Many of the big-name closers on the trade market ended up staying put this year due to a variety of circumstances. The Giants’ surge in the standings kept Will Smith in San Francisco. Ken Giles‘ balky elbow became an issue just in time to convince contenders to shy away. The White Sox held onto Alex Colome with hopes of competing next year. The trade talk surrounding Carlos Martinez never made much sense to begin with, and the price tag for acquiring Kirby Yates, Felipe Vazquez, and Edwin Diaz was simply too high to get a deal done.

Still, there were plenty of relievers dealt, and some of those moves have unquestionably altered the closer landscape. The Tigers traded Shane Greene to Atlanta, ensuring that both teams will have a new closer going forward. The Marlins traded closer Sergio Romo to Minnesota — and then moved fill-in closer Nick Anderson to Tampa Bay. The Mariners traded Roenis Elias and Hunter Strickland to Washington. The Rangers sent Chris Martin to the Braves, clearing the path for Jose Leclerc to finally reassume closer duties in Texas. The Giants kept Smith, but they did trade Sam Dyson to Minnesota, where he saw a save chance on his first day in a Twins uniform.

How do all these moves affect the closer rankings? I’m glad you asked.

View the Closer Depth Charts for all 30 teams

Big Movers

San Francisco Giants
Smith officially remains a closer for the rest of the season, so he gets a nice bump up the rankings this week. He seemed likely to remain a closer wherever he ended up, but it’s always nice to have some clarity. Smith trails only Yates, Josh Hader, and Brad Hand in terms of fantasy value in standard 5×5 roto/category leagues, and there’s no reason he can’t keep it up over the final two months.

Atlanta Braves
Greene’s peripherals (3.79 xFIP, 3.44 SIERA) still indicate that his 1.18 ERA is due for quite a bit of regression, but the fact remains that he’s performed like a top-10 closer to date and gets a nice upgrade by moving from Detroit to Atlanta. His save opportunities had dwindled over the last couple of months. That should no longer be a concern while closing out games for one of the best teams in baseball. The Braves also acquired Martin and Mark Melancon at the trade deadline, but manager Brian Snitker has already made it clear that Greene will be the team’s designated closer.

Texas Rangers
With Martin shipped to Atlanta and Shawn Kelley out indefinitely, the seas have parted for Leclerc to retake the closer job that he lost in April. Rangers manager Chris Woodward said as much this week, when he confirmed that Jesse Chavez only got a save chance on Wednesday because Leclerc was resting after working three straight games. The 25-year-old Leclerc has been much better over the last month or two and is capable of being one of the most dominant closers in the game when he keeps his walk rate under control. He could quickly ascend the rankings once he gets a few saves under his belt.

Minnesota Twins
Taylor Rogers owners have to be shaking their heads right now. Rogers has been excellent as the Twins’ closer over the last two months, but the team seems intent on finding other options for the ninth inning. Minnesota ended up acquiring Dyson and Romo at the trade deadline, and Dyson immediately received a save opportunity on Thursday. The good news for Rogers investors is that Dyson made a mess of the situation, allowing four straight batters to reach base before Rogers relieved him. Dyson may have been jet-lagged after arriving just prior to game time, but the larger point is that neither he nor Romo are the kind of big-name closers that should relegate Rogers to setup duty. This situation needs to be viewed as a committee for now, but Rogers is still the best guy to have on your fantasy roster.

Boston Red Sox
The Red Sox opted to stay quiet at the trade deadline, which represents good news for Brandon Workman. MassLive.com’s Chris Cotillo considers Workman to be the team’s “de facto closer,” and it’s hard to argue the point based on the way he has been used in recent weeks. Nathan Eovaldi could still factor into the equation at some point, but he’ll need to start pitching better first. It may be time to remove the committee designation in Boston if Workman rattles off a few more saves in a row.

Detroit Tigers
With Greene now in Atlanta, the Tigers have become an unappealing committee situation. The 24-year-old fireballer Joe Jimenez is currently the favorite to inherit the ninth inning, but he’s yet to demonstrate that he can be an effective major league reliever despite his excellent strikeout rate. He’s worth a pickup in most leagues, but keep expectations in check given his poor track record and team context. Buck Farmer could also see save chances in Detroit, and it’s not unthinkable that Trevor Rosenthal could force his way into the discussion as well.

Random Musings

New York Yankees/Los Angeles Dodgers/Chicago Cubs
We didn’t see the best from Aroldis Chapman, Kenley Jansen, or Craig Kimbrel in July, but there’s no reason to panic about any of them. These are three perennial top-10 closers — if not top-five — and they all have plenty of job security and should see tons of save opportunities down the stretch.

Toronto Blue Jays
Giles’ sore elbow is a bit of a mixed blessing for his fantasy owners. On the one hand, it eliminated any risk that he could be dealt to a team that already had an established closer, which would have decimated his fantasy value. On the other hand, elbow pain is always a significant concern for pitchers. For now, the Blue Jays are optimistic that Giles will be able to return Sunday or Monday. He could jump back towards the top10 in the closer rankings if he proves healthy, but that’s a big “if” until we see him make several appearances in a row without issue.

Arizona Diamondbacks
The Diamondbacks are one team that had closer drama unrelated to the trade deadline this week. Manager Torey Lovullo finally pulled the plug on Greg Holland after a string of awful performances, but he did not name a single replacement. Archie Bradley earned the first save following Holland’s demotion, and while Lovullo stopped short of naming Bradley the closer, he has to be considered the current favorite. Yoshihisa Hirano, Yoan Lopez, and Andrew Chafin could also see save opportunities if Lovullo sticks to a committee approach.

Seattle Mariners
The ninth inning is wide open in Seattle after the Mariners traded away Elias and Strickland, their top two bullpen arms. Manager Scott Servais appeared to be saving Anthony Bass in case a save situation arose on Wednesday (it didn’t), so he’s probably the best bet for saves in the Mariners’ bullpen at the moment. With a 3.49 ERA and 1.06 WHIP, Bass has pitched well enough this season to merit a speculative pickup in most leagues that count saves.

Tampa Bay Rays
The Rays’ closer committee was already overcrowded — four different Tampa Bay relievers have picked up saves over the last week — and acquiring Anderson certainly isn’t going to help matters. Nor will the eventual return of Jose Alvarado. It’s long past the point where we should hope/expect any reliever to run away with the Rays’ closer job. Emilio Pagan and Diego Castillo are still at the top of the pecking order, but neither should be counted on for more than a handful of saves the rest of the way.

Miami Marlins
Anderson briefly appeared to be the Marlins’ closer after the Marlins traded Romo, but they then shipped out Anderson, too. We’re left with another unappealing committee situation. Jarlin Garcia handled the ninth inning in a four-run victory Sunday and pitched the top of the ninth on Thursday with the Marlins down by three. He’s the current favorite and makes for a decent add. Drew Steckenrider and Ryne Stanek could both challenge Garcia for the closer role once they return from the injured list, which doesn’t sound far off in either case.

Baltimore Orioles
Mychal Givens didn’t get traded, if you’re the kind of person who cares about such things. He is the best bet for saves in this bullpen by default, but expect the Orioles to remain a messy and low-yielding closer committee for the remainder of the 2019 season.

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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.