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[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.”

We’ve been following Grapefruit League action for 3 weeks now, and the [tag]Boston Red Sox[/tag] are still no further along in the decision making process to name a closer than they were at the beginning of the month. In fact, the whole situation may be jumbled up a little more with Mike Timlin starting the year on the DL. That Herald article seems to think Julian Tavarez is the front runner now, but I’m not sure.

This spring, 4 names (other than Timlin) have been associated with the Sox closer role; [tag]Julian Tavarez[/tag], [tag]Joel Pineiro[/tag], [tag]Brenden Donnally[/tag] and the x-closer of the future (more on that later), [tag]Craig Hansen[/tag]. Hansen and Donnelly haven’t done a thing this spring to prove they deserve the job. So, let’s just go ahead and cross them off the candidate’s list.

Donnelly - 7.2IP 7.04ERA 8K/5BB
Hansen - 3.0IP 9.00ERA 1K/1BB

Pineiro and Tavarez are doing better, and their race is tougher to call.

Pineiro - 9.2IP 3.72ERA 6K/4BB
Tavarez - 12.2IP 3.55ERA 5K/7BB

I’m going to focus here on K/BB and state that all other things being somewhat equal, Pineiro looks better. I’d rather have the better K/BB in the 9th inning. I also took a look at their 2006 numbers. Pineiro had a 3.48 BB/9 while Tavarez’ was 4.01. That kind of control, along side the extra K/BB Pineiro has shown so far this spring, is what will win this closer job for Piniero.

It’s tough to draft any of these guys yet, unless you have an abnormally large number of bench spots. Over at Mock Draft Central Piniero has an Average Draft Position of 326.83 and Tavarez didn’t make the last list, which ended at 405.33. So, wait until the Sox formally announce this decision before adding anyone to your draft list. And watch the waiver wire in case whoever wins, flounders or the “real” Red Sox closer of the future, [tag]Bryce Cox[/tag], gets the job.

Here are the [tag]top 10 fantasy relievers[/tag].

1. Francisco Rodriguez
2. Joe Nathan
3. Billy Wagner
4. Mariano Rivera
5. Trevor Hoffman
6. B.J. Ryan
7. J.J. Putz
8. Bobby Jenks
9. Takashi Saito
10. Chad Cordero

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.