Fantasy Baseball- 2003 MLB Player Stats

Relief Pitcher Rankings and Comments for 2004 Season Last update: 3/8/04. Ranks Top 30 players- one player from each MLB team. And an additional 10 relievers. FV/IP = Fantasy Value per Innings Pitched. Fantasy Value = Earned Runs = -3, Shutout = 10 (pretty rare), No Hit = 50 (very rare), K = 1, IP = 3, Save = 5, Win =10 Back to the main MLB Stats and Resources page. Overall Comments: For most fantasy baseball leagues it is important to have one of the top 5 relievers in the game in order to be competitive. There are about 12 decent relievers any of which (if you don't get one of the top 5) will be a solid fantasy option.  PR   Name   Team   Games    Win    L   Save   IP   K   H   BB   ER   ERA  FV/ip  1 Eric Gagne LOS 77 2 3 55 82.1 137 37 20 11 1.2 7.86 Over 52 saves 2 seasons in a row. 137 strikeouts last season in 82 innings. 2 Keith Foulke BOS 72 9 1 43 86.2 88 57 20 20 2.08 6.86 Coming off the best year of his career, Foulke switches coasts and heads to Boston. 3 M. Rivera NYY 64 5 2 40 70.2 63 61 10 13 1.66 6.9 Until proven otherwise, Rivera is still among the best in the game. 4 E. Guardado SEA 66 3 5 41 65.1 60 50 14 21 2.89 6.56 Still not an absolute lock to be the closer in Seattle, but hard to argue he won't be the man. 5 Troy Percival ANA 52 0 5 33 49.1 48 33 23 19 3.47 6.18 May be starting to age. 6 Billy Wagner PHI 78 1 4 44 86 105 52 23 17 1.78 6.3 Drops a couple notches due to injury concerns. 7 Isringhausen STL 40 0 1 22 42 41 31 18 11 2.36 5.81 Only made 40 appearances, but did have lowest ERA of his career. 8 J. Borowski CHN 68 2 2 33 68.1 66 53 19 20 2.63 5.8 The pressure is off in Chicago. The bullpen is stacked. 9 A. Benitez FLA 69 4 4 21 73 75 59 41 24 2.96 5.03 The Marlins still have an excellent pitching staff, so Benitez should get plenty of save opps. 10 John Smoltz ATL 62 0 2 45 64.1 73 48 8 8 1.12 7.27 Keep an eye on Smoltz in spring training as he recovers from surgery. 11 Matt Mantei ARI 50 5 4 29 55 68 37 18 16 2.62 6.91 Sold pick. Strikes out a lot of batters. 12 Rob Nen SF 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Unclear how good Nen will be this season after missing 2003. But its clear its his job in SF. 13 Octavio Dotel HOU 76 6 4 4 87 97 53 31 24 2.48 4.21 With Wagner gone all eyes are currently on Dotel. Pressure season. 14 Billy Koch CHA 55 5 5 11 53 42 59 28 34 5.77 3.85 Horrible season last year. Mgmt and fans hoping for a rebound. 15 Jorge Julio BAL 64 0 7 36 61.2 52 60 34 30 4.38 5.32 Will have DeJean potentially stealing a save here and there this season. 16 B. Looper NYM 74 6 4 28 80.2 56 82 29 33 3.68 4.96 Whats good enough for the Marlins is better for the Mets. 17 M. MacDougal KAN 68 3 5 27 64 57 64 32 29 4.08 5.11 First season as closer was generally a big success for MacDougal. 18 T. Hoffman SDG 9 0 0 0 9 11 7 3 2 2 3.56 In case Hoffman doesn't regain his form, the Padres also have Beck. 19 B. Wickman CLE 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Wickman's job to lose. However, out of all RP comebacks (Nen, Hoffman), this is toughest. 20 D. Graves CIN 30 4 15 2 169 60 204 41 100 5.33 1.93 Back to the bullpen. Graves doesn't strike out many batters, but he's proven effective as a closer. 21 Danny Kolb MIL 37 1 2 21 41.1 39 34 19 9 1.96 6.09 Kolb is one to watch. Too bad he doesn't play for a better team. 22 F. Cordero TEX 73 5 8 15 82.2 90 70 38 27 2.94 4.63 Too inconsistent to rank much higher at this point, but he does have power. 23 Justin Speier TOR 72 3 1 9 73.1 66 73 23 33 4.05 3.57 The closing role is open in Toronto, Speier could be the guy. 24 Rocky Biddle MON 73 5 8 34 71.2 54 71 40 37 4.65 5.29 The main closer for the Expos, but there will be fewer games to close this season. 25 Lance Carter TAM 62 7 5 26 79 47 72 19 38 4.33 4.68 The Devil Rays have a pretty solid bullpen-- 3 guys. Carter is tops, but will be pressed. 26 A. Rhodes OAK 67 3 3 3 54 48 53 18 25 4.17 3.33 Likely to be the A's closer. 27 F. Rodney DET 27 1 3 3 29.2 33 35 17 20 6.07 2.93 The Tigers really like Rodney. But don't forget that he is a Tiger. 28 Sal. Torres PIT 41 7 5 2 121 84 128 42 64 4.76 2.77 The Pirates bullpen is wide open. Torres may move back out of rotation and into closing role. 29 S. Chacon COL 23 11 8 0 137 93 124 58 70 4.6 2.95 Closing role is open in Colorado, Chacon may move out of rotation into the role. 30 Open MIN 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Departure of Guardado leaves a hole for the Twins. 1 Ugueth Urbina Free 72 3 4 32 77 78 56 31 24 2.81 5.55 The best free agent reliever available. 2 Tim Worrell PHI 76 4 4 38 78.1 65 74 28 25 2.87 5.82 Will get a few saves in Philly, but Worrell will be number 2 behind Wagner. 3 Mike DeJean BAL 76 5 8 19 82.2 71 86 39 43 4.68 4.06 Could get a few saves filling in for Julio. 4 Rod Beck SDG 36 3 2 20 35.1 32 25 11 7 1.78 7.02 May have to be the Padres closer if Hoffman's return proves ineffective. 5 Jose Mesa PHI 61 5 7 24 58 45 71 31 42 6.52 4.53 No team seems to be interested in Mesa. 6 M. Williams TAM 68 1 7 28 63 39 66 41 43 6.14 3.95 Part of 3 fairly decent closers in Tampa Bay who will all share some of the role. 7 J. Jimenez CLE 63 2 10 20 101.2 45 137 32 59 5.22 2.88 Wickman is not a lock for a healthy return. But a possibility in Cleveland is not worth much. 8 Danys Baez TAM 73 2 9 25 75.2 66 65 23 32 3.81 4.53 Part of 3 fairly decent closers in Tampa Bay who will all share some of the role. 9 S. Williamson BOS 66 5 4 21 62.2 74 54 34 29 4.16 5.28 Foulke in. 10 B. Fuentes COL 75 3 3 4 75.1 82 64 34 23 2.75 3.84 If not Chacon, maybe Fuentes. Does have power.