Heath Bell

It's almost time for pitchers and catchers to report to their spring training cites. This means the men who each team count on to secure a win will be reporting. In the last inning in a close game, the team's manager calls on his best bullpen pitcher to come into the game and shut the door. The closers role is one of the most important roles on a baseball team. Let us countdown the Top 10.

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Winning a major baseball award is typically a big step towards fame, riches and potentially a place in the MLB Hall of Fame. But not every MVP, ROY, Cy Young or Rolaids Relief award winner is destined for greatness. Some of them simply become trade bait.

With the baseball off-season wrapping up and Spring Training just around the corner, here's a look at 10 major award winners who could be changing teams this year.

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It happens every year. One team has unreasonably high expectations for their team, signs a couple of free agents, and when they fail to meet their goals, they become sellers at the trade deadline.

Need an example? How about last year's Seattle Mariners. In theory, Cliff Lee would have been great if they had an offense. However, their lack of success forced them to trade Lee to the Rangers, a team better suited for Lee.

If in 2006, you told the New York Mets that they held two of the future's top closers in their grasp in Heath Bell and Billy Wagner, they would have questioned your sanity.

MLB trade rumors never go away, even when things on the baseball front quiet down around the holidays, as is usually the case.

We've seen some pretty big free agent signings this offseason, chief among them being Carl Crawford and Cliff Lee. There have also been some pretty big trades, such as the Adrian Gonzalez and Zack Greinke deals.

But spring training is still many moons away, and there is still plenty of time for GMs around baseball to work out some last minute deals.

With that in mind, here are 15 players that could be dealt before spring training starts.

Some people prefer to wait until late in their draft to acquire their fantasy closers, figuring that you can take some risks while also finding saves on the waiver wire throughout the season. 

Others like to use early- to mid-round picks in order to get an elite closer or two, hopefully stabilizing their standing in saves.  Which strategy is right is a debate for another day, but let’s look at how I currently rank the Top 15 closers heading into 2011:

With Zack Greinke only two seasons away from free agency, it was obvious that the Royals would have to deal their ace pitcher. The 27-year old righty would inevitably command a massive salary that Kansas City could not afford to match and hoped to acquire a package of elite prospects rather than risk losing Greinke for nothing.

Following this weekend's trade of Greinke to Milwaukee for four of the organization's top ten prospects, many questions were answered but even more were raised.

One more.

That's all the San Diego Padres can afford before their off season officially begins a lot sooner than they thought it would.

Looking back to the end of August, the Padres had what most would consider a big lead in the National League West over the San Francisco Giants. Fast forward one month, and not only is their lead gone but the deficit has reached its breaking point after losing 22 of their last 34 games.

After being swept at home by Colorado in the midst of a near franchise worst 10-game losing streak, the Padres are returning the favor at Coors Field.

The Padres hung on to beat the Rockies 7-6 Tuesday night, behind a 16-hit effort to win the second of a pivotal 10-game road trip.

In a search to find a leadoff hitter, manager Bud Black inserted Aaron Cunningham at the top of the order. Cunningham responded with three hits, including a double, and two runs scored.

It’s time to continue our journey around the league, looking at each team’s closer situation. The National League West is home to one of, if not the, worst bullpens in the league, but also a few of the elite closers.  Let’s take a look at all the updated situations: