Jonathan Papelbon was one of several closers changing teams prior to the trade deadline

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Every baseball season has a trade deadline and with that always come surprises and plenty of changes. This season is no exception and might in fact be one of the more wild deadlines in years. Teams in contention want to improve their bullpens either by adding a new closer or by helping bridge the gap from their starters to their closer. Teams that are “out of it” want to maximize profits on their assets and trade their good relievers, closers or otherwise, before they simply walk in free agency at the end of the season. Many pitchers who are likely available on fantasy waiver wires will suddenly become closers with huge fantasy value. Likewise, many closers who have held some value all season may suddenly plummet and become waiver wire fodder due to new additions to their teams. Shrewd fantasy players can make a killing around the trade deadline, picking up new closers and selling high on former ones. Here’s a look at most of the changes that have happened over the past few days.

Closer News Around the League

Oakland Athletics/New York Mets

No one was surprised to see the A’s trade Tyler Clippard. With the team struggling and the history of the A’s trading pending free agent assets at the deadline, he was one of the most certain players to move. The New York Mets jumped in, sending young righty Casey Meisner to Oakland for Clippard. So without Clippard, the A’s need a new closer. Rumors swirled about it being either Edward Mujica or Evan Scribner, but when the dust settled, Mujica was announced as the team’s closer. He hasn’t been great this year, posting a pedestrian 4.13 ERA to go with a 6.35 K/9. He has been better since joining the A’s though, posting a 3.68 ERA along with a 7.36 K/9. He won’t be a top-tier closer by any means, but any pitcher with a defined ninth-inning role is worth owning in fantasy. Don’t expect much from Mujica, but he’ll get some saves and strikeouts without ruining your ERA or WHIP. Meanwhile, Clippard loses most of his value as he will setup for Mets closer Jeurys Familia. Clippard is certainly next in line if Familia struggles or is hurt, but despite a pair of blown saves to open up the second half, Familia is having a great season and will likely close for the Mets for the rest of the season. Clippard’s fantasy owners should have seen this coming and hopefully already sold high. If not, he can be dropped in shallow leagues for one of the many newly minted closers certain to be available on the wire.

Philadelphia Phillies/Washington Nationals

The Washington Nationals pulled off a somewhat surprising deal, getting closer Jonathan Papelbon from the Phillies. It was surprising for several reasons, one of them being that the Phillies traded their closer to a team in their own division. More of a shock though was the fact that the Nationals already had an excellent closer in Drew Storen. Papelbon had a no-trade clause and publicly stated that he would only waive that right to go to a team that would immediately install him as their closer. So all of a sudden, Storen and his 29 saves will move to the eighth inning. Storen has a 1.69 ERA and strikes out over 11 batters per nine innings, so he may still hold some value in his setup role. However, fantasy owners of Storen have to be disappointed in knowing that he will likely only pick up saves if Papelbon is hurt or getting rest.

Meanwhile, Papelbon’s fantasy value ticks up quite a bit. The Nationals will win many more games than the Phillies and therefore will likely have more save situations. Papelbon is having an excellent season, saving 18 games and striking out a batter per inning. Storen is having a significantly better season, so this must be a tough move for him to swallow. However, in “real life” baseball, having your team’s best reliever out of a defined closer role is actually beneficial because it allows him to pitch the most crucial situations instead of simply waiting around until the ninth inning. Papelbon’s owners should hold on and enjoy the ride while Storen’s owners need to evaluate whether they have room for an elite setup man or if they’d rather swap him out for a defined closer. Meanwhile, the Phillies turn to a guy who has been their closer-in-waiting for several years. Ken Giles quickly becomes a fantasy asset despite his team situation. Giles has a 1.81 ERA and strikes out almost 11 batters per nine innings. On a better team, he’d be an elite closer. He’ll still put up excellent numbers, but saves will be few and far between since ninth-inning leads will be rare for the Phillies. Still, he’s absolutely worth a roster spot and is already flying off the shelves in fantasy leagues.

Atlanta Braves/Los Angeles Dodgers

The Dodgers, Marlins, and Braves hooked up for a complex three-team, 13-player trade. In the end, the Braves sent their relatively new closer Jim Johnson to the Dodgers. Johnson was only closing because Jason Grilli‘s season ended with a ruptured Achilles’ tendon. He was doing well though, as he’d saved nine games and posted a 2.25 ERA despite only striking out about six batters per nine innings. Moving to Los Angeles, Johnson will work in late innings, but will not be the closer. Kenley Jansen holds that job down in LA and is one of the elite closers in baseball. With Johnson’s uninspiring peripherals, he can safely be dropped and his roster spot can be used for a new closer. Speaking of new closers, there will be a new one in Atlanta. While no official announcement has been made, Braves beat writers and others are expecting 24-year-old Arodys Vizcaino to take over the ninth-inning role. He’s pitched only nine innings this season since returning from a PED suspension, but he’s been great, striking out eight and allowing just one run. He’s worth a speculative add for owners with an open spot.

Detroit Tigers/Pittsburgh Pirates

In the most recent closer-related move, the Pittsburgh Pirates acquired former Tigers closer Joakim Soria. The Tigers seem to be in full sell mode, having previously traded ace David Price to the Blue Jays. Soria will slide into a complimentary setup role in Pittsburgh alongside Tony Watson behind closer Mark Melancon. Because he will no longer be closing, Soria’s fantasy value takes a huge hit. He was already not great, with predictive stats showing significant regression coming soon. Soria’s owners can jump ship and swap him for one of the new closers or for another upgrade. Meanwhile, who the Tigers will use as a closer remains a mystery for now. General manager Dave Dombrowski said that decision would be left up to manager Brad Ausmus. The two most likely possibilities are righties Al Albuquerque and Bruce Rondon. Albuquerque has been decent this year, posting a 3.12 ERA and 1.43 WHIP. Rondon, on the other hand, has struggled to a 8.25 ERA and 1.75 WHIP. Looking exclusively at the numbers, Albuquerque would seem to be the one to add in fantasy, but owners willing to wait for an official announcement will likely save themselves a potential headache. The Tigers could always go with the frustrating “by committee” closer.

Injury Updates

For once, there are no significant closer-related injuries to report. Plenty of moving parts as far as trades are concerned, but no injuries or recoveries this week.

Interesting Tidbit

Last Friday, Brewers’ (for now) closer Francisco Rodriguez allowed a run in a save situation. This is significant because it was the first time all season he had allowed a run in a save situation. He was the only closer left in baseball to have not allowed a run when pitching in a save situation.

Top Performers

• Craig Kimbrel – 3 IP, 3 SV, 3 K, 0.00 ERA, 0.33 WHIP
• Shawn Tolleson – 3 IP, 3 SV, 3 K, 0.00 ERA, 0.33 WHIP
• Mark Melancon – 4 IP, 2 SV, 1 K, 0.00 ERA, 0.82 WHIP
• Aroldis Chapman – 2 IP, 2 SV, 3 K, 0.00 ERA, 0.00 WHIP

Not too many saves to go around this week, as only two closers secured as many as three saves. Plenty of solid performances though. Kimbrel continues to dominate after a somewhat slow start to the year. He appeared in three games and allowed just one walk while striking out three and saving three games for the Padres. Tolleson had a similar week, except he allowed just one hit while also striking out three and saving three games for the Rangers. By the way, Tolleson is only owned in 60% of fantasy leagues so have a look on your wire just in case he’s available. Melancon pitched more innings than the rest of his peers on this list and continued his impressively effective season despite a glaring lack of strikeouts. Melancon allowed two hits and a walk this week and secured a win along with his two saves. Finally, Chapman clearly was not distracted by trade rumors all week as he appeared in three games without allowing a single baserunner. He struck out three and saved two games for the Reds.

Spec Picks for the Upcoming Schedule

• David Robertson vs. New York Yankees (Friday, July 31-Sunday, August 2)
  The White Sox are on fire and suddenly back in the playoff race. Robertson is an elite closer who does not get nearly enough attention in fantasy circles. Facing his former team, Robertson should be a safe bet for at least a handful of strikeouts this weekend.

• Luke Gregerson vs. Arizona Diamondbacks (Friday, July 31-Sunday August 2)
  The Astros recently added Scott Kazmir, Mike Fiers, and Carlos Gomez. They should go into this weekend’s series motivated to keep winning. Gregerson has been solid all season and should have a good series against the Diamondbacks.

We welcome any comments and suggestions you have to make the report as useful as possible for your fantasy team’s needs.

Don’t forget to check out our Closer Depth Chart.

David A Marcillo is a correspondent at FantasyPros. To read more from David, check out his archive and follow him @DavidMarcillo77.