Welcome to Closing Time where the Top 45 Closers are broken down into tiers based on skill, competition/opportunity/job security, and injury risk. It’s a mixture of short and long term value with more focus placed on the long haul.
Share your questions and critiques in the comments. Follow me on twitter @HisDudenessOfNY if you have questions through the week.
TIER 1A
1A. Kenley Jansen (Los Angeles Dodgers)
1B. Wade Davis (Kansas City Royals)
TIER 1B
3. Aroldis Chapman (New York Yankees)
4. Craig Kimbrel (Boston Red Sox)
5. Zach Britton (Baltimore Orioles)
6. Jeurys Familia (New York Mets)
TIER 2
7. David Robertson (Chicago White Sox)
8. Trevor Rosenthal (St. Louis Cardinals)
9. Mark Melancon (Pittsburgh Pirates)
10. Roberto Osuna (Toronto Blue Jays)
11. Hector Rondon (Chicago Cubs)
TIER 3
12. Santiago Casilla (San Francisco Giants)
13. A.J. Ramos (Miami Marlins)
14. Luke Gregerson (Houston Astros)
15. Cody Allen (Cleveland Indians)
16. Ryan Madson (Oakland Athletics)
17. Arodys Vizcaino (Atlanta Braves)
TIER 4A
18. Jeremy Jeffress (Milwaukee Brewers)
19. Steve Cishek (Seattle Mariners)
20. Fernando Rodney (San Diego Padres)
TIER 4B
21. Shawn Tolleson (Texas Rangers)
22. Francisco Rodriguez (Detroit Tigers)
23. Jonathan Papelbon (Washington Nationals)
24. Jeanmar Gomez (Philadelphia Phillies)
25. Brad Ziegler (Arizona Diamondbacks)
26. Jake McGee (Colorado Rockies)
TIER 5
27. Alex Colome (Tampa Bay Rays)
28. Tony Cingrani (Cincinnati Reds)
29. Joe Smith (Los Angeles Angels)
30. Kevin Jepsen (Minnesota Twins)
TIER 6A
31. Hector Neris (Philadelphia Phillies)
32. Trevor May (Minnesota Twins)
33. Andrew Miller (New York Yankees)
34. Sam Dyson (Texas Rangers)
TIER 6B
35. Ross Ohlendorf (Cincinnati Reds)
36. Felipe Rivero (Washington Nationals)
37. Will Harris (Houston Astros)
38/39. Tyler Clippard, Daniel Hudson (Arizona Diamondbacks)
40/41. Justin Wilson, Mark Lowe (Detroit Tigers)
42. Hunter Strickland (San Francisco Giants)
43. Boone Logan (Colorado Rockies)
44. Shawn Kelley (Washington Nationals)
45. Sean Doolittle (Oakland Athletics)
INJURED
– Huston Street (Los Angeles Angels)
– Brad Boxberger (Tampa Bay Rays)
– Glen Perkins (Minnesota Twins)
NOTES
– Aroldis Chapman is back and it sounds like Joe Girardi is handing him the 9th. Andrew Miller should still be owned in all roto leagues and has some value in standard 5×5 h2hs if benches aren’t too shallow.
– Jeurys Familia kicking it into 2nd gear and is tied for the league lead with 11 saves.
– Roberto Osuna had a minor groin problem but pitched two scores innings since returning. Zach Britton’s ankle issue is old news as well.
– The utter dominance makes up for Hector Rondon’s uninspiring save total. Cubbies are simply blowing people out and unfortunately that trend may continue. Most likely in the end his save totals will be sufficient so don’t sell for that reason alone.
– A.J. Ramos had his ugliest outing of the season in a non save situation. 3 more walks brings the total to 11 in 13 innings. He is still a perfect 9 for 9 so no real cause for concern yet.
– Luke Gregerson also had his worst appearance of the year, giving up 3 earned in a tie game and getting the loss. His numbers are still nice and shiny, especially that .88 WHIP.
– For some strange reason Brad Boxberger is expected to take back the 9th inning immediately when he is activated off the DL. Pretty brutal news for Alex Colome owners. Very possible Box doesn’t get it done and things become complicated. He is expected to begin a minor league rehab assignment on Thursday. Assuming the transition is relatively seamless BB will find himself in tier 4 with tier 3 upside.
– Santiago Casilla has earned more of our trust. Besides bumping Casilla up a bit there isn’t much movement in tier 3 and 4A/4B
– Tony Cingrani earned his second save of the season and seems to be the guy to own in Cincy.
– Kevin Jepsen is supposedly still holding down the 9th with Glen Perkins on the DL but he hasn’t struck out a batter in a couple weeks and Trevor May is breathing down his neck. Perkins is progressing but there still isn’t a timetable, and I don’t really expect him to stay healthy even when/if he does return.
– Hector Neris is still the best stash in the game, mostly because his upside is immense, but Jeanmar Gomez has closed out a couple games since blowing his first save. Philly isn’t competing this season and they would cost themselves money by giving Neris the job, so the wait could be anticlimactic. However worst case scenario you will get some studly innings so there is no real downside, at least in daily rotos.
– Huston Street is supposed to begin a throwing program this week.
– Outside of Neris, who is likely owned in most leagues, and to a lesser extent Trevor May, you really don’t have any strong stashes. Roll out guys like Tony Watson, Pedro Strop, and Kelvin Herrera to eat up quality innings for now. Keep your finger on the trigger for an unexpected injury.