I'm trying something new this week. With some owners now looking to build for next year, I'm publishing a very, very preliminary set of 2009 rankings for keeper leaguers. I'll be doing the usual position rankings and an overall top 100. These rankings are for 2009 only, so I'm not giving top prospects credit for what they might do in 2010 and beyond.
One note: I've fixed some, but there's still probably a few players here listed with their old teams. I was using my preseason spreadsheet for the new rankings.
In more interesting news, I'll be in Stamford for the next two weeks providing commentary for the live Olympic baseball broadcasts on NBCOlympics.com. So, if you want a glimpse of some top prospects like Matt LaPorta and Trevor Cahill or potential imports such as Kenshin Kawakami and Yu Darvish, be sure to check it out. I will still be posting columns as usual.
Click to see other 2009 Rankings:
Relief Pitcher Rankings
Starting Pitcher Rankings
Outfielder Rankings
Catcher Rankings
First Basemen Rankings
Second Basemen Rankings
Shortstop Rankings
Third basemen Rankings
Top 100 Overall Rankings
Rank - RP - Team
1 - Jonathan Papelbon - Red Sox
2 - Joe Nathan - Twins
3 - Mariano Rivera - Yankees
4 - Joakim Soria - Royals
5 - Francisco Rodriguez - Angels
6 - Bobby Jenks - White Sox
7 - J.J. Putz - Mariners
8 - Brad Lidge - Phillies
9 - Billy Wagner - Mets
10 - B.J. Ryan - Blue Jays
11 - Jose Valverde - Astros
12 - Francisco Cordero - Reds
13 - Joel Zumaya - Tigers
14 - Brian Wilson - Giants
15 - Matt Capps - Pirates
16 - Kevin Gregg - Marlins
17 - Mike Gonzalez - Braves
18 - Kerry Wood - Cubs
19 - Trevor Hoffman - Padres
20 - Huston Street - Athletics
21 - Troy Percival - Rays
22 - Carlos Marmol - Cubs
23 - Jonathan Broxton - Dodgers
24 - Chris Perez - Cardinals
25 - Takashi Saito - Dodgers
26 - Chris Ray - Orioles
27 - Joel Hanrahan - Nationals
28 - Manny Corpas - Rockies
29 - Brian Fuentes - Rockies
30 - Salomon Torres - Brewers
31 - Brandon Lyon - Diamondbacks
32 - Joey Devine - Athletics
33 - Rafael Perez - Indians
34 - Tony Pena - Diamondbacks
35 - Heath Bell - Padres
36 - George Sherrill - Orioles
37 - Matt Lindstrom - Marlins
38 - Jon Rauch - Diamondbacks
39 - C.J. Wilson - Rangers
40 - Jose Arredondo - Angels
41 - Brad Ziegler - Athletics
42 - Taylor Buchholz - Rockies
43 - Frank Francisco - Rangers
44 - Jason Isringhausen - Cardinals
45 - Eric Gagne - Brewers
46 - Jared Burton - Reds
47 - Masahide Kobayashi - Indians
48 - Scot Shields - Angels
49 - Manny Delcarmen - Red Sox
50 - Rafael Betancourt - Indians
51 - Rafael Soriano - Braves
52 - Santiago Casilla - Athletics
53 - Jeff Samardzija - Cubs
54 - Kyle McClellan - Cardinals
55 - Hitoki Iwase -
56 - Dan Wheeler - Rays
57 - Aaron Heilman - Mets
58 - Jonathan Meloan - Indians
59 - Fernando Rodney - Tigers
60 - Juan Cruz - Diamondbacks
- The big free agent closers are Francisco Rodriguez, Kerry Wood, Trevor Hoffman, Brian Fuentes and Brandon Lyon. The top three all seem like fair bets to stay with their current teams as closers, though Hoffman could always choose to retire. Fuentes and Lyon will both be pursued by other teams as closers, but it's also easy to see them landing big offers to serve as setup men for large-market teams. That takes a toll on their rankings here.
- Three guys who opened this season as closers didn't make the top 60: Chad Cordero, Joe Borowski and Todd Jones. Near misses included Duaner Sanchez, the rehabbing Pat Neshek and Rockies prospect Casey Weathers. Weathers will probably be the Rockies' long-term closer, but he'll have at least Manny Corpas and Taylor Buchholz ahead of him at the start of 2009.
