Fantasy Baseball Closer Report (8-2)

The 2019 Major League Baseball trade deadline has come and gone and while no top closers were traded, we did see a handful of second-tier closers get moved. Roenis Elias and Hunter Strickland were both moved from Seattle to Washington and neither will close. Sergio Romo goes from the closer in Miami to mainly a setup man in Minnesota and any chance that Chris Martin had of gathering saves in Atlanta went away when they acquired Shane Greene. Some of these moves will hurt fantasy owners but all in all, it could’ve been much worse.

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National League

Arizona Diamondbacks: The Dbacks removed Greg Holland from the closer’s role before the trade deadline. Archie Bradley will close now and should for the foreseeable future. There was a chance that Bradley could’ve been traded, but that didn’t materialize. You could’ve made an argument that Bradley was the better reliever from day one, and I wouldn’t argue with you. The Dbacks just preferred to use Bradley in more high leverage situations and a possible multi-inning role, rather than pigeonhole him into the ninth inning only. Alas, Holland finally forced their hand and it’s Bradley for now.

Atlanta Braves: First Luke Jackson owners had to worry that Martin might’ve taken save opportunities or the job from him and then there was no doubt that LJax would lose the role after the team acquired Greene. It was fun while it lasted but Greene is a much more proven closer. He may not be elite, but he’s better than Jackson and Martin.

Miami Marlins: When the Marlins traded Romo last week it was Nick Anderson who took over his job, but that went up in smoke when Anderson was also dealt. Who closes for Miami now? It’s certainly not written in stone, but Jose Quijada could be in line for the role or possibly even Tayron Guerrero. Hopefully, this picture will come more into focus before FAAB runs this weekend.

New York Mets: There were quite a few rumors that Edwin Diaz was going to be moved by the Mets to either the Red Sox or Dodgers. His meltdown in a save situation Tuesday may have scuttled that chance or perhaps the Mets just wanted too much to make up for overpaying for him during the offseason. Diaz will close for the Mets for the remainder of the season and yes, he may hurt your ratios, but he should garner plenty of saves and let’s face it, that’s all most of us are interested in.

Philadelphia Phillies: The Phillies didn’t make any major additions at the trade deadline to their bullpen, but perhaps they should have. David Robertson, remember him, will miss the rest of the season due to elbow surgery. Hector Neris will continue to close, and he has had a fine season, but with the Phillies battling up to a half dozen other teams for a wildcard spot, it might’ve been prudent to upgrade the backend of their pitching staff.

St. Louis Cardinals: The Cardinals also didn’t make any staff upgrades which means Carlos Martinez should remain the closer for at least the time being. CMart was actually on the trading block but no one was taking on his contract. Andrew Miller of John Gant could be in play here, but they are nothing but long-term stashes.

San Francisco Giants: The Giants traded just about every member of their bullpen with the exception of Will Smith. This is a team that just couldn’t decide if they are buyers or sellers. Smith has had a great season and would’ve brought back quite a haul in a deal, but in the end, he will continue to close for the Giants and that is likely a relief for his fantasy owners as they would’ve been gambling had he gone to a new team if he would’ve still remained a closer.

Washington Nationals: The Nationals beefed up their bullpen quite a bit with several deadline line deal (Daniel Hudson, Elias, Strickland), but none of these are a threat to Sean Doolittle. You need not worry should he be the closer on your fantasy team.

American League

Boston Red Sox: Nathan Eovaldi was activated last week and is technically the Boston closer, but with all of their bullpen problems it’s fair to wonder if the Sox will use him the same as Milwaukee does with Hader. They might have Eovaldi throw multiple innings and on some occasions, Brandon Workman or Matt Barnes ends up closing out games. One person we know won’t be garnering any saves is Ryan Brasier as he was optioned to the minors.

Detroit Tigers: Personally, I have been waiting for the Tigers to trade Shane Greene for the past few seasons and they finally did it. Joe Jimenez should pick up any saves for Detroit between now and the end of the season, but this is a very bad team, there won’t be more than 6-8 saves for him to gather. As always, should you need every save, then go out and get him, just please have realistic expectations.

Minnesota Twins: The Twins not making a bigger addition to their pitching staff other than Romo was an upset. Romo won’t take over the closing role but likely just be part of that committee. I still favor Taylor Rogers, but Romo could gather some saves when the opposing lineup has nothing but right-handed-hitting batters coming up.

New York Yankees: Aroldis Chapman has been awful of late and the Yankees may have to make up an injury at some point so they can give him a two-week rest. If that’s the case, Zach Britton would be next in line. Chapman is in no danger of losing the job, but he’s giving owners a stroke every time he pitches of late.

Oakland Athletics: Will Blake Treinen be getting his job back soon? Possibly as Liam Hendriks has blown three of his past four save opportunities. Hendriks isn’t getting destroyed but he has given up four runs over his past 3.2 IP whereas Treinen hasn’t given up a run and only allowed three hits over his last six outings. Hendriks may only need one more poor outing to lose the job back to Treinen.

Seattle Mariners: Another team that isn’t likely to garner many save opportunities from here on out. The Mariners traded Elias and Strickland which leaves the closing job to Anthony Bass or Cory Gearrin. Bass is the favorite, but once again, even an optimist couldn’t expect more than 8-10 saves from this point on and that’s drinking the Kool-Aid.

Texas Rangers: Shawn Kelley is still on the IL but could return almost any day now and until he does, it would seem Jose Leclerc has the closing job once again. The Rangers have yet to make any kind of formal announcement, but Leclerc seems to be the last man standing at this point with Martin being dealt and Kelley still not ready to play.

Toronto Blue Jays: Ken Giles wasn’t traded at the deadline because of an elbow injury that required a cortisone shot. Just bad timing for Toronto. Giles would’ve made a strong addition to just about any bullpen. Giles hasn’t been placed on the IL, which means he should be able to return to the Toronto bullpen as soon as this weekend.