BaseballDocs Fantasy Baseball - AL Only Relief Pitcher Player Rankings

Draft Advisor Ultimate Fantasy Football Software and Cheat Sheet!

BaseballDocs
2012 Player Rankings:
AL Only Relief Pitchers (RP)

Last update: 01/30/12

You wanted them, so you got them. We have compiled the top 350 American League players and grouped them into color tiers that provide more flexibility when drafting. These color tiers provide a quick, visual means of comparing players at different positions with similar fantasy value. Comments have also been added to give you those extra little pieces of information that may help sway your decision between two seemingly, equal players.

AL only fantasy rankings:

Overall

Relief Pitchers 1 - 50

Rank	Player	Team	Pos	Age	Comments
43	Mariano Rivera	NYY	RP	42	$ 2nd(SV)
60	Daniel Bard	BOS	RP	26
62	Jose Valverde	DET	RP	34	2nd(SV)
67	Andrew Bailey	BOS	RP	27	2nd(SV)
74	Joakim Soria	KC	RP	27	$ 2nd(SV)
74	Chris Sale	CHW	RP	23	Zzz 2ndYrPl
75	Sergio Santos	TOR	RP	28	2nd(SV)
79	Jordan Walden	LAA	RP	24	2ndYrPl 2nd(SV)
85	Joe Nathan	TEX	RP	37	2nd(SV)
107	Kyle Farnsworth	TB	RP	35
111	Brandon League	SEA	RP	29	$ 2nd(SV)
112	Chris Perez	CLE	RP	26	2nd(SV)
123	Francisco Cordero	FA	RP	36	2nd(SV)
127	Jim Johnson	BAL	RP	28
132	Matt Capps	MIN	RP	28
135	Brett Myers	HOU	RP	31	$ 2nd(K)
142	Matt Thornton	CHW	RP
156	Mike Adams	TEX	RP	33
157	Mark Melancon	BOS	RP	27

Comments:
The comments are provided to give you a little extra insight into the players. Some are positive and some are negative. Here is the legend for the comments:

NOTE: – Increased production can often be seen in players that hit the ages of 27 or 28. Others will see a marked decline in production with age (let’s say past 30). Consequently, we have added all the players’ ages to our rankings.

rook – These players are hot rookies to keep an eye on this season.

$ – These players are scheduled for new contracts after 2012, so they might be a little more motivated in 2012.

Zzz – These players could be undervalued sleepers at your fantasy baseball draft.

2ndYrPl – These players were hot rookies going into last season, but they may have been forgotten this year due to poor play. Look for a possible rebound.

2nd(RBI) – These players finished the second half of last season as a leader in runs batted in production. They had 45 or more RBIs in the second half of last season.

2nd(HR) – These players finished the second half of last season as a leader in home run production. They had 14 or more home runs in the second half of last season.

2nd(AVE) – These players finished the second half of last season as a leader in batting average. They had a .300 average or better the second half of last season with at least 200 second half plate appearances.

2nd(SB) – These players finished the second half of last season as a leader in stolen base production. They had 10 or more stolen bases in the second half of last season.

2nd(SV) – These players finished the second half of last season as a leader in saves production. They had 10 or more saves in the second half of last season.

2nd(K) – These players finished the second half of last season as a leader in pitching strikeouts production. They had 70 or more strikeouts in the second half of last season.

xIP – These players either experienced a drastic increase in their innings pitched last year or they just flat out threw a ton of innings last year. They could be an injury or decreased production risk.

Color Tiers:
The color bands are provided to highlight players that are in the same tier of fantasy value. This is done to create flexibility in your draft strategy relative to your particular team need. For example, if all of the first tier players are gone (highlighted with a black background), none of the second tier are gone (highlighted with a maroon background), and you want a pitcher, Roy Halladay is your man. You passed over the positional players ranked above Halladay because they were all in the same tier as Halladay.