Bradenton kid could be Indians' new closer

Chris Perez, a St. Louis Cardinals reliever and former Manatee High and Pendleton School standout, was traded to the Cleveland Indians over the weekend for infielder Mark DeRosa.

That's an interesting tidbit for those who follow the careers of Manatee County athletes. But why should fantasy players care?

Here's the deal: Perez is a big, hard-throwing right-hander who's been pegged as a future big league closer for some time now. The 23-year-old didn't quite do enough this year to beat out Ryan Franklin and Jason Motte and win the favor of Cards manager Tony La Russa for the team's closer duties. But the move to Cleveland opens a whole new world of possibility for him. In case you haven't noticed, the Tribe's free-agent signing of Kerry Wood hasn't exactly been an overwhelming success. Wood's 5.47 ERA and 1.56 WHIP are pretty atrocious. He hasn't had that many save opportunities with the Indians struggling so mightily in 2009, but Wood has also managed to blow four of 13 chances.

Wood's still got another year on his deal with Cleveland, and the team doesn't have many other reliable options in its bullpen, which means the job will probably still belong to him at least through this season, barring a complete meltdown or an injury. But expect Perez to get some serious on-the-job training as Wood's set-up man this season. I predict he'll take over ninth-inning duties by the middle of next year - which means he should stay on fantasy players' radar. He's the Indians' closer of the future.

You need to know this

For those of you who haven't drafted yet (and even those who have):

Bradenton's Chris Perez has been sent to the minors, meaning Jason Motte is now the frontrunner to earn the bulk of the saves in St. Louis. Ryan Franklin is still lurking, and I think Perez will ultimately end up handling ninth-inning duties, but for now Motte's the man, and a must-add.

Lance Berkman has a sore shoulder and has been diagnosed with biceps tendinitis. Doesn't seem to be a huge deal though, as he hopes to return to the Astros' lineup this week. I wouldn't panic.

B.J. Ryan hasn't looked too hot this spring, Blue Jays manager Cito Gaston is concerned, and there's some discussion about Scott Downs and Ryan sharing closer duties. Handcuff alert! Drop Ryan down a peg in your closer rankings.


Brett Gardner has won the Yankees' starting CF job over Melky Cabrera. Why should you care? Because Gardner swiped 37 bags last year in 94 games in Triple-A and 13 more in 42 games in the bigs. Are you familiar with the term "cheap steals?"

The Cubs' closer (for now): Kevin Gregg. He's officially beaten out Carlos Marmol for the job entering the season. Gregg may not be the greatest, but he's coming off seasons of 29 and 32 saves - nothing to sniff at, and the Cubbies should win a bunch of ballgames. Marmol's got some value as a setup guy and might eventually win the job, but for now it's Gregg's to lose.

Photos by The Associated Press

Save situations, July 28: Tigers, Pirates, Cardinals

Looks like Todd Jones' time is up as the Tigers' closer, at least for the time being. Fernando Rodney has supplanted him after Jim Leyland had seen enough of Jones' awfulness this year. Fantasy owners might have been willing to put up with the 4.99 ERA and 1.59 WHIP if there was at least a promise of coming close to 40 saves like the past three seasons, but now it's safe to put Jones on your bench or even cut him. His 18 saves and measley 13 strikeouts were barely worth the trouble.

Rodney certainly has the stuff to succeed in this role, but injuries have been a problem, so his grip on the job will be tenuous at best. Still, he's got to be picked up immediately, with Joel Zumaya's value also rising if Rodney should falter or get hurt again.

g The Pirates' trade of Damaso Marte means his fantasy value in most leagues is shot. Marte (right), who had taken over for the injured Matt Capps in Pittsburgh, will strictly be a left-handed specialist now that he's with the Yankees. That leaves another void in the Pirates' bullpen, and it's unclear where they might turn next. John Grabow didn't exactly inspire much confidence Sunday by allowing two home runs, Tyler Yates has been shaky for the past few weeks (seven earned runs in his past 10 2/3 innings), and Denny Bautista is pretty much the epitome of an average middle reliever. In other words, stay away from Pirates relievers unless you're absolutely desperate for saves.

g In St. Louis, the news isn't quite as bad, but it's still a mess. Closer Ryan Franklin has been bad his past three times out (two blown saves and two losses), but luckily for him, Jason Isringhausen hasn't exactly made a case for taking back his old job, either. It looks like the Cards will ride it out with Franklin for the time being, which means he still has value, although I'd probably relegate him to my bench until he snaps out of his funk. Bradenton's Chris Perez showed lots of promise in his brief call-up, but after the league adjusted to the rookie he was sent back down to the minors for some more seasoning. He's the guy to really keep an eye on, although he probably won't be making much more of a fantasy contribution until 2009.

Photos by The Associated Press

Save Situations, May 17: An update

Just a quick update since the last time we chatted about closers ...

g Eric Gagne is already back in the closer's role and earned his 10th save earlier this week. He says he's cleared of whatever mental demons that haunted him, and manager Ned Yost says Gagne is his "guy."

It also doesn't help that David Riske was put on the DL and Guillermo Mota imploded in a loss to the Brewers. So, it looks like Gagne's the guy, until the next meltdown at least. Stay tuned ...

g Turns out Jason Isringhausen did have something physically wrong with him: He was pitching with a lacerated hand, which he apparently gave himself by whacking a TV. Nice.

Now Izzy's on the DL, and the Cardinals called up Manatee County's own Chris Perez as we discussed the other day. Perez, who had some fine numbers closing in Triple-A, worked a scoreless inning Friday against the Tampa Bay Rays and hit 100 mph on the radar gun in his debut. Tony La Russa says he'll use a variety of pitchers to close out games, but I still think Ryan Franklin is going to get the call in the ninth most of the time. But Perez has got a very bright future.

g The Indians also find themselves in a closer-by-committee situation after fill-in Rafael Betancourt's ERA has floated above 7. Indians manager Eric Wedge told the Associated Press he plans to use four guys - Betancourt, Masa Kobayashi, Jensen Lewis and Rafael Perez - to close out games until Joe Borowski returns from the DL. In the meantime, my money's on Kobayashi, who's got prior closing experience in Japan and has already come in to save Betancourt's butt and pick up a save Thursday.

Save situations, May 12: Izzy, Gagne demoted

Times are tough. Gas prices are skyrocketing. Foreclosures are on the rise. The economy is slumping, and job security is a big concern for Americans everywhere.

Jason Isringhausen and Eric Gagne feel your pain.

Well, OK, maybe that's an overstatement. Those guys are still collecting multi-million-dollar paychecks while the rest of us are scrounging up loose change from the couch cushions just to fill up our gas tanks. But Izzy and Gags are understanding the uneasiness some of us feel about our job futures. Both of those guys were demoted from their team's closer role on successive days over the weekend after piling up the blown saves this year.

Gagne's "temporary" demotion certainly isn't surprising for anyone who's followed The Goggled One since last year. He almost single-handedly sabotaged the Red Sox's playoff push at the end of last year in a trade deadline deal gone horribly wrong, then imploded as the Brewers' closer this year (three blown saves in his past six chances) after somehow wrangling $10 million from Milwaukee this offseason.

Gagne's glory days as the NL's premier closer (152 saves from 2002-04 with the Dodgers) are clearly behind him, as injuries and now a case of a battered confidence have derailed him. The door was left open for Gagne to return to the closer's spot eventually this season after he works out his issues and earns back manager Ned Yost's trust. In the meantime, the Brew Crew will use an all-hands-on-deck approach in the ninth, with Guillermo Mota, David Riske and Salomon Torres, among others, all getting save chances as Yost sees fit.

If I'm a Gagne owner in a league where saves are scarce and I've put up with this nonsense all along just to fill that category, I'm holding onto him on the off chance he does figure things out. Otherwise, I'm dumping him and looking elsewhere. And if you're scrounging for saves and looking at this situation, Mota (2.25 ERA, 1.50 WHIP, 19 Ks, 11 BBs in 16 IP, five holds) is probably the favorite to get most of the ninth-inning chances, although Riske and Torres also have some prior closing experience.

Now, onto Isringhausen. It's a similar case of lost confidence after an MLB-high five blown saves this year, and Tony LaRussa's suggestion of a temporary break isn't really a shock. But I do think Izzy is more likely to regain his job, and sooner. After all, he's got a much better track record in recent years than Gagne, even though he's been "pitching like a second-grader" (his words) of late. He's got a lot of miles on his arm but this doesn't seem to be an injury issue at this point. Looks like you'll have to hold onto him, too, if you're looking to boost your save totals, but obviously this rough patch is a concern.

In the meantime, the Cards appear to be going down the "closer-by-committee" road too, although Ryan Franklin, who's having a nice year (1.89 ERA, 1.15 WHIP) worked the ninth and earned the save the day of Izzy's removal. Also, looking further down the road, 24-year-old Bradenton native Chris Perez, a 6-foot-4, 225-pound right-hander and one of the majors' top reliever prospects, is waiting in the wings in Triple-A. LaRussa initially considered putting Isringhausen on the DL and bringing up Perez before ruling against that. Keep tabs on him, as he could someday soon be Izzy's ninth-inning heir.