Brad Ziegler 2009

Brad Ziegler will be competing with Joey Devine to win the Oakland A's closer job in 2009. Actually, according to the A's manager, they'll be sharing closing duties, but that type of arrangement almost never lasts in today's major league baseball. Ziegler put up an incredible 1.06 ERA in 59.2 innings pitched in 2008 in his first look at the major leagues. That sounds impressive, but don't expect a repeat performance. He struck out only 30 batters and walked 22. Not exactly a recipe for stardom, particularly as a 29 year old who is unlikely to improve very much. His high (59.7%) groundball rate will ensure that he's able to be an effective major league pitcher, but Ziegler isn't really closer material, and the sooner the A's acknowledge that, the better off they'll be.