Bert Blyleven

Closers have been on the move this offseason. Most notably, Francisco Rodriguez left the Angels for the Mets, Kerry Wood departed the Cubs for the Indians and Brian Fuentes moved from the Rockies to the Angels to take over for K-Rod.

There are currently some great closers in baseball but outside of K-Rod my top five have stayed put this winter. Here are my rankings of the best finishers in the game.

1. Mariano Rivera

Father Time has not yet caught up to Rivera, who turned 39 on Nov. 29.

Last season he appeared in 64 games, picked up 39 saves and had an eye-popping 1.40 ERA. It not only takes tremendous talent but also incredible durability to get 482 career saves.

Rivera will have that durability tested this season as in early October he had surgery on his right shoulder to remove calcification from a joint, an issue he dealt with for much of last season. The Yankees are cautiously optimistic that he will be ready for the start of the 2009 schedule.

Rivera doesn’t have a big curve ball and he doesn’t have a sinker or a hard slider but what he does have is pinpoint control (only six walks in 70.2 innings last season) and a phenomenal cutter, which he can move in and out and up and down. It’s as good a cutter as there is in the game.

I’m not surprised that after 14 major league seasons he still has the velocity to overpower hitters at times because over the course of his career the Yankees have not overused him since they have had strong set up men. Only once has he thrown over 100 innings in a season (107.2 in 1996). Coming off the shoulder surgery, it will be interesting to see if his velocity is affected.

2. Francisco Rodriguez

It will be hard for K-Rod to surpass his remarkable 2008 season when he set a major league record with 62 saves while appearing in 76 games (68.1 innings pitched) and posting a 2.24 ERA. So much for the thought by many that Bobby Thigpen’s 57 saves with the White Sox in 1990 was a record that would never be broken. Eric Gagne made a couple of serious runs at it (52 saves in 2002 and 55 saves in 2003) and John Smoltz made it to 55 saves in 2002 but K-Rod last season was something else in blowing by Thigpen’s mark.

Rodriguez has an unorthodox type of delivery, similar in some ways to that of Luis Tiant, who won 229 games over 19 seasons in the big leagues from 1964 to 1982. He’s got a high leg kick and at times his back is almost to the hitter. But his delivery hasn’t affected his durability.

Given his charisma, his aggressiveness and his bulldog mentality, K-Rod is fun to watch on the mound. He shows a lot of confidence out there and why not? He can bring the heat with a fastball that gets into the upper 90’s and relies on a hard curveball. Also he added a changeup which was his big pitch last season.

His control could be better and sometimes with his walks (34 in 68.1 innings last season) he puts himself into tough situations but has a knack of working out of them more often than not, often getting key strikeouts to bail himself out. He has history of being able to get big strikeouts when he needs them the most. And K-Rod isn’t shy about showing his emotions on the mound, which can rub some opponents the wrong way. But he’s not out there to please the other team, he’s out there to get outs.

3. Brad Lidge

I rank him third off what he did last season -- 41 saves in as many opportunities, including 7-for-7 in the postseason and an ERA of 1.95. That was quite an improvement over 2007, his last of six seasons in Houston, when his ERA was 3.36 and he had 19 saves.

Lidge brought a lot of confidence to the mound for the Phillies, which was notable since the Astros traded him after his dependability had taken a significant hit in Houston. For Lidge the best thing was a change of scenery as it seemed he was dealing with a mental hangover from his struggles in the 2005 postseason. The Astros probably felt he was haunted by the demons of past blown saves so they gave him a ticket out of town and a new lease on closing in Philadelphia. And he’s certainly made the most of it.

With Lidge, hitters are often looking for his hard slider which helps enable him to sneak a fastball in the high 90’s by them. He can rack up strikeouts with 92 in 69.1 innings last season.

4. Joe Nathan

He’s averaged 40 saves over the last five seasons for the Twins. He’s as consistent as any closer in the game. There’s no questioning his mound presence. He’s as confident as they come even in the most pressurized situations.

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Nathan has plenty of weapons starting with a fastball that can get up in the mid 90’s and has good sink on it. He’ll also come at hitters with a curveball that when he gets it over the plate is devastating and an excellent slider. Sometimes he throws his slider so hard that hitters think they are seeing a cutter from him.

Pitching in Minnesota and not in a big market, Nathan is not given full appreciation for his talents. He’s under the radar a bit but shouldn’t be because he’s as steady and reliable as they come. He’s signed a new contract with the Twins so when it comes to closing Minnesota knows Nathan’s as close to money in the bank that you can find when calling on a pitcher to finish a game.

5. Joakim Soria

The 24-year-old right-hander of the Royals impresses the heck out of me. After 17 saves in 62 games in 2007, Soria piled up 42 saves in 63 games last season. He has great composure on the mound and a very smooth delivery. He has excellent control surrendering only 19 walks in 67.1 innings last season. That and 66 strikeouts helped him post a 1.60 ERA.

Soria is so tough to score on because he has outstanding control of a live fastball, has a big slow curve ball, will at times work in a cutter and has one of the game’s best changeups. He’s a cool customer for someone so young. He knows what he has to do and goes out there and just does it. He doesn’t let nerves get in the way of his performance.

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