Relief pitcher is always the most volatile position in Fantasy Baseball. Injuries, ineffectiveness and deadline trades mean plenty of movement and fluidity at the position.
Closer is an even more perilous position now that many teams are moving towards committees. Most teams do this to use their best reliever in a number of different situations. With the change in bullpen philosophy, there may be fewer “elite” closers in the coming years. So far this season, things have stabilized and clear closers have been named, making things pretty easy for owners.
Whether you paid for saves or plan to scour the wire, it’s a good idea to keep up on bullpen changes throughout the year. This chart will list the closer, set-up man as well as relative job security for every team.
Job security legend:
- Strong: Closer is in no danger of losing his job. Would need a string of bad performances to be in question.
- Medium: Pitcher is firmly established as the closer, but the job could come into question with a couple bad performances or the emergence of someone behind him.
- Shaky: The situation is unclear. The bullpen could be a committee or the closer at the top of the chart is in danger of losing his job with one or two poor outings.
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Fantasy Baseball Closer Chart
| Team | Stability | Current Closer | Next Up | Other Handcuffs | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Arizona Diamondbacks | Strong | Brad Boxberger | Archie Bradley | Brad Ziegler | The D'Backs acquired Brad Ziegler to bolster their struggling bullpen. |
| Atlanta Braves | Shaky | A.J. Minter | Brad Brach | Dan Winkler Arodys Vizcaino (DL) | The trade for Brach makes this an even shakier situation than before. We are leaving Minter in the drivers seat for now. |
| Baltimore Orioles | Shaky | Mychal Givens | Paul Fry | Michael Wright Jr. | Britton and Brach gone as many predicted leaves Givens as the man for now... we guess. |
| Boston Red Sox | Strong | Craig Kimbrel | Matt Barnes | Heath Hembree | Kimbrel just became the youngest closer to ever record 300 carer saves. |
| Chicago Cubs | Medium | Pedro Strop | Brandon Kintzler | Carl Edwards Jr. Brandon Morrow(DL) | Brandon Morrow is on the DL with a biceps injury. Strop is the man while he is out. |
| Cincinnati Reds | Strong | Raisel Iglesias | Jared Hughes | David Hernandez | Steady as she goes for Iglesias. |
| Cleveland Indians | Shaky | Brad Hand | Cody Allen | Andrew Miller | This is officially a committee with it even looking like Hand will take over. He has gotten the majority of the saves since his arrival. |
| Colorado Rockies | Strong | Wade Davis | Adam Ottavino | Seung-Hwan Oh | Despite an ERA north of four, Davis still has 28 saves on the year and is not going anywhere anytime soon. |
| Chicago White Sox | Shaky | Xavier Cedeno | Thyago Vieira | Juan Minaya Nate Jones(DL) | The Jace Fry experiment failed so we are on full committee mode with any one of these guys getting the chance. |
| Detroit Tigers | Strong | Shane Greene | Joe Jimenez | Alex Wilson | Greene is back and Jimenez moves back to the eighth. |
| Houston Astros | Shaky | Hector Rondon | Roberto Osuna | Collin McHugh | Osuna makes his return, so we'll put him second for how. We expect him to take over as closer if he pitches well. |
| Kansas City Royals | Shaky | Wily Peralta | Kevin McCarthy | Brandon Maurer | Wily Peralta heads up the makeshift committee in KC. |
| Los Angeles Angels | Medium | Blake Parker | Justin Anderson | Cam Bedrosian | Blake Parker has taken command of this once committee. |
| Los Angeles Dodgers | Strong | Scott Alexander | Dylan Floro | JT Chargois Kenley Jansen (DL) | Jansen will be out for a month with an irregular heartbeat. |
| Miami Marlins | Shaky | Drew Steckrenrider | Adam Conley | Kyle Barraclough | Barraclough has struggled lately and was removed from the ninth. |
| Milwaukee Brewers | Shaky | Josh Hader | Jeremy Jeffress | Corey Knebel | Knebel has been removed from the closer role after his recent struggles. |
| Minnesota Twins | Shaky | Trevor Hildenberger | Addison Reed | Trevor May | Rodney was moved to the A's so Hildenberger will be the closer. |
| New York Mets | Shaky | Robert Gsellman | Seth Lugo | Bobby Wahl Anthony Swarzak (DL) | Swarzak has hit the DL. Gsellman should lead the committee in New York. |
| New York Yankees | Strong | Aroldis Chapman | Dellin Betances | Zach Britton David Robertson | Britton will split eighth inning duties in one of the best bullpens the league has seen in a long time. |
| Oakland Athletics | Strong | Blake Treinen | Jeurys Familia | Lou Trivino Ryan Buchter | Familia will not close ahead of Treinen, who has been great. |
| Philadelphia Phillies | Shaky | Seranthony Dominguez | Victor Arano | Pat Neshek | Arano and Neshek have both earned save chances in the last week. This is a full on committee. |
| Pittsburgh Pirates | Strong | Felipe Vazquez | Keone Kela | Kyle Crick | Vazquez has calmed down, but it still feels like he could blow up every time he goes out there. |
| San Diego Padres | Medium | Kirby Yates | Craig Stammen | Robbie Erlin | Hand was finally traded so Yates is the guys for now. |
| Seattle Mariners | Strong | Edwin Diaz | Alex Colome | James Pazos | Diaz has 34 saves before the All-Star break. He's ridiculous. |
| San Francisco Giants | Shaky | Will Smith | Tony Watson | Sam Dyson | Will Smith leads the committee thanks to Dyson's struggles. |
| St. Louis Cardinals | Strong | Bud Norris | Jordan Hicks | Dakota Hudson | Norris was not traded and will have control of the ninth for the foreseeable future. |
| Tampa Bay Rays | Shaky | Sergio Romo | Jose Alvarado | Chaz Roe | It appears that Romo is the guy when he is not starting. However both him and Alvarado are going see chances. |
| Texas Rangers | Strong | Jose Leclerc | Alex Claudio | Cory Gearrin | Jose Leclerc is the last man standing in the Rangers bullpen after a series of trades. |
| Toronto Blue Jays | Shaky | Ken Giles | Ryan Tepera | Tyler Clippard | Giles is getting all the opportunities for the 9th inning role no matter what the outcome it appears. |
| Washington Nationals | Shaky | Koda Glover | Ryan Madson | Greg Holland Sean Doolittle (DL) Kelvin Herrera (DL) | This bullpen has turned into a mess with Doolittle and Herrera on the DL. |
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