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Here are the pre-season rankings for the American League closers.

1. Jonathan Papelbon | Boston Red Sox
2. Joe Nathan | Minnesota Twins
3. J.J. Putz | Seattle Mariners
4. Francisco Rodriguez | Los Angeles Angels
5. Bobby Jenks | Chicago White Sox
6. Mariano Rivera | New York Yankees
7. Huston Street | Oakland Athletics
8. Joakim Soria | Kansas City Royals
9. Todd Jones | Detroit Tigers
10. Troy Percival | Tampa Bay Rays

Update 2-1-2008 at 10:16 PM: The complete 2008 closer rankings are being maintained at the Fantasy Baseball Closer Rankings page.

It’s a fantasy baseball given that says something to the effect of, 35%-45% of all the saves in MLB will come from players who went undrafted in your fantasy baseball draft. By saying that I’m telling you that, while important, ranking closers isn’t an exact science. And doing so two weeks prior to pitchers reporting to camp is foolish. Which is why I’m doing it.

Expect lots of movement on this list.

1. Takashi Saito | Los Angeles Dodgers
2. Jose Valverde | Houston Astros
3. Francisco Cordero | Cincinnati Reds
4. Billy Wagner | New York Mets
5. Trevor Hoffman | San Diego Padres
6. Chad Cordero | Washington Nationals
7. Manuel Corpas | Colorado Rockies
8. Jason Isringhausen | St. Louis Cardinals
9. Brad Lidge | Philadelphia Phillies
10. Rafael Soriano | Atlanta Braves

Update 2-1-2008 at 10:17 PM: The complete 2008 closer rankings are being maintained at the Fantasy Baseball Closer Rankings page.

I’m coming at this from more of a sim angle, but here are a few Padres to keep your eye on in 2008:

• Kevin Kouzmanoff — His overall numbers (.275/.329/.457) don’t jump out, but bear in mind that he got off to a miserable start. Kouzmanoff hit .309/.362/.511 from May 7 to the end of the season. Although he won’t repeat that performance, at age 26, he’s a good bet to improve on his rookie campaign.
• Brian Giles — Giles played much of the year hurt, and underwent knee surgery after the season. After returning from the disabled list at the end of June, Giles hit .268/.367/.454 the rest of the way. Assuming he’s healthy (risky proposition for a guy who turns 37 in January), expect a slight rebound in ‘08. Also, if he gets traded, his value could jump: 12 of Giles’ 13 home runs last year came away from Petco Park.
• Scott Hairston — Again, his full-season line (.243/.313/.452) doesn’t tell the whole story. Hairston hit .287/.337/.644 in 31 games with San Diego (and darned near was the season’s hero with his dramatic home run that put the Padres ahead late in Game #163). He turns 28 in May and should see a fair amount of playing time in San Diego next year. Keep expectations low and try to snag him late; you could see nice returns.
• Heath Bell — Not really a sleeper after his breakout season, but if Trevor Hoffman should falter, Bell is next in line to close games.

Down on the farm, second baseman Matt Antonelli and third baseman Chase Headley are the best bets to have an impact in 2008. Antonelli has less of a roadblock, while Headley is more big-league ready as a hitter.

Happy hunting!

It’s going to be a busy week for the teams in MLB as the deadline looms on the exclusive negotiating period with their free agents. When the clock strikes midnight tonight, free agents can talk to any of the teams about a contract for next year and years to come.

So what does this mean for the Red Sox? It means that they better hope their contract offer of 3-years $36 million is good enough for Lowell or they risk the potential of losing him. I fully expect Red Sox general manager Theo Epstein to be burning up the phones of Lowell’s agents, the Levinson brothers, all day today.

It will be interesting to see what happens with other free agents like Alex Rodriguez, Jorge Posada, Mariano Rivera, Barry Bonds, Francisco Cordero and others.

There is a fantasy baseball impact on this as well as many of you out there participate in fantasy baseball leagues. Some of you participate in AL-only and NL-only leagues as well as mixed leagues. With some of this AL and NL-only leagues being keeper leagues, your hoping that your star free agent on your team doesn’t switch leagues. I’ve had this happen to me when Jim Thome was a free agent with the Indians. He ended up signing with the Phillies and it hurt my team for the following season.

Today also marks the start of the big four awards in MLB, the AL & NL Rookie of the Year, the AL & NL Cy Young, the AL & NL Manager of the Year and the AL & NL MVP’s. This is how the schedule breaks down this week and next.

Nov. 12: AL and NL Rookies of the Year
Nov. 13: AL Cy Young
Nov. 14: AL and NL Managers of the Year
Nov. 15: NL Cy Young
Nov. 19: AL MVP
Nov. 20: NL MVP

[tag]Atlanta Braves[/tag] reliever, [tag]Mike Gonzalez[/tag], was scheduled to have an MRI on his sore elbow this morning. No news out of Braves camp as to how that went, but Bobby Cox says he’s definitely resting Gonzo tonight against the Cubs. As of right now, nobody’s worried that this is related to elbow tendinitis that sidelined Gonzalez late last year.

Sit Gonzalez tonight, and keep an eye on this situation before deciding to put him back into your lineup.

*** Update *** - An MRI found inflammation, but no structural damage. Gonzalez plans to take a few more days and see if he’s ready to pitch after that.

Everyone is talking about [tag]Brad Lidge[/tag] losing his job as the [tag]Houston Astros[/tag] closer today. Astros manager, Phil Garner, announced that [tag]Dan Wheeler[/tag] would step into the role of closing games in Houston.

“I’m going to change the bullpen configuration a little bit,” Garner said after removing Lidge from the closer’s role for the fourth time since last May. “Brad is not going to close as a general rule. There may be a situation where I may do it, but as of right now I’m going to pitch him earlier in the game, sixth inning area, sixth-seventh inning area ‘cause I want to pitch him more often, give him more consistent work.

If Wheeler is available in any of your leagues, go ahead and pick him up… Quickly.

I was certain yesterday that Joel Pineiro would emerge as the Red Sox closer. Well, I felt good about my prognostication for about 12-16 hours until just about everyone, roto experts, ESPN reporters and even Schilling himself, let me in on the solution to the Red Sox closer problem; bring [tag]Jonathan Papelbon[/tag] back!

Papelbon Back To Pen [MLB Trade Rumors]

“…the Red Sox are expected to announce Jonathan Papelbon’s return to the closer role today. Somewhere, Joel Pineiro just shed a tear.”

Papelbon In The Pen [Roto Authority]

“First the easy part. Whoever you drafted as Boston’s projected closer, whether it was Timlin, Tavarez, Donnelly, Pineiro, Rolando Arrojo, or whoever, drop him. “

Red Sox will send Papelbon back to bullpen [ESPN]

“Two days after announcing that the 41-year-old Timlin will start the season on the disabled list, multiple team sources told ESPN’s Erin Andrews that the Red Sox have decided Jonathan Papelbon has regained the closer’s job.”

Paps to the Pen [Curt Schilling’s blog, 38 Pitches]

“Paps wanted to close because that’s where he felt he helped the team best, but he had no issues or problems being a starter either. He was going to do whatever role they asked of him.”