Selecting a Closer For Your Fantasy Baseball Team

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By: staff Posted: April 20, 2009

Closers and Fantasy Baseball

Fantasy baseball, like other fantasy sports games is all about numbers. The only way to win in fantasy baseball is when you have the upper hand in terms of numbers. It doesn’t really matter how the game ends or starts as long as your player provided very impressive stats. By constantly monitoring the improvement of your player or cancelling those who are not performing well in the past few games, you should be able to win the league or at least have respectable results every after season.

But there are situations wherein a win in a game could mean a lot. When winning becomes a major part of the fantasy league, you need to really consider a lot of data. Discarding one or two data could easily ruin your chances in winning the game. This is especially true in a head to head to head game or during the playoffs race.

A small but very important factor you should always look out when winning is important in your league is the closer. While many fantasy games discard the role of a closer, this position could easily ruin your chances of winning the game. If you don’t look out for the closer, you’ll end up at the mercy of luck.

Minor News with Major Impact

At this point, you are already familiar how closers are selected. They are usually drafted anytime from a minor league supported by the major league team. Closers come from AAA teams and their transition from minor to major are considered very small news. Stats about them are available but until you realize that they are actually on the team, you barely know that they are actually there. If you’re on a head to head fantasy game, this small news can easily cost you.

Here are the important data you should look for in a closer:

Return from AAA – there are players that come and go from their AAA team to the major league. If the player consistently returns to the major league, there could be a problem. The player might not be performing well enough to stay with the majors and he is only used when they are in desperate need of talent.
Experience – first time on the majors should never be counted out. If this is the first time the closer would be in a game, give him credit. It’s a good wildcard since the closer will do his best the first time to ensure he stays as a closer for long time.
Injuries – injuries does happen and this could easily debilitate the performance of the player. But if the player has stayed in the majors for sometime even with an injury, his presence could still mean victory.

Ending up with a good closer in winning the head to head fantasy match or even the rotisserie format is like having an extra small pistol when everyone else only has one gun. It’s an unseen factor that could be very important in the end. Dig deep about your closers to ensure victory.