I have said this before, but it probably doesn’t hurt to repeat it – in dynasty baseball, it is never too soon to start formulating your plan and compiling your lists of the top players you should target in trades or upcoming drafts or auctions in 2027. If you want to win your league title, the first steps to do that start now.
So welcome to the first installment of the Top dynasty players at each position for 2027. For the next 10 weeks, I will break down who I think are the top 50 (or 100 for the starting pitchers) players at each position, with outfielders broken down into left, center, and right fielders – not one big blob.
So get your pencils sharpened and a pad of paper out (does anyone actually use a pencil and pad of paper these days? I guess in this case copy and paste to your favorite worksheet) to take notes on the Top 50 Dynasty Relievers for 2027.
THE RELIEVERS
When it comes to relievers, I have slowly evolved how I rank them and go after them over the years. When fantasy baseball first started, no one cared about setup men as holds were never tracked as a scoring category. The only people we cared about were closers, closers, and more closers.
With most leagues now including holds as a separate scoring category or going with Holds + Saves or some combination that includes holds, the top setup men are now top assets to have on your team. So the below rankings are not a list of closers ranked from first to best. Instead, you will see a lot of setup men or hurlers who have a good shot of becoming setup men or closers.
Who To Target?
Ranking relievers is almost an exercise in futility. As a group, they are tremendously inconsistent and have a short shelf life compared to other positions. Relievers could have had a great 2026 season only to implode and get buried in a pen or sent back to the minors. So when it comes to this group, I care a little about age, but not much. A young reliever is just as inconsistent as a veteran.
There are basically three things I want from my relievers – a low ERA, saves or holds (or both), and a strikeout rate at 10.0 or higher. The ERA can get bloated with a few bad outings, but if a reliever has streaks of scoreless innings, I can live with the occasional bad outing. Saves and holds are hard to control, but since those are categories in every league on some level, you need those pitchers.
What I really look at first is a pitcher’s strikeout rate. Strikeouts are a reliever’s best friend. They allow him to get out of trouble he creates or inherits.
Let’s get this show on the road and see who cracked the Top Dynasty Relievers list for 2027.
JUST A BIT OUTSIDE (THE BEST OF THE REST)
The list of relievers can go on forever. With 30 teams and bullpens consisting of seven to eight pitchers, that is 200-plus relievers to choose from. As the fantasy season unfolds, you will likely run through dozens of relievers in leagues with no penalty to drop and add players. Even in contract leagues, there is no way you are going to stick with the same relievers for an entire season.
I rank 50 relievers below, but I could have gone much deeper. But for the sake of my sanity and yours, 50 seemed like a good number to go with. But here are a few players that just missed my top 50:
- Kodai Senga: I have no idea what his future is. As a closer, he was pretty solid for the Mets as he racked up eight saves in nine chances. He had a 4.85 ERA as a reliever, but that includes an outing in which he allowed three earned runs in 0.1 innings of work. Remove that outing and his ERA drops to 3.99. Not great, but OK since it goes with an 11.2 K/9 rate. But he is owed $15m next year, and Devin Williams will be in the second year of his $41 million contract. I think Senga will be moved back to the rotation.
- Kenley Jansen and Paul Sewald: Yes, they racked up saves, but they will be 39 and 36 next year, and the Tigers and Blue Jays have better options at closer and younger/cheaper/better pitchers to fill in the setup roles. If you are picking last and they are signed with someone and want to take a cheap chance they close, that is what they are good for in 2027.
- Daniel Duarte, Drew Sommers, Jack Dreyer, Elvis Alvarado: Duarte will be 30 next season, and 2026 was his first real action since 2023, when he appeared in 31 games for the Twins. He was solid in his 24 appearances with the Mets, notching a 9.1 K/9 rate and 4.29 BB/K rate. Good season, but a lot of pitchers are similar to Duarte, like Sommers, Dreyer, and Alvarado. Sommers had a 14.1 K/9 rate in 39.2 innings of work for the Tigers. Dreyer had a solid season for the Dodgers with a 10.23 K/9 rate, two saves, and 12 holds. Alvarado has been consistent the last two years, notching a 10.6 K/9 rate in both years with K/BB rates of 2.27 and 2.60. This year he was used as a closer at times, but the A’s had eight different players record a save this season, so who really knows who the leading candidate to close for them in 2027 is.
- AJ Blubaugh: A 3.66 ERA and 1.229 WHIP aren’t eye-popping numbers, but Blubaugh appeared in 64 games out of the pen this season and threw 96 innings. He’s not just available nearly every day, but he is able to go multiple innings, which allowed him to rack up 94 strikeouts. As the season progressed, he went from being a long man for the Astros and moved into a setup role, finishing with 12 holds.
TIER 5
*Age as of March 1, 2027
| RANK | PLAYER | 2026 TEAM | AGE |
|---|---|---|---|
| 50 | Ryan Zeferjahn | CHC | 29 |
| 49 | Erik Miller | BOS | 29 |
| 48 | Riley O’Brien | STL | 32 |
| 47 | Robert Suarez | ATL | 36 |
| 46 | Aaron Ashby | MIL | 28 |
| 45 | Anthony Bender | MIA | 32 |
| 44 | Pete Fairbanks | MIA | 33 |
| 43 | Alex Vesia | LAD | 30 |
| 42 | Yuki Matsui | SD | 31 |
| 41 | Gregory Soto | PIT | 32 |
Solid Arms
The players in this group could easily be substituted for some younger arms or players you simply like more.
Riley O’Brien was third in the majors in saves with 38, so that is his value should he remain the closer in St. Louis. He walked 4.1 batters per nine innings and averaged 9.0 K/9, a solid number but great for a closer or top reliever in today’s age of 100 mph hurlers falling out of trees. Robert Suarez was sidelined with an injury for a good chunk of 2026, but despite being 35 at the start of next season, he still gets outs. The only thing I don’t like is the 6.9 K/9 rate this season.
The player I think can be much better than where he is ranked right now is Erik Miller of the Red Sox. In 57 appearances between San Francisco and Boston, Miller had a 2.98 ERA and five saves. He also had an outstanding 13.0 K/9 rate, and his 96.8 average fastball velocity ranked in the 85th percentile. So why is he ranked 49th? Well, it is hard to look past a 6.0 BB/9 rate, leading to a 1.383 WHIP. His 15% walk percentage ranked in the 1st percentile. If he can reduce his walks, he can become a top setup man and rack up a lot of holds.
Another player who can make a jump is Aaron Ashby. Ashby started his career as a starter, but since 2024 he has basically been a reliever, and a consistent one at that. The last three seasons he has posted ERAs of 2.86, 2.16 and 3.12. He also has had K/9 rates of 10.5, 10.3 and 11.7. He did walk 4.1 hitters per nine this year, but with relievers being so flakey from year to year, Ashby has been a model of consistency.
TIER 4
| RANK | PLAYER | 2026 TEAM | AGE |
|---|---|---|---|
| 40 | Emilio Pagan | CIN | 35 |
| 39 | Hunter Gaddis | CLE | 28 |
| 38 | Trent Harris | SF | 28 |
| 37 | Luke Weaver | PIT | 33 |
| 36 | Steven Okert | HOU | 35 |
| 35 | Tyler Wells | TB | 32 |
| 34 | Devin Williams | NYM | 32 |
| 33 | Hogan Harris | A’s | 30 |
| 32 | Nate Lavender | NYM | 27 |
| 31 | Samy Natera | LAA | 27 |
The Older Models
Emilio Pagan slipped a little compared to last season, but he still had 25 saves. Luke Weaver did not pitch well for the Pirates after being acquired from the Mets, but overall he has posted three straight solid seasons, and his numbers with Pittsburgh were good outside of his 4.96 ERA as he had a 3.35 FIP and had an 11.0 K/9 rate in 16.1 innings of work.
Steven Okert is getting up there in age, but he is a workhorse when it comes to taking the ball. He has appeared in 60 or more games in four of the last five seasons, and over his last two seasons in Houston, he has had an ERA of 3.01 and 2.13 with WHIPs of 0.893 and 0.872. He fell short of my 10.0 K/9 rate goal this year, but the lack of a massive strikeout total is offset by that low WHIP.
The Newer Models
Three players I really like in this tier are Trent Harris, Nate Lavender and Samy Natera. All three made debuts this season and in most leagues will all qualify as rookies next year. Harris appeared in 22 games and threw 23.1 innings, but with the Giants he had a 2.31 ERA and a 10.4 K/9 rate while limiting walks to 2.7/9. He doesn’t blow the ball past hitters, but he did limit them to a 1.7% barrel percentage, way below the 7.6% MLB average.
Lavendar threw only 21.2 innings in 21 appearances for the Mets. When he was on the mound, he was exceptional as he had a 1.66 ERA and 0.738 WHIP with a 10.8 K/9 rate and a 6.5 K/BB rate. Like Harris, Lavendar doesn’t have an overpowering fastball, but what he lacks in velocity he makes up for in a great changeup that produced a 45.5% whiff rate.
Natera features a wipeout slider that limited opposing hitters to a .148 average and .296 SLG with a 56.3% whiff rate. Batters were only 4-for-27 against the pitch with 16 strikeouts. Like Lavendar, Natera’s fastball is pretty average, but the slider gives him a great weapon and helped produce an outstanding 13.6 K/9 rate.
TIER 3
| RANK | PLAYER | 2026 TEAM | AGE |
|---|---|---|---|
| 30 | Yoendrys Gomez | MIN | 27 |
| 29 | Dylan Dodd | ATL | 28 |
| 28 | Brent Headrick | NYY | 29 |
| 27 | Bradgley Rodriguez | SD | 23 |
| 26 | Aroldis Chapman | BOS | 39 |
| 25 | Dylan Lee | ATL | 32 |
| 24 | Juan Morillo | ARI | 27 |
| 23 | Adrian Morejon | SD | 28 |
| 22 | Edwin Diaz | LAD | 32 |
| 21 | Edgardo Henriquez | LAD | 24 |
The Anomaly
Might as well get this out of the way – I have written off Aroldis Chapman for the last three or four years. The man is ancient when it comes to baseball, as he will be 39 on Opening Day in 2027. Yet Chapman continues to be a very, very good closer. This past season with the Red Sox, he had a 1.92 ERA and 1.123 WHIP while posting a 12.4 K/9 rate. In 2025, his ERA was 1.17, and his K/9 rate was 12.5, earning him enough votes to finish seventh in the Cy Young voting!
He surpassed 40 innings pitched this year and should pass his postseason physical, which will turn his $13m mutual option into a guaranteed contract in 2027. So it appears Chapman will still be in Boston, and I am not going to bet against him having another quality season.
The One Year Blip
Edwin Diaz has been one of the best closers in baseball for years, whether with Seattle or the New York Mets. But his first season with the Los Angeles Dodgers was a disaster. First, he was limited to only 21 games. Not a good initial return on a $60m, 3-year deal. Second, when he was on the mound, he was not good, as he had an 8.68 ERA and 1.982 WHIP thanks to a 5.3 BB/9 rate. So why in the world is he still ranked at No. 21 overall?
Well, except for 2019, his highest ERA in a season has been 3.52 and his highest WHIP 1.247. But Diaz still posted a 13.5 K/9 rate, and after returning from the IL in July, he allowed 11 earned runs in 12.2 innings of work, but six of those came in two outings over the course of three outings. In the month of September, he had a 0.00 ERA and a 0.400 WHIP, allowing only one hit and one walk in five innings of work with nine strikeouts. In short, Diaz looked like the Diaz of old.
How Is He Not Better?
When I look at Edgardo Henriquez’s numbers, I ask myself, “How is he not better” than the numbers he is producing? Don’t get me wrong, he has great numbers as he had a 2.85 ERA and 1.03 WHIP for the Dodgers this year in 61 games with a 10.7 K/9 rate. But the dude’s average fastball velo of 100.8 mph ranks in the 100th percentile. His average EV of 84.1 mph – also in the 100th percentile. His hard hit percentage ranks in the 99th percentile and his barrel percentage ranks in the 98th percentile. Those are unreal numbers.
TIER 2
| RANK | PLAYER | 2026 TEAM | AGE |
|---|---|---|---|
| 20 | Hagen Smith | CWS | 23 |
| 19 | Erik Sabrowski | CLE | 29 |
| 18 | Bryan Baker | TB | 32 |
| 17 | Jacob Latz | TEX | 30 |
| 16 | Tanner Scott | LAD | 32 |
| 15 | David Bednar | NYY | 32 |
| 14 | Bryan Abreu | HOU | 29 |
| 13 | Brandyn Garcia | ARI | 26 |
| 12 | Grant Taylor | CWS | 24 |
| 11 | Trevor Megill | MIL | 33 |
A Future Starter, but..
Hagen Smith will likely be moved into the starting rotation next year, but this year he was a reliever for the White Sox and a dang good one at that. In 28 innings, he struck out 41 batters for a 13.2 K/9 rate while having a 0.964 WHIP thanks to only 11 hits and 16 walks in those 28 innings. He has to reduce the walks, but that is about the only negative against Smith at this point.
Could Be, But Isn’t
Erik Sabrowski could be a closer on a lot of teams, but with Cleveland he is just a very good setup man. The lefty had a breakout season for the Guardians as he went 5-2 with 1 save and 28 holds while posting a 2.61 ERA and 1.179 WHIP. In 60 appearances (covering 48.1 innings of work), he had a 14.2 K/9 rate. In 90.1 career innings, his K/9 rate is 13.6. The area that is preventing Sabrowski from being a dominant reliever is his walk rate, which came in at 5.8/9 this year and is 5.6/9 for his career.
The Hybrid
Tanner Scott can do whatever is asked of him. Need him to close? No problem, as he racked up 25 saves to anchor the Dodgers’ bullpen. Want him to come in earlier? Scott did that as well en route to recording 13 holds. And he did this while recording a 2.69 ERA and 0.99 WHIP with an 11.6 K/9 rate. Scott will be 32 at the start of the 2027 season, but he doesn’t seem to be slowing down.
The Setup Men
Bryan Abreu, Brandyn Garcia and Grant Taylor could all be closers in the future, but right now they are really good setup men. Abreu got off to a horrible start, posting a 12.54 ERA and 2.789 WHIP in April. But from May through the end of the year, he looked like his normal self as he had a 2.16 ERA and 1.106 WHIP with a 10.8 K/9 rate. Overall, he ended the year with nine saves and 16 holds with a 3.73 ERA and 1.356 WHIP.
Garcia got a taste of the majors in 2025 when he appeared in 14 games with the Mariners and Diamondbacks. This season, he made himself known in the desert as he had a 1.93 ERA and 0.740 WHIP with five saves and 18 holds in 57 appearances. His fastball ranks in the 89th percentile, but it is his sweeper that does most of the damage, as hitters had a .048 batting average and SLG with a 49.5 whiff percentage.
Taylor is quickly becoming one of the better relievers in the game. After appearing in 36 games for the White Sox last season, he made 60 appearances this season (with four starts) and posted a 2.25 ERA and 1.071 WHIP with an 11.4 K/9 rate. He can go multiple innings, which allowed him to throw 84 innings in his 60 games and rack up 106 strikeouts.
The Closers
Bryan Baker had a great season as he recorded 41 saves to go with a 1.44 ERA and 0.914 WHIP. But Baker had only four career saves entering this season and never had an ERA lower than 3.49, which he recorded as a rookie with Baltimore in 2022. Could he have another great season next year? Yes? Will he? Who knows when it comes to the Rays, a team that seems to come up with a new closer and stud pitcher every year.
Like Baker, Jacob Latz had a great season. He posted a 2.13 ERA and 0.806 WHIP while notching 30 saves. But those 30 saves now give him 31 for his career. In 2024 and 2025, Latz appeared in 79 games and had a 3.13 ERA and 1.33 WHIP with that one save. And his K/9 rate those two seasons was 8.1 until jumping to 10.4 this year.
David Bednar kind of flies under the radar, but he gets the job done as a closer. Over the last four seasons with the Pirates and Yankees, he has recorded 39, 23, 27, and 35 saves. His strikeout rate took a bit of a dip this year, coming in at 9.9 K/9 compared to his career average of 10.8/9, but he is about as consistent a closer you can find.
The last three seasons for Trevor Megill have seen him rack up 81 saves in 161 appearances with a 2.61 ERA, 1.00 WHIP, and a 10.4 K/9 rate. Yet outside of Milwaukee, hardly anyone knows who Megill is. Well, you should know Megill
TIER 1
| RANK | PLAYER | 2026 TEAM | AGE |
|---|---|---|---|
| 10 | Mason Montgomery | PIT | 26 |
| 9 | Andres Munoz | SEA | 28 |
| 8 | Didier Fuentes | ATL | 21 |
| 7 | Abner Uribe | MIL | 26 |
| 6 | Garrett Whitlock | BOS | 30 |
| 5 | Jhoan Duran | PHI | 29 |
| 4 | Louis Varland | TOR | 29 |
| 3 | Josh Hader | HOU | 32 |
| 2 | Cade Smith | CLE | 27 |
| 1 | Mason Miller | SD | 28 |
Figured things out
Mason Montgomery did not have a good year with Tampa Bay in 2025 as he had a 5.67 ERA and 1.652 WHIP, but he did have an outstanding 12.3 K/9 ratio. Joining the Pirates this season, Montgomery emerged as a nasty closer, finishing the year with a 2.88 ERA, 1.034 WHIP and a 13.8 K/9 rate to go with 18 saves in 21 chances and nine holds. Just how good was Montgomery? He ranked in the 90th percentile or higher in xERA, xBA, fastball velo, whiff percentage, K%, and ground ball percentage.
The Second Blip
I gave Edwin Diaz a pass on his horrible year, and I am giving one to Andres Munoz as well. From 2022-25, Munoz had a 2.29 ERA and 1.023 WHIP with 77 saves and a 12.3 K/9 rate. Then came 2026. Munoz still had 28 saves, but he also had 10 blown saves and finished with a 4.24 ERA and 1.221 WHIP. But Munoz recorded a career-best 14.0 K/9 rate, and his 3.8 BB/9 rate is lower than what it has been the previous three seasons. Home runs killed Munoz, as he allowed 1.4/9 innings compared to his career rate of 0.7/9.
Future Closers, Or Should Be Future Closers
I really like Didier Fuentes and Abner Uribe. In fact, I had Uribe ranked ninth in my reliever rankings last year. After posting a 1.67 ERA and 1.035 WHIP in 2025, Uribe went 1.97/1.028 this year with six saves and 23 holds. On a team that wins a lot of games, he is a great reliever to have. Fuentes made four starts for the Braves in 2025 and had a 13.85 ERA. Possessing a 97.3 mph fastball, the Braves shifted him to the bullpen, and he was outstanding, as he had a 2.45 ERA and 1.105 WHIP with an 11.3 K/9 rate and only a 2.6 BB/9 rate.
The Braves bullpen is loaded with outstanding arms, but at only 21 years old, Fuentes is an arm to go get for your dynasty staff.
Garrett Whitlock watched Chapman get most of the saves for the Red Sox, but he did record 26 holds and four saves. Whitlock doesn’t have the same strikeout rate as some of the other top relievers mentioned above, but he still had a 10.1 K/9 rate to go with a 1.5 BB/9 rate, allowing him to have a 0.898 WHIP to go with a 1.72 ERA. Since moving to the pen full-time last year, Whitlock has a 2.03 ERA and 1.005 WHIP to go with a 10.9 K/9 rate.
The Top Five
Jhoan Duran just keeps producing as a closer. Over the last four years, he has 27, 23, 32 and 33 saves, with his worst ERA coming in at 3.64. For his career, he has a 2.32 ERA and 1.071 WHIP while posting an 11.6 K/9 rate. While Duran is an old hand when it comes to the closer role, Louis Varland completed his first season as the closer for the Blue Jays, and it was a great first season. He had 35 saves while posting a 1.27 ERA and 1.00 WHIP. When you look at his MLB percentile rankings, it is nothing but red bars as he ranked in the 94th percentile or better in xERA, fastball velo, chase percentage, strikeout percentage, barrel percentage, and ground ball percentage.
Josh Hader may be 32 at the start of the 2027 season, but he is still one of the best closers in the game. He missed the first two months of the season due to a forearm issue, but when he returned in June, he was a perfect 26-for-26 in saves with 1.01 ERA and 0.761 WHIP. In his three seasons with the Astros, he has 88 saves in 164 games with a 2.51 ERA and 0.873 WHIP while posting a 12.6 K/9 rate. Hader may be getting older, but it seems he is also getting better on the mound.
Since making his debut with the Guardians in 2024, Cade Smith has been one of the top relievers in baseball. In 219 career appearances, all out of the pen, he has 58 saves, 48 holds, and a 12.7 K/9 rate to go with a 2.26 ERA and 0.955 WHIP. This year he tied with Baker to lead the majors in saves with 41 while posting a 1.95 ERA and 0.959 WHIP with a 13.0 K/9 rate.
But when it comes to the best reliever, I am still going with Mason Miller. In his first full season with the Padres, Miller was even better this season than last year. His stats are just silly, like a 16.6 K/9 rate and a 4.8 H/9 rate. This year he had a 1.67 ERA and 38 saves with a 0.90 WHIP. His Statcast numbers are like a video game. His xERA, xBA, fastball velo, whiff percentage, and strikeout percentage all ranked in the 100th percentile. His hard hit percentage was in the 98th percentile, and his chase percentage was in the 94th percentile.
If those aren’t the numbers of the best reliever in baseball, then I don’t know what you expect.
Thank You
I know some of you will agree with this list for the most part and others will strongly disagree, but no matter what, thanks for reading. Come back again next week when I unveil the Top 100 Dynasty Keepers – Starting Pitchers list for 2027.
