[Charley575]

What I think should happen here is the player should negotiate and he should open negotiations wanting elite closer money. In fact, I think he should come into negotiations wanting to lock down a multi year deal for elite closer money now, since his statistical performance was so phenomenal last year and he is unlikely to repeat it. That's where his leverage lies. This sets up an intriguing situation where I would then have to decide whether I am willing to make a multi-year commitment to a closer with a short, but glorious track record or would I rather go to arbitration for a one year deal and hold out to see if he can keep this level of performance going. The risk for me in that scenario is that if a wait too long, he may decide to just wait for free agency and test the market.