If these first couple of weeks are any indication, the closing landscape is going to be a mess. And I don’t mean like a few dirty clothes on the floor kind of mess. I mean like a your kids got into the tomato sauce and the chocolate syrup and made a bet as to who could put more handprints on the wall kind of mess.

As fantasy owners, we are trained to understand that there’s going to be major turnover with closers as the season goes along. But, at the very least, we expect – nay, we demand – that there be a guaranteed closer-in-waiting so that we can pounce at a moment’s notice.

But apparently, them’s not the rules anymore. Yes, I’m looking at you Pete Mackanin and Joaquin Benoit. I’m talking about you Jeff Banister and Tony Barnette (well, I think I am). So let’s take a look at the current landscape, and see where things stand as we approach Week 3.

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The Big Movers

Alex Colome and Edwin Diaz essentially swap places between five and nine. Outside of the top three, you can really order them however you want. But for me, Colome jumps up a few spots because a) he has yet to give up a run, b) the Rays look like they’ll present the perfect situation for save opportunities (i.e., good pitching, mediocre offense), and c) almost everyone else has struggled at least a bit. Throw out Colome’s numbers prior to last year. Since he developed the cutter and became exclusively a reliever, he’s been nails.

As for Diaz, well, I know it was just one bad outing, but he has three walks in 3 2/3 innings pitched and both Steve Cishek and Tony Zych are on their way back. I’m not selling Diaz; heck, I’m not even really nervous about him. But at this point, you’re splitting hairs, and his hair splits just a little more than others (is that how you use that metaphor? No? My bad.).

Other than that, we’ve got a few guys making a fairly substantial move in the wrong direction. Ken Giles, I like your eight strikeouts in four innings. I do not like your four walks. I do not like your four runs allowed. I do not like that you seem to fail every time you are handed the closer’s role. I do not like the plethora of closing options available behind you. Please fix this.

As for Blake Treinen, well, I don’t really think Dusty Baker wanted him to be the closer to start with, and I certainly don’t think he’s going to leave him in if he keeps struggling. And Sam Dyson, ugh, come on, man. Jeff Banister has given you the longest leash in the history of relief pitchers – you don’t need to keep stretching it. We don’t yet know what Banister will do after Dyson’s latest meltdown, but for all you save-chasers, note that it was Tony Barnette warming up for the ninth inning when the game was a save situation on Wednesday night (the Rangers ultimately blew the game open and a closer was not needed). With Matt Bush’s injury, it appears Barnette is next in line.

Random Musings

I’m mildly concerned with Seung-Hwan Oh’s rough start, especially in light of Trevor Rosenthal hitting 101 on the radar gun the other night. But Rosenthal struggled in his last outing and Oh surely has a long leash anyway. Like I said, just mild concern.

Just a few more games before Jeurys Familia is back, everyone. Thank Addison Reed for his handful of saves and cut him once Familia is activated.

Remember that scene in Office Space where Peter tells the Bobs that the fear of losing your job will make someone work just hard enough not to get fired? That’s Fernando Rodney. He has no interest in excelling. He just wants to do the minimum amount he can do without losing his job. And he’s perfected that skill.

I know we’re all mad at Pete Mackanin for going with Joaquin Benoit instead of Hector Neris, but really, Mackanin is doing things right. He keeps his best reliever for use in the most high leverage situation. Also, he definitely plays fantasy baseball and owns Benoit. Let’s not kid ourselves.

It seems pretty clear that the Reds are going to use Raisel Iglesias as their closer, but they’re doing the whole multi-inning thing. That’s good in that we’re not really looking at a committee, but bad in that it will limit Iglesias’s chances because they won’t pitch him as often.

Finally, Bob Melvin kind of did us a favor by saying his closer will either be Santiago Casilla or Sean Doolittle, depending on who is up in the ninth inning. So, I mean, we can drop Ryan Madson, at least. That’s something?

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Dan Harris is a featured writer for FantasyPros. For more from Dan, check out his archive or follow him on Twitter at @danharris80.