info and insights.

h2h Corner ~ Red Light District IV, the Closer Carousel

They do most of their work late at night, often after most upstanding fantasy managers have gone to bed. They necessitate early checking of box scores and Fantasy Baseball 101 to see if they secured the win for the home team. They are your average, everyday closers. And that is the best way to describe this Motley Crew – average. Any average reliever, if he’s asked to record the game’s final three outs, can make a half-way decent closer. So, you never pay for saves, which oddly enough is the first rule of closers.