Identifying five future closers

March, 22, 2012

3/22/12

2:45

PM ET

By Jim Bowden | ESPN.com

All general managers would love to have a Mariano Rivera or Trevor Hoffman anchoring their bullpens and closing games, but that’s not always realistic. It would be ideal to buy a free agent such as Jonathan Papelbon, but not every team can afford that. Every team would love to draft a Drew Storen in the first round, but that can get risky and expensive.

Thus, general managers often must identify failed starters or relievers in their organization who could make it as closers, or find middle relievers on other teams and trade for them before those clubs figure out they have another potential closer in their bullpen. A perfect example is Joakim Soria, who the Kansas City Royals found via the Rule 5 draft. Of course, now that Soria might need elbow surgery, the Royals could be looking for a ninth-inning replacement. Good closers are out there, you just need to know where to look.

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ABOUT THIS BLOG

Jim Bowden

Bowden, who served as the senior vice president and GM for the Cincinnati Reds and the Washington Nationals, is an analyst for ESPN.com. In 1992, Bowden became the youngest GM in MLB history when the Reds hired him at age 31. The Reds finished in first place twice during his 10 years as GM, and he was named MLB Executive of the Year by Baseball America in 1999. After working for ESPN in 2004, Bowden became the first GM of the Washington Nationals when the franchise relocated from Montreal to Washington, D.C., in 2005, working in that role until the 2009 season. Bowden co-hosts the "Inside Pitch" radio show on Sirius XM satellite radio. Follow on Twitter: @JimBowdenESPNxm.