Celebrate like a Champion Today (AP)

I don't mind if MLB wants to go with a "30 new closers in 30 days" gimmick for this season, I just wish they'd promote it a little better. Mercy.

Jose Valverde stepped into the ring of fire Tuesday afternoon in Chicago, in what was supposed to be a routine "get work" appearance with a four-run lead. Papa Grande retired the first two batters, then Paul Konerko and A.J. Pierzynski followed with hits. Valverde went to a 3-1 count on the ensuing batter, Alex Rios, before the proceedings stopped and the Tigers removed him from the game.

A half hour later, the news came down: Valverde is dealing with lower back tightness. "Just have to keep our fingers crossed on Jose," Tigers manager Jim Leyland told MLB.com. "I think it's all right."

Detroit has used Joaquin Benoit and Octavio Dotel as Valverde's gatekeepers this year; Benoit usually gets the eighth inning while Dotel works in the seventh. Benoit pitched a scoreless eighth in Tuesday's game, and it was Dotel who inherited the chippy save chance that Valverde created. Dotel finished off Rios's walk, allowed a hit, then recorded one out. Ballgame. Good work if you can get it.

Route 66 to the majors (US Presswire)

The long-running sportswriter code says that you don't root for teams, you root for stories. And with that in mind, I'll openly admit I'm pulling for Boston outfielder Daniel Nava. If he sticks with the Red Sox, they could make a movie out of this guy's life.

The unheralded 29-year-old outfielder landed in Boston last week and he's been a factor in all five games since then. Nava is off to a 7-for-12 start, with six runs, a homer, and six RBIs. And more impressively, he's been impossible to keep off base: six walks, .750 OBP. He's even been plunked by a couple of pitches. The discerning eye is something he's always had, as you can see through his minor-league career (.317/.414/.496 over six seasons).

If you've never heard of Nava, it's with good reason. There's no pedigree here, no buzzy prospect file to discuss. The 5-foot-10 switch hitter was invited to walk onto the Santa Clara baseball as a teenager but didn't make the cut - he eventually settled in as team manager. And when the price of tuition got out of reach, Nava eventually left school and settled in at a junior college.

That's when the story gets interesting: Nava blossomed at JC and eventually he made it back to Santa Clara, this time on a full athletic scholarship. Nava turned into a collegiate star but didn't get drafted, so he had to start over again in professional ball, working his way up from the absolute bottom.

A Durham Dustup for Burnett and Davis

Catchers are important. Without them, you're looking at a ridiculous amount of passed balls.

The ranks to follow illustrate how I'd attack the attack the catcher position if I entered a fresh draft today. To be clear, "attack" is probably the wrong word: I normally go cheap at this spot, especially in one-catcher league. But there are 1,000 ways to get to where we want to go.

Normal rules and disclaimers apply. Assume a 5x5 scoring rotisserie system. Anyone on the DL is ineligible for this list: the value of injured players varies greatly from format to format. I reserve the right to tweak this list as the day goes along. Bring your smartest debate to the comments; win the discussion, win the rank.

Make a new plan, Fran (US Presswire)

What's the best present for a Mom that has everything? Get her an at-bat against scuffling Mets reliever Frank Francisco. Mom will surely line a double in the gap — if Francisco ever gets around to throwing her a strike.

Francisco technically didn't get a blown save in Sunday's ugly loss to the Marlins, but it was a meltdown just the same. He was asked to protect a two-run lead in the ninth and couldn't record an out: Emilio Bonifacio tripled, John Buck walked and Greg Dobbs singled. In short order, the Marlins had a run in and the tying tally just 90 feet away.

Not content to merely unravel on the mound, Francisco then took dead aim at home plate umpire Todd Tichenor, storming to the plate and yelling some choice words (the men had to be separated). Only seven of Francisco's 15 pitches were strikes, but it looked like his complaints were reaching the intended target. Tichenor promptly gave Francisco the boot, and the Marlins wound up finishing the rally against journeyman reliever Manny Acosta. (The game ended on a grand slam from Giancarlo Stanton that probably landed on a beach in Bermuda somewhere. Absolutely crushed. Mercy.)

When you add Sunday's disaster to the ledger, Francisco now shows an 8.56 ERA and a 1.98 WHIP. He does offer 15 strikeouts over 13.3 innings, but he's also walked seven batters. He's been scored on in seven of his last 12 appearances, and he's suffered three losses on the year. How much evidence do the Mets need before they try something else in the ninth? (Perhaps manager Terry Collins is getting close: he says he'll address the closing situation Monday.)

Feeling like a hundred bucks (US Presswire)

You're not officially in the Circle of Trust until I add you to my phone's custom dictionary. Welcome to the club, Josh Reddick. You've forced your way into the mix.

Reddick was the big star (man, I miss Alex Chilton) in Friday's 11-4 romp over the Tigers, going 4-for-4 with a couple of homers and a stolen base. Reddick was already having a useful fantasy year, but this outburst pushes his stats into an area where even those in thin leagues have to take notice. Oakland's right fielder has a nifty .292-23-8-19-4 line through the opening 33 games of the year. If you prorate his stats to a full season, Reddick winds up with 112 runs, 39 homers, 93 RBIs and 19 steals. Sounds like someone who should be owned in more than 39 percent of Yahoo! leagues.

No one really expects Reddick to keep up this pace, of course. He was never a buzzy prospect back in his Boston days (only once did he show up in Baseball America's Top 100 prospects), and his 184-game sample at Triple-A was mediocre (.243/.300/.449, though he hit 32 homers). He's already 25. If something's going to happen, it needs to happen soon.

That established, Oakland is going to give Reddick time and space to develop; on opportunity and volume alone, he's an intriguing roto commodity. He's entrenched as the team's No. 3 hitter (even on a bad offense, that's a great slot for fantasy numbers) and his plus defense protects his job. Reddick has also shown the ability to hit left-handed pitching, through a limited big-league sample of 93 at-bats (.290/.347/.484). Ultimately his growth against right-handed pitching (for his career he's at .252/.294/.444) will determine how far he can go.

Josh Beckett, tremendous slouch (Getty Images)

Most of you know I grew up in New England, and I'm going to be a Boston Red Sox fan all my life. All I want from every Red Sox season is to be entertained; give me a team that's really good or mockably bad and generally I'm happy.

Be careful what you wish for. The 2012 Red Sox are easy on the punchline, harsh on your ERA.

The Josh Beckett golf controversy dates back to last week, but the teeing off didn't really start until Thursday night's start against Cleveland. The Indians rocked Beckett for seven hits and seven runs over 2.1 messy innings, line drives all over the yard (and two into the seats). The Fenway Park faithful showered Beckett with a deafening chorus of boos as he took the walk of shame in the top of the third.

Shortly after the game, the columnists loaded up and took dead aim. They had plenty to work with, as Beckett was his typical stubborn and unlikable self in the interview room. (If you think I'm being harsh in that assessment, wait until you read what Yahoo's Jeff Passan had to say, or the take from long-time Boston beat-writer Sean MacAdam. Grip it and rip it.)

Mixed-league fantasy owners are in on the dogpile, too. Is it time to drop Beckett, his lagging fastball and his 5.97 ERA? Almost 6,000 Yahoo! players have done just that over the last 30 hours.

I've never fully understood the fascination with Beckett in the first place; for my roto money, he's been one of the most overrated pitchers in baseball for some time. Let's consider some of Beckett's Boston numbers over the last six-plus years:

Hey Weeks, lose my number (US Presswire)

Today's assignment: ranking the middle infielders in the Yahoo! game. If you have second base or shortstop eligibility, good health and a whit of fantasy value, you're on this list.

A few rules and disclaimers apply, of course. Assume rotisserie scoring and 5x5 categories. Players at the same dollar amount are considered even. Don't worry about the prices in a vacuum; what really matters is how the players relate to one another.

Anyone on the DL is held off the list; injured players have largely relative values and I'm not going to debate them. What's happened to this point is merely an audition: the goal here is to rank the commodities based on how I'd attack a new league that starts right now.

I reserve the right to tweak this list as the day and night goes along, and I'll add extra comments after a burrito and a margarita. And I welcome your respectful disagreement as we look for the tightest ranks possible. Win the debate, win the rank. But be sure to include logic and facts with your disagreements; bring your best skills. Respect the room, and for the love of all things holy, respect thyself.

And remember the golden rule of fantasy: a player doesn't gain 25 percent bonus value simply because he's on your roster.

Make the jump and we'll rank some ballplayers.

Giancarlo Stanton belly flops in the ninth (Getty Images)

Yes, this column is often centered around bullpens, especially in the Great Closer Drought of 2012. Get used to it, gamers. There's sand at the beach, a salad is supposed to be cold, and talking is frowned upon at the library; some stuff you're supposed to know up front. If save chasing isn't your thing, we have several other interesting pieces of content for your enjoyment.

Sorry folks, they don't close in Florida. The moose out front should have told you, or perhaps Roy Walley himself. Get everyone into the station wagon and let's sort through this.

All of the key players in Miami's bullpen worked Wednesday in Houston. It turned into a 5-3 victory for the Marlins, so Ozzie Guillen can't be too upset. But the smooth landing some of us wanted for Steve Cishek in the ninth didn't happen.

Cishek's blown save looks a lot worse in the box score than it did on the video. The Astros scratched across a run on two cheap hits — a dunk to right and a bloop to left. Giancarlo Stanton made the first hit worse than it should have been; rather than conceding a single to Carlos Lee, Stanton left his feet and tried to make a heroic catch. He failed miserably, and as a result Lee chugged all the way to third base, a gift triple for Colt 45.

The other big names in the bullpen did their jobs. Edward Mujica had an uneventful eighth inning (1-2-3, 18 pitches), and Heath Bell was surprisingly tidy in the tenth inning (one hit, just 10 pitches). It might take more than one good outing for Bell to get his closing gig back, but he certainly took a step in the right direction here. Most of his problems in 2012 have come from spotty control (10 walks over 9.2 innings). Randy Choate and Ryan Webb combined to record the final six outs.

Add it all up and it might be a good time to attempt a buy-low on Bell; as we've said a few times in this column, the team has 27 million reasons to try to get him straightened out. And I also envision Cishek being a valuable reliever in most fantasy formats, even if he's not closing for long; he's capable of working multiple innings in any appearance, and he doesn't have any platoon deficiencies despite being a sidewinder. A lot of pitchers with low arm slots struggle in this regard, but Cishek is an exception to that rule; he's dominant against righties, and still very good against lefties.