{"playerId":688,"percentChange":-12.5,"averageDraftPosition":210.8,"percentOwned":42.1,"playerRaterSEASON":2,"playerRater7DAY":-1.8,"mostRecentNews":{"news":"Balfour pitched a perfect seventh inning Monday against the Angels with one strikeout.","spin":"Balfour has appeared in two games since losing his closer role to Brandon Fuentes. In 1.2 innings, he has struck out three guys and only allowed one baserunner.","date":"Tue May 15"},"fullName":"Grant Balfour","seasonOutlook":{"outlook":"Balfour has as good a chance as any to take over the closing role from the departed Andrew Bailey, though he will face competition from a bevy of arms, including Brian Fuentes, Joey Devine and Fautino De Los Santos. Working in is favor is Balfour coming off a season in which he turned in an impressive 2.47 ERA, even if it was buoyed by a .232 BABIP, leading to an eye-popping LOB% of 89. A regressed hit rate will no doubt lead to an ERA correction, but countering this should be the fact Balfour served up an uncharacteristic eight homers in just 62 innings, a number bound to drop. If you are speculating on saves, Balfour is one of the better endgame targets, as his peripherals are strong -- regardless of if he gets the job -- and he is at minimum a co-favorite to win the job.","seasonId":2012,"date":"Wed Feb 15"},"playerRater30DAY":-1.4,"playerRater15DAY":-0.7,"positionRank":32}