What ratings do you guys really feel are necessary for a good closer?  I've tried all different sorts and it never works out.

I've pretty much elimiated the closer role from all my teams.  They typically are your best releiver, but by confining them to the traditional closer role, they might not be used in the high leveraged situations in the 7th or 8th innings, which can often make or break the game.

Make your best relievers SuA, make your next tier of relievers SuB.  Don't worry about who gets the save, that's just a stat.

Ignore tec's non-answer.

It's really no different than any other pitcher.   You need good splits.    But, for someone pitching late(and with low stamina) regardless of what you call him, you'll want better control.   He has a limited number of pitches and walks eat them up.  You also want to limit baserunners.   I also prefer higher velocity(for strikeouts) and GB/FB(to help avoid homers).   

Beyond that, you may be having trouble understanding what he's actually doing because of his limited number of innings.  A three run homer for a guy who'll pitch 50ish innings on the season is half a run on his season ERA.   Because of the way we use our RP(usually a low pull rating), a couple of games of getting lit up will really leave a mark on their final season stats. 

I agree with tec. Go closer by committee. I feel like this gives your best guys the most IP, and therefore they help you more. Don't get hung up on the save stat.

Thanks, my bullpen has been my demise. 

As Mike suggested, you want to have a higher standard for ratings with your RPs (less time to make up for a bad inning than with a SP - also ace RPs are easier to come by than ace SPs), but don't necessarily expect consistent results from each individual guy, as long as the group functions well, and you have enough options to always have a reliable arm available.

Fewer walks and homers, more strikeouts... same things every MLB team is looking for from their relievers.

I agree with Tec actually, and Deanod summed it up great in his tutorial videos... This is a computerized simulation, where players have no emotions and there is no real need to put anyone in the closer role. If you put your best RP as the closer, you limit his innings. Put your best relievers in the Setup A slot

I'll give you a really good example of a very good RP being limited because he's in the closer role

With 48 stamina and 64 durability this guy could easily pitch 120+ innings a year, but since hes in the closer role he throws 40 innings a year... ouch

So do SET UP B guys come in when there are no SET UP A's available?

How are each pitching postition utilized?

@nauds3000: That hurts my feelings when owners use pitchers like that as closers. I traded for a similar pitcher, who routinely racked up 110+ innings of sub-1.20 WHIP for me as SuA, but was unable to re-sign him when he hit FA. His new owner plugged him back into the closer role, where he's just as good, but less frequently.

Pitchers like that are one of the most valuable commodities in this game. They're virtually a one-man bullpen.

Posted by willsauve on 12/21/2011 4:08:00 PM (view original):
So do SET UP B guys come in when there are no SET UP A's available?

yes

Posted by travisg on 12/21/2011 4:09:00 PM (view original):
@nauds3000: That hurts my feelings when owners use pitchers like that as closers. I traded for a similar pitcher, who routinely racked up 110+ innings of sub-1.20 WHIP for me as SuA, but was unable to re-sign him when he hit FA. His new owner plugged him back into the closer role, where he's just as good, but less frequently.

Pitchers like that are one of the most valuable commodities in this game. They're virtually a one-man bullpen.

Agreed, when people do that with really good RP's it makes me wanna cry

Posted by nauds3000 on 12/21/2011 4:04:00 PM (view original):
I agree with Tec actually, and Deanod summed it up great in his tutorial videos... This is a computerized simulation, where players have no emotions and there is no real need to put anyone in the closer role. If you put your best RP as the closer, you limit his innings. Put your best relievers in the Setup A slot

I'll give you a really good example of a very good RP being limited because he's in the closer role

With 48 stamina and 64 durability this guy could easily pitch 120+ innings a year, but since hes in the closer role he throws 40 innings a year... ouch

I didn't disagree with tec but he didn't answer the OP's question.    He went off on a "How to set up your bullpen" tangent.     That's why I called it a non-answer.

As for me, I sometimes use a closer, I sometimes don't.   Usually, they're the 35 DUR/22 STM type guys that are only good for 10-15 pitches every couple of days.

True, I didn't directly answer the OP's question, but I tried to point him down a better path than the one he was trying to head down.

If somebody asked you, in the "Ask MikeT anything" thread, "What's the best way to kill a dog?", wouldn't you respond in a similar way?

Posted by tecwrg on 12/21/2011 5:02:00 PM (view original):

True, I didn't directly answer the OP's question, but I tried to point him down a better path than the one he was trying to head down.

If somebody asked you, in the "Ask MikeT anything" thread, "What's the best way to kill a dog?", wouldn't you respond in a similar way?

Or would he answer that it's okay to use a gun that can only be fired every couple of days?