Mike Koplove

For a week or so last year Koplove was the Diamondbacks closer. After a couple of poor outings, Greg Aquino got the next call and kept the job to push Koplove back to his set-up role. Aquino and Jose Valverde will compete to be the closer this spring, with Brian Bruney waiting in the wings. Koplove will likely be a set-up man again. Although he's good in that role, his fantasy impact will be low.

Koplove pitched just 4.1 innings after May 27 last season, as he lost the rest of the season due to tendinitis in his throwing shoulder that eventually required offseason arthroscopic surgery. If he shows he's healthy in the spring, Koplove will still be an effective and valuable reliever. However, with Jose Valverde now up in the bigs and Brian Bruney knocking on the door, Koplove's closer-in-waiting stock isn't anywhere near as high as it was last year.

Koplove delivered unexpected value as a middle reliever in 2002, posting six wins as Bob Brenly used him to set up Byung-Hyun Kim. Decent ERA (3.36) and WHIP (1.1) as well. Check Koplove in the spring to see if Brenly has the same role in mind for him in 2003; if he does, he's an acceptable dollar play in deep NL leagues. In other leagues, Koplove's role just doesn't have enough roto impact to merit much consideration.