If you thought closer situations would stabilize with the non-waiver trade deadline in the rearview mirror, you got a rude awakening this week. Fernando Rodney ended up getting dealt after all. Kelvin Herrera went down with a rotator cuff injury, and Kenley Jansen will reportedly miss a month after his longstanding issues with an irregular heartbeat resurfaced. Kyle Barraclough and Corey Knebel lost their jobs, and it looks like Wade Davis could be next. In other words, just another crazy week in closer town.
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Here’s this week’s rankings:
| Team (Closer) | Current Rank | Previous Rank | +/- |
| Mariners (Edwin Diaz) | 1 | 1 | – |
| A’s (Blake Treinen) | 2 | 4 | +2 |
| Yankees (Aroldis Chapman) | 3 | 2 | -1 |
| Red Sox (Craig Kimbrel) | 4 | 3 | -1 |
| Pirates (Felipe Vazquez) | 5 | 6 | +1 |
| Reds (Raisel Iglesias) | 6 | 7 | +1 |
| Cardinals (Bud Norris) | 7 | 8 | +1 |
| Padres (Kirby Yates) | 8 | 11 | +3 |
| Braves (A.J. Minter) | 9 | 12 | +3 |
| Diamondbacks (Brad Boxberger) | 10 | 13 | +3 |
| Giants (Will Smith) | 11 | 14 | +3 |
| Astros (Hector Rondon) | 12 | 15 | +3 |
| Cubs (Pedro Strop) | 13 | 22 | +9 |
| Nationals (Ryan Madson) | 14 | 10 | -4 |
| Indians (Committee) | 15 | 16 | +1 |
| Phillies (Committee) | 16 | 17 | +1 |
| Brewers (Committee) | 17 | 9 | -8 |
| Rays (Sergio Romo) | 18 | 18 | — |
| Tigers (Shane Greene) | 19 | 19 | — |
| Royals (Wily Peralta) | 20 | 21 | +1 |
| Dodgers (Scott Alexander) | 21 | 5 | -16 |
| Rockies (Wade Davis) | 22 | 23 | +1 |
| Rangers (Committee) | 23 | 27 | +4 |
| Marlins (Committee) | 24 | 24 | — |
| Blue Jays (Committee) | 25 | 25 | — |
| Angels (Committee) | 26 | 26 | — |
| Mets (Committee) | 27 | 28 | +1 |
| Twins (Committee) | 28 | 20 | -8 |
| White Sox (Committee) | 29 | 29 | – |
| Orioles (Committee) | 30 | 30 | — |
Big Movers
Pedro Strop
I may have been too quick to drop Strop in the rankings last week following a few rough outings. He rebounded with three uneventful saves this past week and looks to still be Joe Maddon’s apparent choice for saves for however long Brandon Morrow is out. According to the Chicago Sun-Times, Morrow is still out “indefinitely.”
Ryan Madson
Kelvin Herrera hit the DL this week with a rotator cuff injury, opening the door for Madson to step in as the Nats’ closer. Herrera won’t be returning anytime soon, Brandon Kintzler and Shawn Kelley are now on other teams, and Washington’s first-choice closer Sean Doolittle is still a way’s away, as well. In other words, Madson should have a fairly long leash. His overall numbers for the season are ugly, but he’s been much better of late and was excellent last season.
Milwaukee Brewers
Corey Knebel hasn’t been all that great in his injury-shortened 2018 season, and Thursday’s four-run meltdown was the last straw for manager Craig Counsell, at least for the time being. The Brewers have no shortage of potential replacements, as Josh Hader, Jeremy Jeffress, and Joakim Soria are all having terrific seasons. Soria is currently dealing with a groin strain, so Hader and Jeffress are the most likely short-term options. But Soria may well be the most natural replacement for Knebel once he’s healthy.
Scott Alexander
ESPN’s Buster Olney reports that Kenley Jansen will miss “about a month” as he receives treatment for an irregular heartbeat, an issue that’s also plagued him in the past. Scott Alexander picked up the save in Jansen’s absence on Thursday and is the most likely candidate on the roster to see save opportunities going forward, although Kenta Maeda could also reportedly factor in. Alexander is hardly an elite talent, but he does have a sub-3.00 ERA over his first 146 Major League innings.
I’ve long thought it odd that the Dodgers haven’t given greater priority to collecting proven set-up men to surround Jansen. I wouldn’t be shocked if they attempted to acquire a proven closer from outside the organization, but that could be tough to do now that the non-waiver trade deadline has passed.
Texas Rangers
The Rangers have only had one save since Keone Kela was traded, and that went to Jose Leclerc, who has phenomenal numbers on the season (2.16 ERA, 0.96 WHIP, 12.53 K/9). If the Rangers commit to Leclerc as their closer, he will quickly ascend the rankings as an upper echelon option for the rest of the season. It is the logical move for the team to make, but I’d like to see Leclerc collect another save or two before I’m convinced that Jeff Bannister won’t also occasionally turn to Alex Claudio, who collected 11 saves for the team last season.
Minnesota Twins
It was somewhat surprising that Fernando Rodney wasn’t traded ahead of the July 31 non-waiver trade deadline, but in the end, that was just delaying the inevitable. The Twins dealt Rodney to Oakland on Thursday, where he’ll help set up Blake Treinen.
While Rodney has been better than expected this season, the rest of Minnesota’s bullpen has been worse. Addison Reed was a popular choice to usurp Rodney at the beginning of the season, but he’s battled an elbow injury and struggled to the tune of a 4.74 ERA and 1.44 WHIP. Trevor Hildenberger also seemed like a capable replacement for Rodney at one point, but he has a disgusting 10.26 ERA and 2.10 WHIP in 16 2/3 innings since June 30. Taylor Rogers is a darkhorse candidate, but I’d be hard pressed to pick up anyone from this bullpen right now.
Random Musings
Wade Davis
Davis has had a strange season. He is tied with Jansen for the National League lead in saves with 32, but his 5.51 ERA is the highest of any reliever with more than 12 saves on the year. Rockies manager Bud Black has been fiercely loyal to Davis — some would say to a fault — but Black’s patience could be tested after Davis picked up his third loss in his last four appearances on Thursday. He’s given up eight earned runs in 2 1/3 innings over that stretch. Davis claims to have identified a mechanical flaw that will get him back in form, but if Black does ultimately pull the plug on Davis, he’s got a ready-made replacement in Adam Ottavino.
Miami Marlins
Marlins manager Don Mattingly finally announced this week that Kyle Barraclough would no longer be the team’s closer, but Mattingly didn’t name a replacement, saying the team would employ a committee. Drew Steckenrider would seem to be the obvious choice, but Adam Conley and Javy Guerra could also be in the mix. For now, fantasy owners should grab Steckenrider and hope he can lay claim to the job.
Blake Treinen
Aroldis Chapman and Craig Kimbrel have scuffled a bit over the last month, and Treinen was already out-pitching them anyway, so he jumps up to second in the rankings this week.
Hector Rondon
Rondon has continued to serve as the Astros’ closer since Roberto Osuna returned from his suspension, and it’s beginning to look like it will stay that way for the rest of the season as long as Rondon continues to get the job done.
The Committees
There are three kinds of closer committees going on right now. There are the “elite” committees, where multiple relievers are worth owning and could have sizable fantasy value even if none are the exclusive closer. That applies to Cleveland, Philadelphia, and now Milwaukee.
Then there are the “committees of intrigue,” where there’s at least one reliever that could be decently valuable if he can run away with the closer job. That covers Texas (Jose Leclerc) and Miami (Drew Steckenrider), and to a lesser extent the Angels (Blake Parker), Toronto (Ryan Tepera), and the Mets (Robert Gsellman).
Finally, there are the “steer clear” committees, which I want no part of unless I am desperate for saves. That group features the White Sox and Orioles, as well as the newest member, the Twins. All of these situations are messy, the teams are mediocre or flat-out bad, and none of the relievers are pitching particularly well. Unless one of the Twins relievers can turn things around, investing in any of these committees will probably end up doing you more harm than good.
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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.
