I know what you're thinking.

Another blog about fantasy baseball rankings?

Well, we ran our updated (again) rankings at News-Herald.com over the weekend (click here for the batters, here for the pitchers and here for the top 100 overall), and I wanted to explain a few of the key changes in the numbers between the N-H stories and the rankings that were posted on this blog.

-- We dropped Phillies second baseman Chase Utley from No. 5 to 8 at his position because of the news he would miss the start of the season with an ailing knee.

-- The Nationals' Michael Morse slipped three spots in the outfield (from 21 to 24) because of  a shoulder injury that has hampered his spring.

-- St. Louis' Chris Carpenter dropped from No. 23 to 35 at starting pitcher because of a "nerve irritation that has weakened his right shoulder." If the St. Louis Post-Dispatch's report from Friday that Carpenter likely will miss a couple of months is accurate, 35 is much too high. He should be drafted as a No. 5 or 6 starter at best in a 12-team league.

-- Royals closer Joakim Soria will miss the rest of the season because of elbow surgery, dropping him from No. 10 among the relievers to out of the rankings (obviously). After our rankings were published, we learned Reds closer Ryan Madson would also miss the season with an elbow injury.

With that in mind, Madson -- who had taken Soria's place at No. 10 in our rankings (the curse of No. 10?) -- is out and I would consider Seattle's Brandon League now among the top 20 in the bullpen after the recent run of injuries.

Before we go, remember Oakland and Seattle kick off the major-league season Wednesday and Thursday morning in Japan. In head-to-head leagues, those games will count in most leagues, and Week 1 will stretch over a ridiculous span of 19 days -- March 28 to April 15 -- since the remainder of MLB doesn't open the season until late next week, and the first full week of games isn't until April 9-15.

MARCH 23 N-H RANKINGS: Batters, Pitchers, Top 100 overall

UPDATED BLOG RANKINGS: Batters, Pitchers, Top 100 overall

EARLY POSITION RANKINGS:  Catchers, first basemen, second basemen, shortstops, third basemen, designated hitters, outfielders, starting pitchers, closers, top 100 overall

Brian Wilson’s spring training injury is worrisome on two levels.

It could mean the Giants closer will open the season on the disabled list with a strained left oblique, and it could mean fewer chances for us to watch one of the most entertaining characters in baseball.

Wilson hasn’t been ruled out “completely” for opening day, according to Manager Bruce Bochy, and I wouldn’t worry about his injury to the point I would consider dropping him from the top of the closer rankings.

Wilson might start the year on the DL, but his stay there should be brief, and once he returns, you should get the closer who was lights out in 2010.

Wilson has 127 saves the last three seasons, and he has struck out a combined 176 in 147 innings the last two years.

All of which brings us to our rankings of the top closers — the last position in our series (the overall top 100 will follow):

Rank, player: IP-ERA-K-SV-Opp.
1. Brian Wilson, SF: 74.2-1.81-93-48-53
2. Heath Bell, SD: 70-1.93-47-47-50
3. Joakim Soria, KC: 65.2-1.78-71-43-46
4. Neftali Feliz, Tex: 69.1-2.73-71-40-43
5. Mariano Rivera, NYY: 60-1.80-45-33-38
6. Carlos Marmol, ChC: 77.2-2.55-138-38-43
7. Jonathan Papelbon, Bos: 67-3.90-76-37-45
8. John Axford, Mil: 58-2.48-76-24-27
9. Francisco Rodriguez, NYM: 57.1-2.20-67-25-30
10. Chris Perez, Cle: 63-1.71-61-23-27
11. Jonathan Broxton, LAD: 62.1-4.04-73-22-29
12. Huston Street, Col: 47.1-3.61-45-20-25
13. Jose Valverde, Det: 63-3.00-63-26-29
14. Joe Nathan, Min: DID NOT PITCH
15. Francisco Cordero, Cin: 72.2-3.84-59-40-48
16. Matt Thornton, CWS: 60.2-2.67-81-8-10
17. Andrew Bailey, Oak: 49-1.47-42-25-28
18. Brad Lidge, Phi: 45.2-2.96-52-27-32
19. Craig Kimbrel, Atl: 20.2-0.44-40-1-1
20. J.J. Putz, Ari: 54-2.83-65-3-7

Preseason top 100 players (6): Wilson (78), Bell (79), Soria (83), Feliz (91), Rivera (94), Marmol (95).

Short hops
The Padres’ Bell has saved a combined 89 games in 98 chances the last two years. In that span, he has 12 wins and 165 Ks in 139 2/3 innings. ... The Rangers still haven’t announced their plans for Feliz. He is being considered as a starter, but we can only hope he stays as the closer following a first full season in which he saved 40 games in 43 chances. ... In four full big-league seasons, Marmol has 441 Ks in 308 1/3 innings. ... The Tribe’s Perez saved 16 games in 17 opportunities and was 2-0 with a 0.63 ERA after the All-Star break last season. ... Broxton is back as the Dodgers’ closer after losing his job to Hong-Chih Kuo last season. ... Nathan is expected to resume his role as the Twins' closer after missing all of last season following Tommy John surgery. If you draft him, consider taking teammate Matt Capps late. The latter had a combined 42 saves and a 2.47 ERA with Washington and Minnesota in 2010.

NOTE: Statistics are from the 2010 season. ... Players are listed only at the positions at which they are expected to spend the most time in 2011.

THIS WEEK: Outfielders, Wednesday; starting pitchers, today; relief pitchers, today; later today: overall top 100.

LAST WEEK: Shortstops, March 17; third baseman, March 19; designated hitters, March 20.

TWO WEEKS AGO: Catchers, March 7; first baseman, March 8; second baseman, March 9.

Last week, we mentioned how overrated stolen bases can be on draft day.

The same can be said for saves, but not because of the reason you might think. You can never go wrong with a stud closer, who will help you in strikeouts, ERA and (Austin Carr Master of the Obvious warning) saves.

Saves are overvalued only when the likes of Carlos Marmol, B.J. Ryan and Joel Hanrahan are selected much too early strictly because they are closers -- or in the case of Marmol, we thought they'd be closers (thanks, Lou Piniella).

In 5x5 category leagues, closers are even more valuable than stolen-base threats, but while we know the speed guys likely aren't going to hit for power, we can never be sure which closers are going to lose their jobs because of ineffectiveness or injuries.

By my rather unscientific count (I scanned the standings, then went through each team's schedule, looking at the saves recorded for each), 10 teams have switched closers this season. Seven were because of injuries -- Toronto (B.J. Ryan to Scott Downs), Kansas City (Joakim Soria to ...? More on that in a bit), Seattle (Brandon Morrow to David Aardsma and back to Morrow), Oakland (Brad Ziegler to Michael Wuertz and Andrew Bailey), Milwaukee (Carlos Villanueva to Todd Coffey to Trevor Hoffman), Houston (Jose Valderde to LaTroy Hawkins) and Pittsburgh (Matt Capps to, well, Capps; see below)

Two changed because of ineffectiveness -- St. Louis (Jason Motte to a committee to Ryan Franklin) and Colorado (Huston Street to Jason Grilli and Manny Corpas, and back to Street) -- and one (Atlanta, with Mike Gonzalez and Rafael Soriano) prefers to rotate.

All of which leads to a waiver-wire frenzy in category leagues whenever Player X gets A. Demoted, B. Injured, C. Doesn't lose his job, but Player Y sure seems to be getting a decent amount of opportunities.

All of which leaves us scratching our heads, throwing the hammer down (picking up Player Y) and getting that weak stuff out of here (Player X), a la Austin Carr (minus the head-scratching; we're the ones who do that when we hear the same four or five catchphrases throughout a Cavs broadcast).

Let's look at five of the recent closer developments and try to determine a method to this maddening position (and you thought Eric Wedge had problems).

Kansas City: Joakim Soria, who has saved 49 games in 52 opportunities since the start of last season, is on the disabled list because of shoulder soreness. A two-week waiver-wire gem could prove to be Juan Cruz, who has a 1.88 ERA and 11 strikeouts in 14 1/3 innings this season. Cruz was 4-0 with a 2.61 ERA and a whopping 71 strikeouts in 51 2/3 innings for the Diamondbacks last season. Cruz is an effective source of strikeouts (he has 546 K's in 529 1/3 career innings) and the Royals (with a surprising 18 wins) should give him a decent amount of save opportunities.

Houston: Jose Valverde, who had a combined 91 saves in 2007 and '08) has been on the disabled list since April 28 because of a calf injury. He's expected to return in the third week of May. LaTroy Hawkins (four saves, 2.40 ERA, 13 strikeouts in 15 innings) has been productive when called upon, but he's had only three save chances (blowing one) since Valverde went down.

Pittsburgh: Capps, who is on the DL with an elbow injury, is expected to return Tuesday. In his place, the Pirates might as well have had one of the Tribe's gas cans at the back end of the 'pen. Pittsburgh hasn't had a save since Capps recorded his fifth on April 22.

Oakland: Ziegler hasn't had a save since April 25. Since, Wuertz has two and Bailey one. Until Ziegler recovers from recent flu and asthma ailments (he says he won't be 100 percent for a couple of weeks), it's probably better to avoid any of these players unless you're desperate. Of the three, Bailey (3-0, 1.27 ERA, 24 strikeouts in 21 1/3 innings) has been the best.

Washington (aka the Indians of the National League): Hanrahan lost his job to former Indian Julian Tavarez and former starter Kip Wells. The bullpen was so bad Wells was brought off the street and has been one of the Nationals' most effective relievers. His save Friday was the first of his career. Tavarez recorded his first save of the season April 29, lost the following night and has had only two holds since. For the time being, Hanrahan (who bailed out Wells on Saturday night, getting his third save in the process) might still be the best option. He's a good source of strikeouts (16 in 13 1/3 innings; 93 in 84 1/3 in 2008) and at 28, he's likely the future of Washington's bullpen. In deeper leagues, he's a risk, but the same can be said for almost anyone at the position.

Later this week, we'll have more Pick Three options, NFL draft leftovers, an audiocast on the News-Herald's Web site and a column in Saturday's editions and online. Until then, good luck and remember to thank Mom even when it's not technically her day.