I think this will conclude this year’s rankings for all players, but with the way closer roles can change between now and Spring Training, finishing will be bountiful. There seems to be a big difference among experts in the top-10, and I am no different. Also, the bottom tiers for the rankings are a “wait and see” proposition, as there are easily 7-8 teams with a closer by committee situation, or at best, a closer who is a retread of a retread. Everyone knows who you are Fernando, you don’t have to stand up and raise your hand or shoot an arrow fictitiously at me. So as we approach draft season and beyond, use this list for now, because the situations will be fluid from here on out. As I promised two weeks ago, you will get a new list every two weeks, with a holds post (no it won’t be in different color for people who just skip the preface of an article) in betwix. Get excited folks! Spring is sorta here, and with that comes all of Grey’s rankings, my closer and bullpen stuff, and basically every tool under the sun to help you be the best you can be. Now get out there and win one for Flipper!
- I am a little leery of Wade Davis. Yes, he has the goods to back up what he has done, and yes, he is going to a better team. A team that had less save chances then KC last year (60/53) despite winning more then 22 more games. More runs and a better offensive teams steal from a closer’s value. If torn on draft day, skip him and go for the vanilla option in Melancon.
- I love Edwin Diaz, that is all.
- David Robertson is tough to rank for me, the trade rumors of him to Washington make total sense. He would hold his value where he is and Nate Jones would be in the bottom-12 closers. I based some of D-Rob’s value on him getting traded, so take that to heart on draft day. AL-only leagues, be very scared.
- Familia has dropped because he is going to miss 20% of the year.
- On draft day, according to my list, I want two closers before K-Rod is off the books. It gets really sketchy after that, and from 19-30 in the rankings I could see as many as 30 relievers being drafted for only 12 jobs. Speculation sucks when you are wrong.
- If you hate that last piece of advice, then make Brandon Kintzler your favorite third closer.
$12 Salads
You know that restaurant your girlfriend/wife/what-have-you likes to go to that charges, like, $12 for a salad? Every time you go there, you have a thoroughly solid meal. No complaints, except you just paid $12 for a salad when you could’ve went to McDonald’s and stuffed you and your woman for ten schmools and had $2 in quarters left over to make the hotel bed vibrate. These closers are $12 salads.
1. Kenley Jansen – (Sergio Romo, Pedro Baez)
2. Aroldis Chapman – (Dellin Betances, Tyler Clippard)
3. Zach Britton – (Darren O’Day, Brad Brach)
4. Craig Kimbrel – (Tyler Thornburg, Matt Barnes)
5. Edwin Diaz – (Steve Cishek, Nick Vincent)
6. Wade Davis – (Hector Rondon, Koji Uehara)
7. Mark Melancon – (Hunter Strickland, Derek Law)
Donkeycorns
Imagine you’re following a donkey, who’s wearing a wool cap, through a desert for 1700 miles. Why are you following a donkey? Because he promises you something wonderful and you just need to trust him. Does the donkey talk? Yes. Yes, he does talk. So when you and the donkey in the wool cap arrive at his destination, he removes the wool cap to reveal a horn. The donkey is a unicorn and his gift to you for your trust is saves. These closers are Donkeycorns.
8. Seung-hwan Oh – (Kevin Siegrist, Trevor Rosenthal)
9. Ken Giles – (Will Harris, Luke Gregerson)
10. Roberto Osuna – (Jason Grilli, Danny Barnes)
11. David Robertson – (Nate Jones, Dan Jennings)
12. Cody Allen – (Andrew Miller, Bryan Shaw)
13. Kelvin Herrera – (Joakim Soria, Brian Flynn)
14. Jeurys Familia – (Addison Reed, Hansel Robles)
15. A.J. Ramos– (Brad Ziegler, Kyle Barraclough)
16. Sam Dyson– (Jim Jeffress, Matt Bush)
17. Alex Colome – (Brad Boxberger, Xavier Cedeno)
18. Francisco Rodriguez – (Alex Wilson, Justin Wilson, Bruce Rondon)
19. Tony Watson – (Daniel Hudson, Felipe Rivero)
20. Huston Street – (Cam Bedrosian, Andrew Bailey)
Employed
These guys are the men that make the save market go round. They punch in, punch out. Have the job, no real threat to speak of, and are basically just there to collect great benny’s so they can take care of their crippled brother. Who is only really crippled because he is scared of the sun.
21. Jim Johnson – (Arodys Vizcaino, Mauricio Cabrera)
22. Brandon Kintzler – (Ryan Pressly, Taylor Rogers)
23. Adam Ottavino – (Greg Holland, Carlos Estevez, Jake McGee)
24. Neftali Feliz – (Corey Knebel, Carlos Torres)
Brain Freezes
I’m going on a picnic and I’m bringing apples, bananas and Carlos Marmol– Wait, he just gave up 12 earned runs and hit Castro in the head with a pick-off throw. Brain freeze! Make it stop! Use the following closers at your own risk.
25. Jeanmar Gomez / Hector Neris – (Joaquin Benoit)
26. Ryan Madson / Santiago Casilla – (Ryan Dull, Sean Doolittle)
27. Shawn Kelley – (Blake Treinen, Sammy Solis)
28. Brandon Maurer – (Ryan Buchter, Carter Capps, Brad Hand)
29. Fernando Rodney– (Enrique Burgos Jake Barrett)
30. Raisel Igelsias / Drew Storen – (Michael Lorenzen)
