The trade deadline has come and gone. For my purposes, this is like a small island nation saying a hurricane has come and gone. A swath of big-league bullpens have been overhauled entirely, and the fantasy implications are sweeping.
Given the breadth of updates to get through I’ll take a wide approach: recapping news at a high level, ranking all closers in the aftermath of the deadline, and also ranking my top-10 SPRPs for save+hold leagues.
No way around it – this week’s article is massive. Feel free to scroll to the sections that fit your needs best.
(stats updated through Saturday, 8/2)
Bullpen News (by team)
ARI
The Diamondbacks sent the injured Shelby Miller to Milwaukee. Kevin Ginkel should get the bulk of save chances in Arizona going forward; he lands near the bottom of my closer rankings this week.
ATH
In exchange for one of baseball’s best prospects in shortstop Leo De Vries, the Athletics shipped superstar closer Mason Miller off to San Diego. With Jack Perkins moving into the rotation, Sean Newcomb and Michael Kelly become Oakland’s top candidates for saves.
Across 21 appearances since joining the A’s bullpen in late May, Newcomb has put up a 2.35 ERA with a 33:10 strikeout-to-walk ratio over 30.2 innings. He pitched the ninth in a 5-1 Athletics win on Friday, though notably against switch and left-handed hitters. Kelly’s one appearance since the deadline came in the ninth as well, but to get a lone out in a 7-2 Athletics loss on Saturday. Kelly’s 0.95 ERA looks appealing until noting his 4.94 SIERA; he’s walked (8) nearly as many batters as he’s struck out (11).
Saves may come down to the handedness of opposing hitters, but I’ll give Newcomb a slight edge here – he enters near the bottom of both my closer and SPRP rankings this week.
BAL
While the trade deadline is unpredictable, I admittedly should have assigned a greater chance to Seranthony Domínguez being dealt away in last week’s article. With Félix Bautista likely done for the year, along with the departures of Dominguez and Andrew Kittredge, the closer role in Baltimore falls to a committee of Keegan Akin, Yennier Cano, and Corbin Martin. In Saturday’s 4-3 win over the Cubs, Martin found himself in low leverage, with Cano pitching the eighth and Akin picking up the save.
This situation is unappealing for fantasy purposes, and similar to the A’s, it will be situational whether saves fall to a decent lefty (Akin) or below-average righty (Cano/Martin). For now, Akin ekes his way onto both my closer and SPRP rankings.
CLE
In the week’s most significant non-trade-related bullpen news, closer Emmanuel Clase landed on the restricted list as part of the MLB’s ongoing sportsbetting investigation. His locker has been cleared out in the Guardians’ clubhouse, and there’s little reason to expect a return this season if ever. Cade Smith takes on the closer role in Cleveland and finds himself in the middle of my rankings this week.
COL
Seth Halvorsen exited Saturday’s game with an elbow injury and may be done for the season. With Jake Bird off to New York, Victor Vodnik again finds himself in pole position for what little saves the Rockies have to offer. He’s at the very bottom of my closer rankings this week.
DET
The Tigers picked up Kyle Finnegan from the Nationals, and Finnegan made his mark quickly. Will Vest put up back-to-back poor outings in the seventh and eighth innings respectively, and Finnegan landed his first Detroit save on Saturday, cleaning up Vest’s mess and shutting the door on the Phillies in a 7-5 win.
It goes without saying that Vest’s roto value takes a massive hit with Finnegan’s arrival. While Vest is the better of the two, Finnegan’s closing experience makes him a favorite for the ninth inning. I’d assign something like a 70/30 split in Finnegan’s favor the rest of the way; if either pitcher ends up running away with the closer role, it’ll be Finnegan.
LAD
The most surprising bullpen move at the deadline may have been a non-move, with the Dodgers failing to acquire one of many available high-end closers. Brock Stewart will help bridge the gap to the ninth, but the bulk of saves ought to fall to Alex Vesia. Blake Treinen, who returned from the IL last Sunday, should pick up a chance or two as well.
MIN
Via an extremely thorough process of elimination, Cole Sands finds himself as the Twins’ best/only ninth-inning option. Sands is in the middle of a down season, and the Twins won’t provide much in terms of save chances. His SP eligibility and lack of competition, however, make Sands a solid pickup this week, and he finds himself on both my closer and SPRP rankings to follow.
NYM
The Mets’ bullpen underwent massive changes this week; José Buttó was sent to San Francisco in exchange for Tyler Rogers, and Ryan Helsley was acquired from St. Louis.
Nothing but an injury would remove Edwin Diaz from the ninth inning. Helsley loses nearly all value in standard roto leagues, while both he and Rogers retain similar value in save+hold leagues.
NYY
David Bednar, Camilo Doval, and Jake Bird (did I miss anyone?) all landed in the Bronx on Thursday, providing Yankee-hating social media with an outburst of content by proceeding to get torched by the Marlins the following evening.
Devin Williams is still the closer here. As for the rest: Bednar remains an elite save+hold option, and a guy you need to hang on to in most formats for the time being. Doval is barely roster-worthy in most leagues, as little more than a decent option for holds. Bird can mostly be ignored for fantasy purposes.
PHI
The acquisition of Jhoan Duran mercifully settles the closer role in Philadelphia for the rest of the season. Matt Strahm and Orion Kerkering can safely return to waivers in non-holds leagues.
PIT
With David Bednar off to the Bronx, Dennis Santana returns to the ninth inning in Pittsburgh. Santana – despite a disastrous first look in Coors on Friday – provides quality ratios, and while save opportunities may be sparing, the competition in the Pirates’ bullpen is near zero. He’s a mid-tier option for saves going forward.
SD
The Padres, already owners of the league’s best bullpen, managed to pick up arguably the best available closer in Mason Miller. This now makes Miller neither available nor a closer, as Robert Suarez retains the role. Suarez has found himself back on solid footing in the past month, and I don’t see anything changing in the ninth for San Diego. Miller finds himself in a similar spot to Bednar as someone you can’t really drop in any format, and still a high-end save+hold candidate.
SF
Following Camilo Doval’s sendoff to New York, my guy Randy Rodríguez finally takes his rightful place in the ninth inning for the Giants. Rodriguez has had as good a season as any reliever, and immediately becomes one of the better closers in all of baseball.
The Giants also sent Tyler Rogers to the Mets for a return that included José Buttó; Buttó should become one of the more significant high-leverage arms in a thin Giant bullpen, and is nearing my SPRP top 10.
STL
The Cardinals sent their two best relievers – Ryan Helsley and Phil Maton – to the Mets and Rangers, respectively. This doesn’t leave any particularly appealing option for saves in St. Louis. JoJo Romero is the best remaining arm, but he doesn’t profile as a closer and will likely be used in any high-leverage spot against left-handed hitters. Romero picked up a mess of a save in Saturday’s 8-5 win over San Diego, but entered the eighth primarily to face Jackson Merrill, so it’s hard to draw any conclusions.
Saves could be split here between Romero, Gordon Graceffo, and the hard-throwing Riley O’Brien. O’Brien is my top choice as the most “closer-like” of the three; both he and Romero find themselves on the low end of my closer rankings this week.
TEX
The Rangers’ acquisition of Phil Maton muddies the bullpen picture in Texas a bit. Closer Robert Garcia had been on a great run until a couple of poorly-timed blown saves this weekend, surrendering his first earned runs since July 12th. I would expect Garcia to retain the closer role here unless he stumbles further, but Maton gives the Rangers a far better second option than they’ve had this season. Maton finds himself on my closer watchlist this week, with Garcia taking just a small hit in the rankings for now.
WAS
With Kyle Finnegan landing in Detroit, Jose A. Ferrer should step in as closer in Washington. Ferrer leads the Nationals by a mile with 19 holds, and while his year-to-date numbers are hardly impressive, he’s had a great month, with a 1.23 ERA and 0.95 WHIP over his last 30 days. Ferrer makes for a roster-worthy but low-end option for saves the rest of the way.
Closer Rankings (%-rostered Yahoo)
NOTE: These rankings are intended to be for those who are either firmly closers or currently part of a committee; yes, I would rather roster Mason Miller than Victor Vodnik in any format.
- Josh Hader – HOU (99%)
- Edwin Diaz – NYM (99%)
- Andrés Muñoz – SEA (97%)
- Aroldis Chapman – BOS (86%)
- Trevor Megill – MIL (89%)
- Jhoan Duran – PHI (94%)
- Randy Rodríguez – SF (43%)
- Daniel Palencia – CHC (58%)
- Devin Williams – NYY (93%)
- Jeff Hoffman – TOR (94%)
- Cade Smith – CLE (47%)
- Robert Suarez – SD (94%)
- Emilio Pagán – CIN (76%)
- Pete Fairbanks – TB (82%)
- Raisel Iglesias – ATL (83%)
- Alex Vesia – LAD (27%)
- Kenley Jansen – LAA (80%)
- Carlos Estévez – KC (88%)
- Dennis Santana – PIT (36%)
- Robert Garcia – TEX (31%)
- Cole Sands – MIN (7%)
- Kyle Finnegan – DET (65%)
- Jose A. Ferrer – WAS (6%)
- Kevin Ginkel – ARI (9%)
- Will Vest – DET (64%)
- Calvin Faucher – MIA (14%)
- Keegan Akin – BAL (3%)
- Riley O’Brien – STL (1%)
- JoJo Romero – STL (20%)
- Sean Newcomb – ATH (1%)
- Ronny Henriquez – MIA (31%)
- Grant Taylor – CHW (6%)
- Michael Kelly – ATH (1%)
- Victor Vodnik – COL (<1%)
The Watchlist: Phil Maton (TEX), Mason Miller (SD), David Bednar (NYY), Griffin Jax (TB), Blake Treinen (LAD), Yennier Cano (BAL), Corbin Martin (BAL), Gordon Graceffo (STL), Justin Topa (MIN)
SPRP Top 10 (SV+HLD)
- Louis Varland – TOR (9%)
- Garrett Whitlock – BOS (14%)
- Shawn Armstrong – TEX (3%)
- Reid Detmers – LAA (8%)
- Yariel Rodríguez – TOR (7%)
- Tyler Holton – DET (13%)
- Jared Koenig – MIL (5%)
- Keegan Akin – BAL (3%)
- Cole Sands – MIN (7%)
- Sean Newcomb – ATH (1%)
Honorable Mention: Jack Dreyer (LAD), Grant Taylor (CHW), José Buttó (SF), Drew Pomeranz (CHC), Jordan Hicks (BOS)
