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Fantasy Baseball Waiver Wire: Available Closers

Shawn Tolleson is one of several new closers that may be available on your waiver wire

Shawn Tolleson is one of several new closers that may be available on your waiver wire

If you’re in desperate need of saves, here are new closers and potential ninth-inning arms that are still waiver wire bound in many fantasy leagues. If you’re trailing in saves every week, these are the relief pitchers you should acquire right away. The first list of relievers will be those that have been newly-appointed closers. The second list includes players to be considered and monitored should they be moved into the ninth-inning role.

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All player stats and ownership percentages listed are from Yahoo through 6/14/15. All players listed are at 65% ownership or less.

Closers to Pick Up

  • Shawn Tolleson – TEX (owned: 65%) – 2015 Stats: IP: 29.1, SV: 8, K: 32, ERA: 2.76, WHIP: 1.08
    Since mid-to-late May, Tolleson has been a solid fill-in closer for the Rangers since Neftalí Feliz’s implosion. At this point, it looks as though Tolleson has the closer role all to himself and any chance of Feliz getting the role back seems very unlikely. He’s been one of the best new closers in the league so far and should be picked up right away if he is available.
  • John Axford – COL (owned: 65%) – 2015 Stats: IP: 19.0, SV: 12, K: 16, ERA: 0.47, WHIP: 1.00
    It looks as if the fourth time, instead of the third, was the charm for the Rockies in terms of the many closers they had to go through until one finally stood out and locked down the role. Poor performances by two prior closers and an injury to the team’s most recent ninth-inning arm were what stood in the way before Axford finally got a legitimate chance and took over the role. He’s arguably been the best new closer in the game since mid-May.
  • Jake McGee – TB (owned: 62%) – 2015 Stats: IP: 11.0, SV: 3, K: 18, ERA: 2.45, WHIP: 0.73
    McGee is finally getting save opportunities again after starting off the year on the DL with an elbow injury. He has been back in action since late-May as a set-up man, since Tampa Bay did not want to rush him back into the closer role. Things have gotten complicated though, because while McGee was out of action, Brad Boxberger was Tampa Bay’s fill-in closer for most of the season and was thriving in the role until recently. Boxberger’s decreased velocity has made keeping the role difficult. Because of that, reliever Kevin Jepsen got a chance to close out games too and converted three straight save opportunities in early June. McGee finally got his chance to close again, though, and has done well by converting in all three of his save opportunities in the past week (June 10th, 12th & 13th). Yes, Jepsen got the save Sunday (June 14th), but it would seem as if he only got that opportunity because Tampa Bay didn’t want to overwork McGee in the closer role. It’s at a point now where it’s anyone’s guess as to who will get the next opportunity, but chances are good that it’ll be McGee getting the large majority of chances moving forward.
  • A.J. Ramos – MIA (owned: 60%) – 2015 Stats: IP: 30.2, SV: 3, K: 40, ERA: 2.45, WHIP: 0.78
    Ramos has really bailed his team out of a major jam at closer since taking over the role from the struggling Steve Cishek. In his new role, since late-May, Ramos has converted seven of his last eight save opportunities and there doesn’t seem to be a good reason as to why the Marlins would go back to Cishek. At this point, all things considered, it’s pretty safe to assume that Ramos will keep the role as long as he pitches well. He’s one of the most underrated new closers in the game today due to his solid K-rate.
  • Brad Ziegler – ARI (owned: 42%) – 2015 Stats: IP: 28.0, SV: 8, K: 14, ERA: 1.61, WHIP: 0.93
    In the baseball world, an ideal closer is usually a flame thrower who strikes out a lot of batters. Ziegler clearly doesn’t fit that stereotype, but his submarine-style release and mid 80s (at best) fastballs mixed in with his go-to sliders are effective. While his repertoire may not be flashy, he simply knows how to get results. He may not get you a lot of strikeouts, but he will get you saves and he certainty won’t hurt your team ERA or WHIP. He’s definitely worth adding if your team is struggling to accumulate saves.
  • Brett Cecil – TOR (owned: 48%) – 2015 Stats: IP: 20.1, SV: 4, K: 24, ERA: 3.10, WHIP: 1.08
    Cecil is currently Toronto’s closer, but it’s hard to have any confidence in saying that he will remain in the role for the rest of the season. He doesn’t exactly have shutdown stuff and this is his second run as the team’s closer. His first stint didn’t go too well, but he’s done a much better job this time around. If you are truly desperate for saves and there are no other closers available, he is an option. I’d also advise you to keep Toronto set-up man Roberto Osuna in mind too. He should be the next in line in the closer role if Cecil fails in his second run as the team’s closer.
  • Carson Smith – SEA (owned: 36%) – 2015 Stats: IP: 27.0, SV: 2, K: 32, ERA: 1.67, WHIP: 0.78
    The Mariners finally did what they had to do and took the team’s closer role away from Fernando Rodney and gave it to the effective flame-throwing reliever Smith. Smith hasn’t been anointed as the team’s closer officially just yet, but the writing is on the wall. He has the team’s only two saves for the month of June so far and there’s really no rational excuse for manager Lloyd McClendon to give Rodney and his 6.49 ERA another attempt. Smith has the potential to be a top 10 closer in the majors. All he needs now is a continued vote of confidence from his manager. Either way, now would be a good time to snatch up Smith before his league ownership percentage goes way up. It’s likely only a matter of time before he’s officially given Seattle’s closer role.

Relievers to Monitor

  • Ken Giles – PHI (owned: 37%) – 2015 Stats: IP: 28.0, SV: 8, K: 30, ERA: 2.00, WHIP: 1.37
  • Pedro Strop – CHC (owned: 16%) – 2015 Stats: IP: 29.0, SV: 2, K: 31, ERA: 3.10, WHIP: 0.83
  • Jason Motte – CHC (owned: 3%) – 2015 Stats: IP: 24.1, SV: 1, K: 17, ERA: 3.33, WHIP: 1.19
  • Rafael Soriano – CHC (owned: 11%) – 2015 Stats: N/A
  • Kevin Jepsen – TB (owned: 16%) – 2015 Stats: IP: 27.1, SV: 5, K: 24, ERA: 2.63, WHIP: 1.28
  • Pat Neshek – HOU (owned: 17%) – 2015 Stats: IP: 22.1, SV: 1, K: 20, ERA: 2.82, WHIP: 0.76
  • Will Harris – HOU (owned: 15%) – 2015 Stats: IP: 29.2, K: 34, ERA: 0.91, WHIP: 0.51
  • Roberto Osuna – TOR (owned: 4%) – 2015 Stats: IP: 28.2, K: 30, ERA: 2.20, WHIP: 0.94

CD Hill is a correspondent at FantasyPros. To read more from CD, check out his archive and follow CD @cdhill81.

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