Happy 23rd birthday to Braves' closer Craig Kimbrel, who has struck out 78 of 192 batters he's faced as a big leaguer (40.6%). Make sure you follow @closernews for all the latest on fantasy's most unpredictable category, the save. Here are some notes on the ninth inning…
- Jon Heyman of Sports Illustrated tweets that the Rangers will consider K-Rod along with other top right-handed relievers, though he doesn't see them accounting for his $17.5MM option.
- Andy Martino of The New York Daily News explains why Mets closer Francisco Rodriguez might be more tradeable than we think. "Instead of signing someone like (Jonathan) Papelbon or(Heath) Bell this winter for three or four years, a team could pick up that option and have K-Rod for a year and a half," said one NL executive. "That could be very tempting, and the Mets might actually get a prospect back in that case."
- In today's Insider-only blog post, ESPN's Buster Olney says it would make sense for the Cardinals to try to acquire Padres closer Heath Bell to solve their ninth inning woes. Olney wonders if they would attempt to expand a deal to include Jason Bartlett, who St. Louis had interest in over the winter.
- Dan Mennella looked at both K-Rod and Bell as trade candidates recently, and Tim Dierkes listed some potentially available relievers.
