No position is more likely to be impacted by the July 31 trade deadline than relief pitcher. Current closers such as Jeurys Familia, Joakim Soria, Sergio Romo, Shane Greene, and Zach Britton could soon end up being setup men for different teams. Even stud closers like Blake Treinen, Raisel Iglesias, and Brad Hand could conceivably be on the move.
The trade deadline is famously unpredictable, so some closers we expect to get dealt will inevitably stay put, while others will wind up getting saves in their new locales. There may even be a shock deal or two that we never saw coming.
This column will be with you every step of the way to sort through the chaos. For now, though, there isn’t much you can do other than bank as many saves as possible and then figure out August when we get there. Here are this week’s rankings.
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| Team (Closer) | Current Rank | Previous Rank | +/- |
| Yankees (Aroldis Chapman) | 1 | 1 | – |
| Mariners (Edwin Diaz) | 2 | 3 | — |
| Red Sox (Craig Kimbrel) | 3 | 2 | — |
| A’s (Blake Treinen) | 4 | 5 | +1 |
| Dodgers (Kenley Jansen) | 5 | 6 | +1 |
| Brewers (Corey Knebel) | 6 | 7 | +1 |
| Pirates (Felipe Vazquez) | 7 | 12 | +5 |
| Cardinals (Bud Norris) | 8 | 8 | – |
| Reds (Raisel Iglesias) | 9 | 10 | +1 |
| Nationals (Kelvin Herrera) | 10 | 4 | -6 |
| Padres (Brad Hand) | 11 | 9 | -2 |
| Cubs (Brandon Morrow) | 12 | 13 | +1 |
| Astros (Hector Rondon) | 13 | 16 | +3 |
| Marlins (Kyle Barraclough) | 14 | 14 | – |
| Braves (Arodys Vizcaino) | 15 | 15 | — |
| Indians (Cody Allen) | 16 | 11 | -5 |
| Rangers (Keone Kela) | 17 | 17 | — |
| Rockies (Wade Davis) | 18 | 18 | — |
| Diamondbacks (Brad Boxberger) | 19 | 19 | — |
| Mets (Jeurys Familia) | 20 | 20 | – |
| Phillies (Committee) | 21 | 21 | — |
| Rays (Sergio Romo) | 22 | 25 | +3 |
| Giants (Will Smith) | 23 | 24 | +1 |
| White Sox (Joakim Soria) | 24 | 23 | -1 |
| Twins (Fernando Rodney) | 25 | 22 | -3 |
| Orioles (Zach Britton) | 26 | 27 | +1 |
| Tigers (Shane Greene) | 27 | 26 | -1 |
| Angels (Committee) | 28 | 28 | — |
| Blue Jays (Committee) | 29 | 29 | — |
| Royals (Committee) | 30 | 30 | – |
Big Movers
Felipe Vasquez
Vazquez continues his rapid ascent back up the closer rankings this week as he looks more and more like the dominating closer that owners were hoping for on draft day. Since June 15, Vazquez has thrown 13 1/3 scoreless innings with a 0.75 WHIP and 25:2 strikeout-to-walk ratio. He’s been the most valuable closer in standard 5×5 leagues over the last month. Vazquez was the number four closer in these rankings at the start of the season, and he’s well on his way to getting back there.
Kelvin Herrera
Sean Doolittle landed on the DL this week with a pinched nerve in his toe, and while the injury isn’t believed to be too serious, Doolittle conceded that “[t]here’s not like a timetable we can set.” Injuries have always been part of the deal with Doolittle, but his owners should be glad that the ailment is to his toe rather than his arm this time around. He should be back relatively soon, if not right after the All-Star break, and obviously shouldn’t be dropped anywhere.
Nationals manager Dave Martinez said that Herrera would close in Doolittle’s absence, but it was Ryan Madson who ended up earning the save on Thursday because Martinez wanted Herrera to face the top of the Mets’ order in the eighth inning. Herrera should still serve as the primary closer while Doolittle is out, and could have some temporary value in that role if he can overcome his recent struggles (three ERs in his last four appearances).
Hector Rondon
Rondon’s main competition for saves in Houston, Ken Giles, was sent to Triple-A on Wednesday, removing any last shred of doubt that Rondon is the reliever to own in this bullpen. Outside of Brad Peacock earning a fluky save by pitching the final two innings of a game the Astros winded up winning by seven runs, no Houston reliever other than Rondon or Giles has picked up a save since Chris Devenski closed out a game on April 17. Rondon can run away with this job, and it looks like he may finally get an extended opportunity to do so.
Cody Allen
I don’t mean to overreact to one bad (or rather “god-awful”) appearance, but the middle of the closer rankings are tight enough to warrant a sizable drop for Allen after he surrendered six earned runs to the Reds in 2/3 of an inning on July 10. Before that appearance, Allen had a 3.25 ERA and 1.06 WHIP, and those numbers are a fair expectation for him going forward based on past performance. But Allen also gave up a run on Friday, and the pitchers above him in the rankings are merely outperforming him, even if you believe that his recent blowup was nothing more than one terrible day.
Sergio Romo
Romo keeps pitching well, so he keeps moving up the rankings. Since June 1, he has 10 saves with a 1.37 ERA and 0.81 WHIP. Not bad for a 35-year-old pitcher who looked washed up earlier in the season.
Random Musings
Brad Hand
Hand still has great numbers for the season as a whole, but he has been quite hittable of late. Since June 17, he has an ugly 8.00 ERA and 1.67 WHIP across nine innings. The good news is that Hand has a 13:1 strikeout-to-walk ratio over that timeframe and his velocity has been fine, so his owners can feel confident he’ll get his act together soon enough.
The Phillies
Just when it looked like Phillies manager Gabe Kapler was settling on Seranthony Dominguez as the top dog for saves in Philadelphia, Victor Arano strung together three saves over a five-game stretch. Then Pat Neshek, who recently returned from the disabled list, picked up his first save of the season on Friday.
Kapler’s recent ninth-inning choices leave me little choice but to return to labeling this situation a full-blown committee. The good news is that Dominguez, Arano, and Neshek all have good enough ratios to be useful even when they’re not pitching the ninth. Unless Philadelphia makes a trade for an established closer, this trio will all be worth owning in most fantasy leagues that prioritize saves or cap innings.
Shane Greene
Greene was activated from the disabled list on Friday and pitched a clean inning. He will immediately retake the closer job from Joe Jimenez. However, the Tigers will almost certainly look to deal Greene ahead of the trade deadline, so Jimenez is still worth rostering in saves-hungry leagues. Greene seems quite unlikely to close for his new team if he is dealt, so enjoy his contributions while you can.
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Andrew Seifter is a featured writer at FantasyPros. For more from Andrew, check out his archive and follow him @andrew_seifter.