Can I Get A Closer Over Here

So now that Schu has filled one of three stated needs in acquiring shortstop Edgar Renteria from Boston, he turns his attention to the two remaining holes on the Atlanta roster; leadoff hitter and closer. Let’s take a look at some of the options available at closer and the possible direction the Braves might head.

Free Agents
They’re all gone. All of them. Jones is in Detroit, Wickman in Cleveland, Hoffman in San Diego, Farnsworth in New York, Gordon in Philly, all gone. The only person of note, of which there has been some talk of the Braves signing, is Octavio Dotel. Dotel is coming off of elective Tommy John surgery, but may not be ready until midsummer. Still, the Braves may be willing to take a chance that Dotel can regain his pre-surgery form. Former Mets closer Braden Looper is available, but he’s not too good. Former Arizona closer Matt Mantei is also unsigned, but he is several years (and surgeries) removed from closing.

Trades
Dannys Baez is still out there as an option, so is Toronto’s Miguel Bautista. I would rate both as below average closers on last place ball clubs (see Dan Kolb). Other than those two, there have been no other rumors of any other closers being available. Of course the Royals are always willing to deal Jeremy Affeldt away, but he’s not that good either.

Development
The Braves have a host of closer candidates in their organization. Reitsma struggled at times last year due to injury (and a lot of bad luck). Devine got bombed in several of his appearances, but was also injured and fatigued due to pitching more innings than ever before. Both of these options make me a bit nervous. Other bullpen guys like Blaine Boyer or minor league free agent Brad Baker could be options for the closer’s role. A dark horse candidate might be rookie Anthony Lerew, who some have suggested has the makeup to be a power closer. The development track might be the route the Braves take as was recently hinted by Schu:
“[W]e've got some arms that in the past we've really liked. If they rebound like we hope they can, we may very well catch lightning in a bottle.”

Conclusions
I don’t think the Braves are going to trade away any of their top players or prospects for a Baez or Bautista. I can see them signing Dotel to a one or two year deal and seeing if he pans out. It looks as though they are content to sit back for a while and see if any interesting offers for the right guy pop up. There will be no knee jerk reaction to the dried up closers market to go out and overpay for a below average guy. If the Kolb trade taught them anything it is to make sure you trade for someone who has proven he can close for more than one or two years. I have a feeling we’re in a holding pattern on the closer front.