Carlos Marmol

Angel Guzman has been the Cubs' best relief pitcher for more than a month, and Carlos Marmol's command problems have sunk to new depths in the last two weeks. But manager Lou Piniella met with Marmol and said he has no plans to take Marmol out of the eighth-inning setup role.

''I told him today I've got all the confidence in the world in him, and I haven't even thought about removing him from that spot,'' Piniella said, adding that the way to get Marmol out his funk is to ''just keep pitching him. He's working.''

Falling in line with the offensive members of the 2009 All-Early Disappointment Team, we must not forget about the pitchers. The pitchers who have destroyed our ratios, neglected to notch us Wins or Saves, and have a K/9 that makes Jamie Moyer chuckle. We drafted them early and often, and in return they've slapped us in the face and kicked us in the groin. Who are these sumanumbatches? Let's take a look...

Okay, so when I said that my Last Minute Shuffle would be the last Spot * On blog before the start of the MLB Season, I was lying. So sue me. I've been fascinated with closers for some time now (no, I don't mean Kyra Sedgwick), how people obsess over them, when to draft them, their role both in baseball and in fantasy, and how to utilize them most effectively in general. The polar opposing opinions that exist are stifling, if not fun to read. I want to take a look at a good number of 9th inning men today, as well as who I'm avoiding and targeting for Saves this season; and my picks may surprise you...

Lou Piniella picked Kevin Gregg to be the team's closer heading into the season. Gregg beat out Carlos Marmol, the Cubs' top setup man last year. They both spent spring training vying to replace All-Star closer Kerry Wood, who signed with Cleveland during the offseason.

"Gregg came in here and hasn't given up a run all spring," Piniella said Sunday. "I think leaving spring training, we're a better team the way we've put this thing together."

And so the two weeks draws to a close, appropriately, with a look at the Top 10 Closers. A volatile position at the best of times, 2008 seemed to be the craziest season ever in terms of the amount of closers losing their jobs through injury or bad performance.

Closers may be the most intriguing breed of baseball players. They are highly debated, analyzed, ridiculed, and speculated on. Their biggest contribution to a fantasy lineup (Saves), they have little control over. They warm up, get ready to pitch, and when their offense scores a run to put their team up 4, they sit down and go back to spitting seeds while a guy, possibly just as capable, making a fraction of what the closer makes, trots out for the 9th inning. If you tried to describe fully, the modern MLB closer to somebody who had never heard of the concept, they'd look at you like you were crazy.

Not much of a surprise here.

What would be surprising is if Kerry Wood would hold up all season. If you own Wood, would it be smart to own Marmol also? You bet it would.

is Kerry Wood really being considered for the closers gig?
I think the Cubs would be nuts to build a bullpen around Kerry Wood as the 9th inning guy. He has only faced 186 batters in the last two seasons, and can't really go on back to back days.

If Ryan Dempster is really moving to the rotation, than the closer gig should be Carlos Marmol's. He earned it.