Drift Wood

Kerry Wood is up to his old tricks again, he has a strained right latissimus dorsi muscle and will start the year on the DL.

Wood has been given a timetable of 6-8 weeks, but we all know he is prone to setbacks so it could be even longer. All this does is force former Cardinals closing hopeful Chris Perez into the ninth inning role.

Chris Perez was acquired from the Cardinals in the Mark DeRosa trade last year. Perez has always had great stuff and no one has questioned his talent. Last year between STL and CLE Perez pitched 61 innings striking out 68 with a 4.26 ERA and a 1.19 WHIP.

Perez did struggle early last year but once he was comfortable in Cleveland after the all star break he posted strong numbers. he pitched 29 innings striking out 34 with a 3.10 ERA and giving up and opponents batting average against of .184.

Cleveland will be a terrible team but Perez could keep the job all year and possibly give you a cheap 30 saves.

The Bay State Scout

(bay_state_scout@comcast.net)

You Putz!

J J Putz picked up his second save of the season for the Mets last night in Boston. Was K-Rod getting a night off? No, he was taken to the hospital last night due to severe back spasm's. K-Rod is back with the team today and might avoid a DL stint, however, Back pain is very fickle and could pop up all throughout the season. Grab Putz as a handcuff for K-Rod and if K-Rod goes on the DL Putz will be the Primary closing option for the Mets.

The Bay State Scout

(bay_state_scout@comcast.net)

Is Percival Gone?

There is a rumor all over the Tampa Bay Rays message boards that Troy Percival is not on the flight to Miami for tonight's game. Percival has been placed on the DL and Reid Brignac will be called up. It could be the end of Percival's career because rumor is he really has no significant injury and this is a stall move to make a decision on his future.

Now if this is true who will close for the Rays or who should you pickup for the long haul?

There are four choices that the Rays could go with:

1: Dan Wheeler he is 1-1 with a 5.40 ERA, he did have 13 saves last season though.

2: Grant Balfour he is 1-0 with a 5.14 ERA and only had 4 saves last season.

3: Joe Nelson he is 1-0 with a 5.60 era he had 2 saves last year.

4: Jason Isringhausen he has been active from the DL and has pitched in two games so far. Izzy has yet to give up a run and looks like 2007 Izzy has apposed to 2008 Izzy.

I personally think that it will be Isringhausen who up until last season had averaged over 30 saves a season for four seasons. He was hurt last year and he is now back and will be the closer from now till the end of the year...

The Bay State Scout (bay_state_scout@comcast.net)

Closer Watch: Andrew Bailey

Andrew Bailey's time could be coming soon. From the sports xchange: Manager Bob Geren said twice over the weekend that with a few more outings under his belt, Bailey could close.

Ziegler has been good but Bailey has been unhittable. As of right now the Oakland A's rookie has been better.

Bailey has posted a 1.53 ERA while sporting a 0.74 WHIP and striking out a nice 20 batters in 17 innings.

Being that Geren felt the need to mention this more then once and that Ziegler is a over achiever, I see Baily becoming the full time closer in Oakland real soon.

Pick him up if you have the bench space toy on him until he is officially getting saves.

The Bay State Scout.

Jose Valverde placed on the D.L.

The Houston Astros placed closer Jose Valverde on the 15 day D.L. today with a strained calf. This is not a serious injury it just needs some time to heal.

Latroy Hawkins will fill in for the Astros until Valverde is ready to return. Hawkins is only owned in 13% of Yahoo leagues so pick him up if you can.

The Bay State Scout

Time share closers

There are some closers out there that currently are not pitching on consecutive days. If you own any of these grab there setup men and start them you should get a few save chances a week out of them. Matt Lindstrom--Blew his second save opportunity and the Marlins have been adamant that he is not fully there yet and will split time with Leo Nunez. The Marlins are rolling right now so make sure you grab Nunez. Mike Gonzalez--He is a walking arm problem and he has blown a save already. Rafael Soriano locked down the save today which would have been a back to back save for Gonzo looks like they might split time here as well. Grab Soriano if you are chasing saves. The Bay State Scout