Updated 2010 Closer Rankings - Coffee Is For Closers

This is it gentlemen (and ladies). It's put up or shut up time. Which closer are you gonna take this season? I can never think of Closers without recalling that irreverent scene in the film, Glengarry Glenn Ross. Perhaps Alec Baldwin's finest acting moment. "Coffee is for closers!" What does it have to do with fantasy baseball? Not a thing. Because in that movie, Closers are everything, while in fantasy baseball, they are next to nothing, yet you gotta have a couple.

A. Always

B. Be

C. Closing

So what does that mean for us? Since my initial pre-season closer rankings, things have changed around the league in the course of one short month. Joe Nathan, you're fired. Kerry Wood, you suck. Huston Street, put that rosin bag down, rosin is for Closers! Brad Lidge, Andrew Bailey, and Bobby Jenks, all hurting...no coffee for you!

No matter who you grab come draft day, you will spend the entire season "Closing." All season long there will be injuries, and a closer carousel around baseball. New faces, new names, sleepers and surprises; so good managers, even those with a Jonathan Broxton or Mariano Rivera will be keeping tabs on the guys who start to emerge out of nowhere this season who will be next year's Andrew Bailey.

There is still a battle in Houston between Lyon and Lidstrom, as well as Toronto between Gregg and Frasor. Keep an eye on them this last week before the games count.

So as we get down to the last week of fantasy drafts let's look at the current value of the most volatile position in fantasy baseball.

Key:

JS = Job Security – Good, Fair, Poor

In Bold = Guys I’m high on in 2010

	Tier 1	Team	JS	Successor in Waiting	One Liners
1	Jonathan Broxton	LAD	G	George Sherrill	Safe a bet as it gets
2	Mariano Rivera	NYY	G	Phil Hughes	Lowest WHIP of all 2009 closers
3	Jonathan Papelbon	BOS	G	Daniel Bard	Flyballs and walk stats rising
4	Joakim Soria	KCC	G	Kyle Farnsworth	Similar line to Papelbon at a better price
	Tier 2
5	Billy Wagner	ATL	G	Takashi Saito	My leap of faith in his ability and recovery
6	Francisco Rodriguez	NYM	G	Kelvim Escobar	3.71 ERA in ‘09. Ouch
7	Heath Bell	SD	F	Edward Mujica	Likely to be traded by all-star break
8	Andrew Bailey	OAK	F	Brad Zeigler	Can he avoid a sophomore slump?
9	Francisco Cordero	CIN	G	Nick Massett	Not flashy, but safe. Watch the WHIP
10	Brian Wilson	SF	G	Jeremy Affeldt	Somehow gets it done each year
	Tier 3
11	Brian Fuentes	ANA	F	Fernando Rodney	Lots of saves, but he’ll give you a stroke
12	Jose Valverde	DET	F	Joel Zumaya	Could be a nice surprise comeback
13	Trevor Hoffman	MIL	G	LaTroy Hawkins	Old reliable, emphasis on old
14	Huston Street	COL	F	Franklin Morales	Morales gets the nod opening day
16	Rafael Soriano	TB	F	J.P. Howell	Injury concern, but great stuff
17	Carlos Marmol	CHC	F	Angel Guzman	Cardiac kid can throw the heat
18	David Aardsma	SEA	F	Mark Lowe	I don’t like this guy, but he'll get chances
19	Mike Gonzalez	BAL	P	Jim Johnson	Can he stay healthy?
	Tier 4
19	Bobby Jenks	CHW	F	Matt Thornton	He’s not getting much love this season
20	Ryan Franklin	STL	F	Jason Motte	Franklin's struggled, Motte has not
21	Chad Qualls	ARI	F	Juan Gutierrez	Should be ready by opening day
22	Jon Rauch	MIN	P	Matt Guerrier	Rauch will have a short leash to start
23	Brad Lidge	PHI	P	Ryan Madson	Plays better in even years, risk/reward
24	Frank Francisco	TEX	P	Neftali Perez	He still has the job…somehow
25	Octavio Dotel	PIT	F	Joel Hanrahan	Could be a steal this season
	Tier 5
26	Matt Capps	WAS	P	Brian Bruney	Closer on a bad team = opportunity
27	Kerry Wood	CLE	F	Chris Perez	Perez will take over sometime this season
28	Matt Lindstrom	HOU	P	Brandon Lyon	Handcuff these two
29	Leo Nunez	FLA	P	Dan Meyer	He walks too damn many batters
30	Jason Frasor	TOR	P	Kevin Gregg	If Frasor can keep Gregg at bay…
31	Franklin Morales	COL	X	Betancourt	He's lethal and Huston Street is hurt
32	Matt Thornton	CHW	X	N/A	If Jenks faulters...