“Sounds like you’re just moving deck chairs around on the Titanic.”

Let me tell you my process for writing this article each week. I have a chart with my ranking of the closer situations from the prior week’s article. I then go through my notes from the week’s games and any rumors about potential trades and move situations up and down accordingly.

As I was writing this week’s article, I apparently had a very troubled look on my face. My wife, sitting in her “Fantasy Football” shirt (yes, she’s the best wife ever, and no, she didn’t lose a bet to marry me – why does everyone always ask me that?), asked me what was wrong.

I told her I was having difficulty figuring out where to rank the Twins closing situation. She asked me why. I explained that the Twins could be sellers, but they had also just traded for Jaime Garcia. And that their closer, Brandon Kintzler, is a free agent next year and the team had not explored extending him, and that they could look to trade him to a contender.

“So move the Twins down the list,” she said. I told her I wasn’t sure if I could because pretty much every closing situation was extremely muddled, and that as many as half the teams could change closers soon. I added that fantasy owners couldn’t really know how to feel about a situation until after July 31st.

“Sounds like you’re just moving deck chairs around on the Titanic,” she said. And yup, she’s right, that’s exactly what we’re doing here, with just a few days to go before the trade deadline and nearly every reliever on the market.

The list below is undoubtedly going to change quite a bit by the time next week’s report comes out. So, I’m going to take my wife’s comment to heart, and not worry about the exact percentage likelihood that A.J. Ramos gets dealt as opposed to Justin Wilson.

But not to worry – we’ll be taking a deep dive into pretty much every situation. So here is your fantasy baseball closer report for Week 17.

* Editors Note: A.J. Ramos has since been traded to the New York Mets.

Bookmark our Closer Depth Chart for updated coverage throughout the season

The Uncertainty

I usually like to divide this up into two separate headings – the big movers and random musings. But not this week. This week, it’s just about trying to figure out who will be left standing on Tuesday morning. As you see, I am reasonably confident that the top 15 closing situations will have the same closer on August 1st that they do today. After that? Well, let’s get crazy.

The Orioles are rumored to be listening to offers on all their relievers, including Zach Britton and Brad Brach. Britton places potential buyers in a weird spot. He’s been a dominant reliever in recent years but has missed most of this season with a forearm strain. He’s arbitration-eligible for one more season and will make a significant salary. Since returning, he’s been rusty and struggled with his command, but his stuff looks good. Add that all up and it sounds like a trade to the Dodgers! But, the Orioles remain the highest of the “non-safe” situations because a) Britton’s health, pedigree, and salary make him a difficult trade candidate, b) we can feel confident that Brad Brach will take over if Britton is dealt, and c) we can feel confident that Darren O’Day will take over if both are dealt. That level of certainty makes it one of the better situations. Yes, that’s the bar. Buckle up.

The Diamondbacks should be looking for a potential closer replacement for Fernando Rodney. After a fantastic run, he’s now got an 11.25 ERA and 2.25 WHIP in July. And he’s Fernando Rodney. But the Diamondbacks haven’t yet been strongly linked to an elite reliever, so there’s a definite chance that Rodney’s the guy moving forward.

We’ve discussed my guy Kintzler already. It’s not a certainty that the Twins will deal him by any means, but if I were a betting man, I’d wager that they do. Taylor Rogers has the eighth inning and should be the next guy up if Kintzler goes. Again, that gives us a potential, but not definite, closer trade, with a highly likely fill-in. It could be worse.

A.J. Ramos is also rumored to be on the trading block, especially after the Marlins dealt David Phelps. But understand, the Marlins don’t HAVE to deal Ramos right now. He’s still under control for another year and his current salary ($6.5 million) means he’ll make a solid, but not prohibitive, amount in arbitration next year. The team could easily try to trade him this offseason or even keep him as their closer next year. The situation looked a lot nicer last week, when we knew that Kyle Barraclough would take over if Ramos got dealt. Unfortunately, Barraclough hit the DL. Junichi Tazawa currently has the eighth inning, and he should take over as the stopper if Ramos gets dealt, but yuck.

The Phillies take a major leap this week because it seems pretty clear that Hector Neris isn’t going anywhere, both because he hasn’t pitched all that well and because he’s under control for several more years at a very affordable price. The Phillies aren’t good, of course, but we know who their closer will be in a week. Seriously, at this point, we can’t ask for much more.

Darned if I know what those sneaky Rangers are doing. Alex Claudio has done a fantastic job as the fill-in closer that absolutely no one saw coming. Sure, Keone Kela is back and Jose Leclerc exists, but, for now, Claudio appears sorta kinda maybe safe? And he’s under control until 2022, so the Rangers certainly won’t be dealing him. So, yeah. That’s where we are.

My guess is that Sam Dyson has pitched well enough for someone to take a shot on him and give the Giants some organizational filler in a trade, which would likely leave Hunter Strickland as the next man up until Mark Melancon returns from the disabled list. Again, like many of the others, we’ve got a situation with a potential closer change where we feel reasonably confident in the potential closing options come August 1st.

There’s no doubt that Sean Doolittle is the Nationals closer right now. But, and I know I sound like a broken record, I still believe the Nationals are going to be trading for someone else to take the ninth inning. Doolittle is great, but he and Ryan Madson work much better as the seventh and eighth inning guys. I certainly wouldn’t trade for Doolittle before August 1st.

Jim Johnson is also a solid trade candidate and would certainly move to a set-up role with his ground ball inducing ways. But, like with Ramos, the Braves don’t necessarily have to move him, because he’s under control at an affordable price next year. They could easily keep him or look to deal him in the offseason. Arodys Vizcaino will make a fine closer if Johnson goes.

I have less of a handle on what the Angels are going to do than perhaps any other team. Bud Norris has pitched well, that whole extra-inning grand slam thing the other night aside, is a free agent next season and makes almost no money. It really makes no sense for the Angels to hold him, and yet there have been barely any whispers about him being on the block. It’s possible that the Angels simply think that they won’t get anything decent in return for him, and just let him finish out the year as the closer. If he does get dealt, though, it’s entirely uncertain who will take over. Cam Bedrosian was the obvious choice, but he has struggled since returning from the disabled list. David Hernandez and Blake Parker could also be the choice, but it’s impossible to say who it will be at this moment.

The Tigers, Mets, and Padres all fall into the same bucket – highly likely to trade their current closer, with an unclear line of succession. Justin Wilson has had a superb year and, as we all know, if you’re a lefty and can pitch reasonably well, there’s a place for you on a playoff-contending team. It’s likely that Alex Wilson or Shane Greene is next in line, but it’s not a certainty. Addison Reed has been very solid and is a free agent next year, so the Mets will certainly trade him, even if they can’t get quite as much for him as they had hoped after Terry Collins ran him into the ground a bit. If Jeurys Familia comes back, the job is likely his, but until then, it’s anyone’s guess. My money would be on Jerry Blevins, who bailed Reed out of a blown save last week and has been effective. And finally, Brad Hand’s brief run as a closer after Brandon Maurer was traded will likely come to an end this week. If Carter Capps continues to improve, he should be the closer soon enough. Outside of that, my money would be on Phil Maton.

Finally, the White Sox, Cardinals, and A’s are all situations to just avoid. I guess Tyler Clippard remains the closer now that Anthony Swarzak has been traded, but I’d look somewhere else if you’re that desperate for someone to destroy your ratios while getting only a few saves. I have no idea who will get the next saves chance for the Cardinals. I do know that I have no interest in owning any Cardinals reliever, though. And poor Santiago Casilla has apparently lost his closer’s job, but Blake Treinen, who got the first save chance after Casilla’s demotion, promptly blew it. Ryan Dull, who recently returned from the DL, is probably the best bet for saves going forward.

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Dan Harris is a featured writer for FantasyPros. For more from Dan, check out his archive or follow him on Twitter at @danharris80.