The closer position is a tricky one in fantasy because of such drastic change that occurs during the course of a season. A closer today may crumble tomorrow. An injury to one of your star closers creates value for a middle reliever that is by no means guaranteed to land on your roster.

Reliability is the name of the game and where our focus lies this week. While George Sherrill and Kerry Wood have posted upper-tier type numbers, they still fall behind some of the game’s best, most experienced stoppers. Francisco Rodriguez, though in the middle of his least dominant season, tops the list with a whopping 27 saves.

Familar dominators make up most of our top 10 and are joined by upstarts Sherrill, Wood and Arizona’s Brandon Lyon. Top 10 come along with descriptions and ‘insurance policy’ information, while the remaining 20 are in simple list form.

The bottom five closers not only present the most risk, but the most opportunity as injuries have left their situations in flux. Atlanta is a fluid situation with Rafael Soriano nursing a sore elbow, and Seattle’s J.J. Putz, Oakland’s Huston Street and Tampa Bay’s Troy Percival are all dealing with injuries.

Injured former closers also loom over Salomon Torres in Milwaukee and Ryan Franklin in St. Louis. Both have done excellent jobs since taking over for struggling veterans Eric Gagne and Jason Isringhausen, but are likely to fall back into setup roles when their predecessors return from the disabled list.

Trades could also change the landscape come July when lefties Brian Fuentes and C.J. Wilson could fetch good value from playoff contenders. Stay tuned and, as always, stay vigilant in seeking value on the waiver wire.

The full list:

1. Francisco Rodriguez, Los Angeles Angels
Take the good with the bad here. MLB saves leader (27 in 28 opps) is on pace for career-high saves total, but is well off his career mark of 11.7 Ks per 9 innings.
Insurance Policy: RHP Scot Shields

2. Jonathan Papelbon, Boston Red Sox
Despite the recent “Elton John” injury to his non-throwing elbow, Papelbon remains fantasy’s best combination of saves (19), strikeouts (36 in 29.1 IP) and dominant ratios (1.84 ERA, 0.89 WHIP).
Insurance Policy: Hideki Okajima

3. Brad Lidge, Philadelphia Phillies
Change of scenery has worked wonders, especially with a lights-out slider that has been nothing short of unhittable. Lidge has a microscopic 0.96 ERA, a big number in Ks (35 in 28 IP) and 17 saves in 17 opportunities.
Insurance Policy: Tom Gordon

4. Kerry Wood, Chicago Cubs
After some early season struggles, Wood has made a genius of manager Lou Piniella. On May 1, Wood was 4-of-7 in save opportunities and had a 5.14 ERA. Today, he is 18-of-22 with a 2.62 ERA, 0.82 WHIP, 40 strikeouts and just 7 walks in 34.1 innings.
Insurance Policy: Carlos Marmol

5. Mariano Rivera, New York Yankees
Certainly the game’s most accomplished closer, Rivera has bounced back from a rocky 2007 season to post a 0.90 ERA, 0.53 WHIP and 17 saves in 17 opportunities in ‘08. He’s been a rock of stability for the struggling Yankees, who figure to improve and acquire a set-up man to hand Rivera more leads in the second half.
Insurance Policy: Kyle Farnsworth … in other words, pray for a healthy season

6. Joe Nathan, Minnesota Twins
A beacon of consistency, Nathan has posted a sub-2.00 ERA in four of the last five seasons. Though his strikeouts have been on the decline the last two seasons, he combines reliability and results with a solid 1.35 ERA, 1.00 WHIP and 17 saves.
Insurance Policy: Matt Guerrier

7. Jose Valverde, Houston Astros
His tenure in Houston got off to a rocky start, but since posting a 12.27 ERA through his first 7 appearances, Valverde has allowed just two runs in 23.2 innings. For the season, the big right-hander has a 3.48 ERA, 1.26 WHIP, 16 saves and a pleasant 4 wins.
Insurance Policy: Doug Brocail

8. Brandon Lyon, Arizona Diamondbacks
While the D-backs have made a turn for the worse, Lyon has been as dominant as ever. He’s pitched scoreless innings in each of his last 24 appearances, lowering his season ERA and WHIP to 1.29 and 1.11, respectively. On Thursday, he pitched more than one inning for the first time and picked up his first win when Arizona beat New York in extra innings.
Insurance Policy: Tony Pena

9. George Sherrill, Baltimore Orioles
Sherrill, who came over from Seattle in the Erik Bedard deal, has been outstanding for the Orioles. He is 21-of-23 in save opportunities and owns a 2.83 ERA and 1.08 WHIP. Baltimore typically crumbles in the second half, which could put a serious damper on his breakout campaign.
Insurance Policy: Chad Bradford

10. Bobby Jenks, Chicago White Sox
In the last three seasons, Jenks has made a remarkable change from inefficient power closer to an efficient saves machine. While his strikeout rate has dropped from 10.34 Ks per 9 innings in 2006 to 7.75 in ‘07 and 5.47 in ‘08, his ERA has also dropped from 4.01 to 2.77 to 2.05. His 16 strikeouts in 26.1 innings are no doubt disappointing, but a third straight 40-save season is within reach.
Insurance Policy: Octavio Dotel

11. Takashi Saito, Los Angeles Dodgers
Insurance Policy: Jonathan Broxton

12. Billy Wagner, New York Mets
Insurance Policy: Duaner Sanchez

13. Joakim Soria, Kansas City Royals
Insurance Policy: Ramon Ramirez

14. Francisco Cordero, Cincinnati Reds
Insurance Policy: Jared Burton

15. Matt Capps, Pittsburgh Pirates
Insurance Policy: John Grabow

16. Brian Wilson, San Francisco Giants
Insurance Policy: Tyler Walker

17. Kevin Gregg, Florida Marlins
Insurance Policy: Matt Lindstrom

18. Trevor Hoffman, San Diego Padres
Insurance Policy: Heath Bell

19. Jon Rauch, Washington Nationals
Insurance Policy: Luis Ayala
Injury Note: Chad Cordero expected back by All-Star Break

20. Brian Fuentes, Colorado Rockies
Insurance Policy: Taylor Buchholz

21. Troy Percival, Tampa Bay Rays (15-day DL)
Insurance Policy: Dan Wheeler

22. Huston Street, Oakland Athletics
Insurance Policy: Alan Embree

23. B.J. Ryan, Toronto Blue Jays
Insurance Policy: Scott Downs, Jeremy Accardo (15-day DL)

24. C.J. Wilson, Texas Rangers
Insurance Policy: Eddie Guardado, Joaquin Benoit

25. Todd Jones, Detroit Tigers
Insurance Policy: Joel Zumaya (currently on rehab assignment)

26. J.J. Putz, Seattle Mariners
Insurance Policy: Brandon Morrow

27. Salomon Torres, Milwaukee Brewers
Insurance Policy: Eric Gagne (15-day DL)

28. Joe Borowski, Cleveland Indians
Insurance Policy: Masa Kobayashi

29. Ryan Franklin, St. Louis Cardinals
Insurance Policy: Jason Isringhausen (15-day DL)

30. Rafael Soriano, Atlanta Braves
Insurance Policy: Manny Acosta, Mike Gonzalez (15-day DL)

Dustin Hockensmith is editor of ImaginaryDiamond.com. He can be contacted at dhockensmith[at]fantasysports101.net.