A week ago, when asked who the Cubs feared most in their division, the answer was not longtime rival St. Louis, but the Milwaukee Brewers.  Their pitching was solid and their bats were starting to come around.  J.J. Hardy was leading the charge last week and with names like Ryan Braun and Prince Fielder following, the Cubbies certainly had reason for pause.  Then the Brewers went out and acquired C.C. Sabathia in a blockbuster deal and the pressure on Chicago mounted.  Did they have what it takes to hold onto the lead in the NL Central?

I think Keith might want to change the Buzzie for Best Counter-Puncher Award, because look what the Cubs just did… (more…)

Is it possible that the Mets will blow this deal?  11 minutes until the deadline.  C’mon Mets!!!   Blow it!!!!  Noonan!!!

We are currently in the void.  Nothingness.  Wasted time in which the fantasy addict rolls around on the floor like a junkie in need of a fix.  Our fantasy superbowls are over.  March Madness is still over a month away.  Baseball season seems like a hazy far away dream.  An oasis in this fantasy desert that may or may not be real.  Player updates and moves are few and far between.  The only silver lining in this dark stormy cloud is that there is the football post-season to keep our sporting minds from rotting out of our skulls.  Yes, its the January and February void. 

But then!  What light from yonder window breaks?  It is the sun.  The warm light of baseball has found a crack!  Magazines will soon be published.  online draft guides will be available, and the writers of Rotobuzz slowly come out of their long winter slumber.  Coming soon, the ‘08 baseball season coverage from Rotobuzz.com.

I feel like a deer in the headlights as I watch the bullpen movement for the Florida Marlins.  It’s like a train wreck.  So awful to look at, yet I just can’t seem to pry my eyes away.

The Florida Marlins traded away reliever Randy Messenger to the San Francisco Giants in exchange for beleaguered closer Armando Benitez throwing yet another gallon of gasoline onto the fire that is the Marlins pitching staff.  According to manager Fredi Gonzalez, Benitez will not be put in the closer’s role immediately.  Kevin Gregg will remain in that spot for now…atleast until his already short leash gets yanked.  If there is a shake-up…..or should I say when there’s a shake-up in the pen, I’m sure Benitez will get the opportunity. 

And don’t forget about recently activated Henry Owens.  Not likely to get the save opps from the get go here, but he was fairly solid in his short stint as the team’s closer until his shoulder flared up.  This whole situation has committee written all over it.

Continue to use Gregg, stash Benitez away if you can, you can probably, truth be told, ditch Owens, close your eyes and hope for the best.

For the Giants, it’s time to grab reliever Brad Hennessey.  He’ll be the first choice to get the save opportunities and should be a solid play if he holds down the job. 

What about Messenger? 

Exactly.  What about him?

It is my unfortunate duty to inform the masses of fantasy GMs out there that Chris Carpenterwill miss the next three months following surgery on his elbow.  This is a crushing blow to teams around the country.  Be kind to the GMs that just lost this premier player.  I actually know one owner who traded Vernon Wells for him just prior to the season starting.  Sorry, Mike. 

Well, here’s one for you Brett Myers owners…and a little distressing news for you Tom Gordon owners…

It seems that Gordon is back in Philly today after experiencing pain in his right shoulder again, and it looks like my earlier report of Myers taking over the closers’ role is coming to fruition. Let’s hope all of you Myers owners heeded my warnings and didn’t panic when he was shuttled into middle relief.

We’ll know more when Gordon’s test results are in, but for now, I think it’s safe to assume that Myers will be the frontrunner for saves in Gordon’s absence.

Holy jumpin’ horn toads!  Brett Myers has lost his position in the starting rotation. He has been moved to the bullpen to fill the setup role.  Go ahead, re-read those last two sentences.  I can’t believe I wrote them.  Jon Lieber will take over the spot in the rotation.  While I am not going to tell Myers owners not to freak out (cause I totally would be), I will say not to drop him just yet.  Hopefully, this is more of a wake up call for him.  In a setup role he has almost no fantasy value.

I’m not gonna lie to you…

This one could hurt a little.

Put Blue Jays closer B.J. Ryan on the list….the disabled list that is. Toronto put their prized closer on the DL today with, what they’re calling an “elbow injury”. Hmmm. Pretty vague. What’s not vague is that Ryan is on his way to the famous Dr. James Andrews for tests, and that’s never good.

You waiver hounds need to get on the laptop right now and grab Jason Frasor.

There’s no telling how long Ryan could be out, so Frasor will make for a nice pickup in a very busy and somewhat shallow market. It gives a little credence to the theory that you don’t need to grab a top closer in the draft since saves have been popping up all over the place. But I’m still not subscibing to that. Those of us with 2 top closers, not named Ryan, aren’t sweating this at all. Not to mention how we’re also able to keep that free agent bid money and waiver priority for when the big one does arrive. In the meantime, thanks for the saves, ERA and WHIP help, and K’s that are definitely giving our pitching a boost.

It’s actually amazing that we’re not even through the second week of the season and we’re doing soooooo much talk about closers. It’s unreal.

The latest?

Royals manager Buddy Bell made officially named Joakim Soria as the team’s new closer until Octavio Dotel comes back. He is replacing veteran Dave Riske, who was completely unimpressive since getting the original nod. Thanks for the tip Huggy.

Also…

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For those who didn’t take Keith’s advice and drafted Astros closer Brad Lidge without getting Dan Wheeler as insurance, it’s a bummer huh? Now you’re looking at fighting off your fellow owners for waiver pickups trying to get back what you’re about to lose in saves.

Picking right up where he left off, Lidge was so unproductive in this first week, manager Phil Garner gave the quick hook and pulled him out of the closer’s role. Last I heard, Garner was talking about getting him some regular work in 5th or 6th or 7th innings and using Rick White and Chad Qualls as the primary set up men for Wheeler — who, by the way, notched his first save of the season tonight.

Now don’t go panicking too badly here. Yes, it’s awful if you’ve just lost a closer this early. But a break at this time just might be what Lidge needs to get back on track. If it’s a mechanical issue, he’ll be able to make in-game adjustments to fix the problem. If it’s mental, then some low-pressure action could be what he needs to work himself towards mid-season form. Either way, I don’t see this being a permanent move (unless, of course, he’s the modern day Mark Wohlers) and Lidge could return to save opps within a couple of weeks.

But grab Wheeler now, dammitt!!!!