I’ve come up with a few [tag]American League[/tag] [tag]set up guys[/tag] who should get a good number of holds, a save here and there and if things go awry, would easily step in to the closer role. If your league uses the holds category, feel safe to go ahead and grab these guys with some late picks. If not, you could either take a flier in the latest rounds and hope the current closer crashes, or watch the news wire very carefully for word of a promotion to closer.
[tag]Joel Zumaya[/tag]
Zumaya dazzled us with a triple digit fastball in his 83.1 innings of work during his rookie season. His 10.48 K/9 and sub 2.00 ERA are mouth watering to fantasy owners and if 38 year old Todd Jones falters or starts showing his age, Zumaya will slide into that closer role with ease.
[tag]Akinori Otsuka[/tag]
Otsuka took over the closer duty in Texas late last year, but the arrival of Eric Gagne sends him back to the set up role. Otsuka pitched just under 60 innings last year and posted a 2.11 ERA, 1.07 WHIP and a 7.09 K/9. He’s more than capable of flourishing in the closer role when (not if) Gagne gets hurt.
[tag]Joe Borowski[/tag]
Borowski posted 36 saves last year for the Marlins, but is relegated to the set up role in Cleveland behind Keith Foulke. Now I know Foulke did well in the second half of the season last year for the Sox, I’m still not convinced he’s a quality choice to close out games for an entire season. When Foulke starts slow or has bouts of ineffectiveness or injuries, Borowski will take over.
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