Indians closer?

Posted: Tue Apr 15, 2008 12:13 pm

Now that Borowski is finally out of the picture for a while, who do you think Wedge will turn to to close?

Betancourt is their best reliever, but he struggled a few seasons ago to take the job after they got rid of Wickman. He is the odds-on favorite to close, but I could see Wedge wanting to keep him in a setup role where he is one of the league's best.

Kobayashi was an elite closer his entire career in Japan and hasn't given up a run yet this year. He might make the most sense for them, but I don't know if the Indians would want to put that much pressure on him this early in his MLB career, though.

Rafael Perez is also a great reliever, but he should continue to be used as a situational lefty.

Finally, Jorge Julio is a dark-horse candidate because he has the most MLB closing experience. And since the Indians are already used to 9th-inning heart attacks, why change that now?

Posted: Tue Apr 15, 2008 5:17 pm

In order of preference...IMO

Betancourt
Kobayashi
Lewis
Julio
Perez

Manager Joined: Feb 13, 2006 Posts: 103

as much sense it makes for betancourt to take over, look for kobayashi to seize the closers job because of experience

General Manager Joined: Feb 26, 2006 Posts: 453

I agree that Kobayashi will get the nod. If they were going to give it to Betancourt they wouldve given it to him a long time ago. He's firmly established as there setup man. I dont expect that to change.

Posted: Wed Apr 16, 2008 10:00 pm

Wedge has said that it's Betancourt's job, so he'll be closing unless he can't get it done. If he's fine in this role now, he immediately becomes a top closer in my opinion. The Indians had over 50 save opportunities this year, and they should be just as good this year.

Betancourt was the 5th highest ranked RP according to Yahoo last year - with only 3 saves. His numbers (1.47 ERA, .76 WHIP, 80 K/79 IP) were unreal. Throw in 40 saves and he'd be on Papelbon/Putz/Nathan level. But more realistically, a 2.50 ERA, 1.00 WHIP, K per inning guy who gets even 35 saves would most likely be a top 5 closer. I think those numbers are attainable.

I think he'll be up to the challenge this go round and Borowski has saved his last game.