Arizona Diamondbacks Team Report

Here is a team without a clear closer.  After trading away Chad Qualls who clearly showed he wasn’t closer material, the Diamondbacks went the rest of the season with Juan Gutierrez.  At 27 year of age (yeah right), Gutierrez  saved 14 consecutive games for the Diamondbacks to end the season.  IN that time span, he lowered his ERA from 8.04 to 5.08. 

In my opinion, newly acquired J.J. Putz  is the front runner for the closer role in Arizona.  He will face competition this spring from Gutierrez, but in the end Gutierrez will assume a different role unless Putz has control or injury issues.  Another contender that might be of interest is David Hernandez.  While he showed some promise as a starter in Baltimore, Hernandez has the stuff and the makeup of a closer.  At this point he just needs to develop it. 

It’s my recommendation that you steer clear of the Diamondbacks bullpen.  They are a rebuilding team with allot of issues and question marks in their bullpen and by no means is Putz a sure thing.