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Jacob Bielecki's avatar

The problem here is that every team since the 1990s has tried replicating the Mariano Rivera model but without the same level of success. Rivera was a unique talent who could be used for one inning. In the last few years this way of utilizing the bullpen has broken down and the one inning closer isn’t all that reliable anymore. Emmanuel Clase was phenomenal last year but he and rest of the Cleveland bullpen broke down in the postseason because they were overused. Clase has been so bad this year, Cleveland demoted him from the closer role. Devin Williams, Ryan Helsley, Edwin Diaz have all been terrible as well. Eventually a manager or GM is going to have the fortitude to abandon this model.

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Paul Dunn's avatar

Dan,

You are certainly right, especially when it comes to OOTP. Even in the current period, the game will dictate who the closer should be. If one is playing in the preseason mode (2024-2025) the game will list a pitcher (Ian Hamilton0 who is a reliever.

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