Reds + Francisco Cordero = 4-year, $46M Contract

Well, it was nice while it lasted.

For that sort of money, there's no way the Brewers could have kept Cordero. Sure, closers aren't necessarily a dime-a-dozen, but they're not worth $10 mil either. Heck, there's not a lot of guys I'd pay $10 mil for.

Who on the Brewers would you pay that kind of money to? Fielder, yes. If Braun keeps up his pace, yes. If Gallardo keeps it up, yes. Other than that, who else? You can't argue for Jenkins, so don't even try. Sheets is injured too often. Corey Hart? Not really.

Plus, the Reds are now weighing down the rest of their roster all to have a really good closer. It's like skimping on product at your local Walmart in order to pay the best-of-the-best cashiers. What does it matter how good the end of the sale is when there's nothing to buy? Likewise, when there's no lead to protect, how can you close?

Now we need to talk options for closers. Go back to Turnbow? Only if we don't mind pee stains on the mound every couple games. Maybe they could make like Papelbon and convert a starter. My best option for this would be Capuano.

"But Capuano is great for the first half of the season!"

Yes, for the first half. Then he tails off or has injuries. He's not a reliable starter. Out of the bullpen, though, he might be great, although he lacks the blazing fastball that would really make a closer.

Some people will argue for Sheets, but you're paying him $8 million. You're not going to take him out of the rotation, no matter how often he gets injured, because you can't justify an 8 million dollar closer any more than you can justify a $10 million closer.

Frankly, though, I'm not too concerned about the closer situation. Every year, closers come and go. Once again, look at the Rockies. Manny Corpas was lights-out for the last 1/3 of the season. He wasn't the day one closer. Just the same, even if a day one closer is selected, there's no guarantee that he'll be the closer on the last day of the season.

So, I'm not too worried about this decision. It'll work out much the same as the Carlos Lee decision: Don't overspend when you can get something just as good for cheaper. Let other teams waste money and destroy their lineup.