[closing_time list_id=”24156″ season=”2018″ include_stats=”1″]
- Despite being a fairly uneventful deadline day as far as closers/relievers are concerned, there were still two deals over the past 24 hours that impact the market for saves drastically. The big one is the Houston/Toronto deal that saw the two teams swap their former closers, and in turn, improves both players stock immensely. Roberto Osuna gets a nice boost going to a contender and the change of scenery should benefit him given his troubling past. The same can be said about Ken Giles to a certain degree, as he is probably the biggest winner of those deal. I still believe he can be an elite closer in this leagues if he can get his act together, and let’s hope the change of scenery is just what he needs.
- The other closer dealt was Keone Kela, where he will now go set up Felipe Vazquez in Pittsburgh. While its a great move to help that Pirate bullpen, it basically destroys any value Kela had in save only leagues barring an injury to Vazquez. The big winner here though, is Jose Leclerc, who now is in position to carry sneaky good closer value the rest of season, especially with Jake Diekman also out of the picture. Leclerc has battled control issues in the past, but this season has done a much better job limiting walks, including a BB% of just 2 in the month of July. Overall on the season, he has a 2.27 ERA, 1.01 WHIP and 2.95 K/BB, which would easily put him in the top half of the current closer landscape and with only Alex Claudio or Cory Gearrin to challenge him, the job should be his to lose.
- There’s still a chance we see Shane Greene, Sergio Romo or Fernando Rodney dealt in August, but for now, I’ll lean towards them not being dealt. It’s still a bit surprising to see those guys stay put with all the teams out there rumored to be interested in adding bullpen help then standing pat…*cough* Red Sox *cough*.
- Blake Treinen and Edwin Diaz led the past week with 3 saves. In other news, water is wet.
Never in a million years did I think that I would see Blake Treinen ranked higher than Craig Kimbrel.
Right? Starting to worry about Kimbrel and his workload and not having anyone to spell him. The Sox are going to just ride him into the ground. I get Kimbrels pitched in just one more game than Treinen, but the overall mileage on that arm throughout his career is slowly beginning to show.
Now that Romo is staying put in TB, does his value change at all? Or did his T5 ranking already assume job security?
Still not crazy high on him, and he’s still going to be a popular August trade candidate, but if you own him you have to be relieved after today.
No discussion on Will Smith moving up 13 spots?
Have to admit I was late to the party on Smith and at this point, there’s no reason to remove him from the role this season.
Good move on Will Smith! Long overdue and he deserves it. I think Norris could use a little bump now over the likes of Boxberger/Allen/Giles, he has survived the trade deadline and been solid all year.
I like what Norris has done this year too, but he’s another potential waiver trade candidate, with the Red Sox, a team like that was heavily linked to him, a potential fit.
Are you sure Osuna will be closing over Rendon?
Eventually, he should be.
Why would they acquire him if he wasn’t going to be in that role? IMO the PR hit exceeds Giles value – they have to have big plans for him.
Why is Kenley sinking? You know where he is going to end up!
I know, I know. There’s definitely a good chance he goes back up to 1, but right now he just isn’t as dominant as he used to be (SwStr% still way down), especially compared to Diaz and Treinen.
Last point – Boxberger has been insanely good outside of that one BS over the past few weeks or so. Like 3 hits in his last 12 appearances and a ton of Ks. Not to say that he belongs super high, but I don’t think he is trending down unless you are worried about fewer opportunities.
His job is safe for now, and he’s been more good than bad, but unlike some others on this list, his potential upside doesn’t make up for the fact that he’s probably 2-3 consecutive bad outings away from being on the hot seat or removed from the role.
Looking to have solid closers that have more of a chance to hold/own the closer role for ROS. I’ve currently got Rondon, Boxberger and Seranthony as my closers in a saves only league. On the wire are Osuna, Giles, Minter, Yates, LeClerc, Smith… would you recommend dropping any to add any? Thanks
I’d probably keep Seranthony and drop Boxberger for Osuna. I’d hold Rondon if you can afford to be patient and give it a week or two to see how things play out in Houston first and then drop Osuna or Rondon for one of the other names on that list.