No Closer Than Yesterday
There are several good reads that went up the last few days regarding the Braves closer situation. Jeff Schultz at the ‘Atlanta Urinal and Constipation’ thinks the situation is bad enough that fans should “bring a glove” to next month’s FanFest and audition for the job. Jason Stark at ESPN considers several candidates for the job, as does Mark Bowman at MLB.com.
So after all that writing by the experts, the bottom line is that no one knows who the Braves closer will be. Even Schu says that “we don’t have an [answer] … at the moment.” Pretty much we are not going to have any resolution to this until spring training.
A situation to keep an eye on will be Chris Reitsma on Canada’s roster for the World Baseball Classic. If Eric Gagne is unable to return in time from the elbow surgery he had last June, then Reits would be the next logical choice for their closer. That could be a great early spring test and audition for him in that role.
The other side of that coin is that while Reitsma is away at WBC games, someone else may have a chance to step in and impress Braves coaches while closing games.
Of course the other other side of this wicked three dimensional coin is that the batters any potential closer candidate would face in spring training games in the ninth inning would probably not be of the same caliber that a closer would see in the ninth inning of WBC games. The last few innings of spring games are usually populated by minor leaguers. Whereas, one would think the final innings of a WBC game would see a bevy of very good All-Star pinch hitters.
I’ve gone ahead and put down the odds for the front runners:
Chris Reitsma: 2-1 he gets the job
Joey Devine: 6-1 he gets the job, 2-1 he gives up a grand slam in each his first two games of the year
Oscar Villarreal: 14-1 he gets the job, 3-2 Skip Carey can’t pronounce his name for the first three months of the season
Brad Baker: 40-1 he gets the job, 3-1 he makes the team
Trade: 8-1 some trade falls in Schu’s lap and he takes it, 10-1 he seeks out a trade
posted by gondeee @ 8:13 PM
1 comments
1 Comments:
Unless a trade is made and Reitsma doesn't get hurt, he has to be the guy to start the season at closer. Altough I don't think he'll last the whole season in that role. He's a better setup guy than closer. I think it's pretty much given that Devine is the closer of the future and that future might be sooner than some think. Villareal, from what I've read, is pitching really well in Winter ball. He'll probably be used as a 7th/8th inning guy. It will be interesting to see. Hell, who knows, McDowell may suprise us at ST and go with Boyer or McBride. We'll see.
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