Closers On The Move

With the trading deadline approaching it’s that time of year to start looking at what current closers could be shipped and not be closing for their new team. For fantasy purposes this can be devastating for your roster. You can have a couple of the best closers (stats wise) for saves one night then they can be shipped to a contender as a set up man virtuously making them useless in fantasy baseball. You could literally lose out on 15-30 saves depending on how many closers you lose by this means.

So what is a fantasy manager to do? First try and analyze which bad teams have expendable closers with movable contacts. Then open up a roster spot to possibly handcuff their successor as the trade deadline approaches. I have listed what I feel are the top 7 current closer candidates to be moved to help a contender down the stretch. The only team I feel that will pick up a closer from another team and insert him in as “their” closer is The Phillies. Teams like Boston, Yankees, Tampa Bay, Cincinnati, Colorado, and Cleveland may all look to pick up bullpen help if they are still in the race but only Philadelphia will insert one as a closer.

Here is the list of Closers I feel will be moving to new teams, I have also listed who you should handcuff in the next couple of weeks to ensure you have a closer in waiting.

Heath Bell ~ Mike Adams

JJ Putz ~ David Hernandez

Leo Nunez ~ Steve Cishek

Kevin Greg ~ Koji Uehara

Matt Capps ~ Joe Nathan

Francisco Rodriguez ~ Jason Isringhausen

Brandon League ~ Jamey Wright

These closers all have team friendly contracts with the exception of Rodriguez for the Mets. Even with his contract the Mets will look for a trading partner. You and I know these type of players get traded every year in baseball, be prepared for the loss this time.