Papelbon moved back to closer...Bullpen Preview

Well, one my my starters has become my best closer again. The Red Sox made the right move and sent him to anchor the bullpen. I'd rather have a bad 5th starter a great closer than a good 5th starter and a trio of bum closers (Timlin, Donnelly, Tavarez). Timlin is 41 and rapidly declining, and he will start the season on the DL. Tavarez can't even handle middle relief. Donnelly has been a decent RP, but he's never closed.

I think this really helps my team. Papelbon was a monster for my team last season out of the bullpen, and I expect the same this year. The team said they won't pitch him 3 days in a row to avoid shoulder problems, which sounds good to me. The last thing I need is for him to hurt that arm.

CLOSERS: I now have 2 or 3 this year. Papelbon (see above) and Trevor Hoffman. Hoffman is getting up there in age, but he hasn't shown signs of slowing down. I picked up Jose Valverde in the draft, and he has a good shot to close in Arizona.

SETUP: I have some really tough setup men in my bullpen. I have the Angels setup crew in Justin Speier (31 holds) and Scott Shields (25 holds). Speier got a lot of money to help close down the 7-8 innings. I also have Bobby Howry who had 21 holds last season for the Cubs. With the improvements that the Cubs made this off-season, Howry should have more hold opportunities. Luis Ayala is back from injury this year, and he will be in the back of the Nats bullpen. I also have Andrew Brown who was sent to Cleveland in exchange for Kouzmanoff. He has potential, but it's time for him to live up to it.

All in all, I'm very confident in this bullpen. It should bring in plenty of saves and holds. Also, there are some nice strikeout arms in there (Howry, Shields, Speier, Papelbon, Valverde all averaged near or above 1K/IP).