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| TODAY: Monday, May 15 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Player ratings: Closers | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Welcome to the ESPN.com player ratings. Our panel of baseball authorities will rank the 10 best at each position. The basic question is this: Which player do you want at that position for the 2000 season?
For more about our panel, check the the catchers page. The numbers used in the chart below are explained at the bottom of the page.
Other positions: C | DH | 1B | 2B | SS | 3B | LF | CF | RF | SP
Position comments David Schoenfield: I wanted to put Billy Wagner first on my list, I really did. He is the most dominant reliever in the game today and set an all-time record last season with 15 strikeouts per nine innings. His numbers are from a comic book: unreal. But I just couldn't do it. There are concerns about his elbow and there's this guy named Rivera who has a career postseason ERA of 0.36. Underrated: No closers are underrated. Overrated: Closers are coddled these days but Matt Mantei's case was an extreme example. After getting traded to the Diamondbacks he never entered a game with a runner on base. In Game 1 of the playoffs against the Mets, Buck Showalter brought in Bobby Chouinard with the bases loaded instead of Mantei -- and Edgardo Alfonzo hit a grand slam. Matt Szefc (pinch-hitting for Rany Jazayerli): Can Armando Benitez be counted on to repeat his strong season from a year ago? Known prior to last year as a guy who was prone to giving up the long ball, Benitez allowed just four home runs in 78 innings after giving up 10 in 68.1 innings in '98. Through much of the second half last year, Benitez was that dominating presence the Mets so needed to close out games. A full season of that will be needed this year if the Mets are to get back to the postseason. Underrated: Derek Lowe is one of those pitchers who can do it all -- start, set up and close. And this year he's getting his first chance to be a full-time closer. Has a 3.14 career groundball-to-flyball ratio thanks to his tremendous sinker, which is exactly the pitch that can make you a success in Fenway Park. One other thing to keep in mind: Lowe dominates right-handed hitters, who hit a measly .188 against him last year. Overrated: The Phillies picked up Mike Jackson two years too late and thus are getting a very average closer. Last year, the cracks began to show in Jackson's armor (4.06 ERA his highest since 1990) and it's not likely to get any better this season as elbow woes could limit his availability. After giving up just seven home runs combined in '97 and '98, Jackson allowed 11 last season as he began to show his age. And Jackson didn't get any younger over the offseason. Brandon Funston: For years, Todd Jones has had to listen to the Detroit organization tout Matt Anderson and/or Francisco Cordero as its "closer of the future." A subject of nearly every trade rumor that has popped over the past couple years, he has continued to get the job done, saving 89 of 103 ballgames in a Tigers uniform. Meanwhile, Anderson continues to struggle with control problems and Cordero has been shipped to Texas. However shaky Jones might seem at times, his save percentage has been more than respectable, and that's the bottom line. The guy deserves some credit. Overrated: Bob Wickman. A set-up man playing a closer, Wickman has lost 17 games and blown 15 saves the past two years. He doesn't have overpowering stuff, the extra movement on his pitches is cause for more walks than you'd like to see in late innings and baserunners have been succesful against him 50 of 57 times over the past five years. Ouch! Keith Law: Finding 10 closers for this list was difficult, given the frequency with which most teams change closers these days. Four of my top 10 were not their teams' closers on Opening Day of 1999, and only 13 teams will start 2000 with the same closer they had to start last season. While I'd like to say that this is a manifestation of the fact that closers really aren't any more or less valuable than any other relievers, most closer changes come only from an injury or a sudden inability to get anyone out. Underrated: Derek Lowe did it all last year and deserved more postseason award consideration than he got. He pitched 109.1 innings and allowed just 109 baserunners, holding opponents to a .572 OPS in all sorts of high-leverage situations. Overrated: Billy Koch may eventually turn into a top-notch closer, but he walked nearly a batter every two innings last year and posted a 5.70 ERA after the All-Star Break last year, allowing 50 baserunners (including five home runs) in 30 innings. Graham Hays: It's not easy to unearth great closer prospects since pitchers often evolve into closers. One notable exception might be 22-year old Francisco Cordero. Texas stole their future closer from Detroit in the Juan Gonzalez deal, and in the coming years Tigers fans will rue his inclusion with every Matt Anderson walk they're forced to endure. John Wetteland still has some gas in the tank, but look for Cordero to post good strikeout totals in Arlington even if he starts the season in Triple-A. Underrated: Relocation to Atlanta would certainly remedy his case of anonymity, but Ugueth Urbina has been plugging away quite successfully in baseball's hinterlands. Urbina walks a few more hitters than would be preferable out of a closer, but he makes up for it with two dominating strikeout pitches. Overrated: Injuries have contributed to Percival's slide, but he seems awfully interested in mind games for someone who often loses them. When healthy he has the fastball to blow hitters away upstairs, but too often insists on doing that to his detriment. |  | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||