I regret to inform you, my fantasy friends, that even fake jedi get the flu. That’s right, Roto-Wan is coming to you today from a Sudafed laced haze that would make Jesse Pinkman proud. Stop interrupting me pink elephant, I’m trying to get a preamble together here. At any rate, we’ve reached the NL in our bullpen previews. Let’s kick it off with the very in flux NL East. My advice is to exercise even more caution with these names than we usually do.
AL East | AL Central | AL West
NL East | NL Central | NL West
| Atlanta Braves | Razzers | |
| Closer | Mark Melancon – Look, I trust Melancon less than the next guy but he’s starting the year with the closer job on a 90+ win team. It doesn’t have to be pretty. He’s priced as if he’s going to lose the job so why not draft him? There’s only profit potential. |  |
| Setup | Will Smith – Conversely, many assume Smith will be taking over at closer. I do see a good amount of save opportunities going his way where the matchups dictate it. Don’t overpay for those limited opps, though. | |
| Useful Arm | Chris Martin – I see Coldplay being a possible source of cheap wins, if your format uses them. | |
| Saves Dart | Shane Greene – The Braves paid for him last season at the trade deadline. They’d likely give him every chance to earn some of that value back should Melancon falter. | |
| Miami Marlins | Razzers | |
| Closer | Ryne Stanek – I see Stanek as the best Miami reliever and I don’t think it’s particularly close. He’s an afterthought in drafts right now. Could someone else start the year as their closer? Sure. Will it last? Probably not. | |
| Setup | Brandon Kintzler – The ground ball machine makes a better setup man in my opinion. There is a chance the team is looking to build some value with him closing and trade him off. | |
| Useful Arm | Stephen Tarpley – The Fish opted to keep Tarpley over potential closer Jarlin Garcia, who was out of options. That means something at least. The lefty has shown high K/9 potential in his time in the minors. | |
| Saves Dart | Yimi Garcia – Everyone is an option to earn saves on this team. | |
| New York Mets | Razzers | |
| Closer | Edwin Diaz – It’s scary but Diaz is currently an intriguing deal. We’ve seen his Jekyll/Hyde nature before. Sometimes that’s the life cycle of a pitcher who hits triple digits. If he finds his form it’s a huge win at the price. | |
| Setup | Dellin Betances – I have major concerns about how many bullets Betances’ arm has left in it. The Yankees used and abused him as a fix-all for their pitching needs and did their best not to pay him. If he has something left the strikeout upside is undeniable. | |
| Useful Arm | Seth Lugo – It was Lugo who came to the rescue as Diaz continued to struggle in 2019. He could easily find himself back there. There’s also talk of him returning to the rotation. Either path creates profit at his current price. | |
| Saves Dart | Jeurys Familia – The team may turn to Jerry’s Family for the same reason I’m listing him here. He’s done the job before. | |
| Philadelphia Phillies | Razzers | |
| Closer | Hector Neris – We’re betting Neris will be the closer with where he’s currently being drafted. It’s not a bad bet. The stuff is elite when he’s right. Still, there’s a new coaching staff and things will be revealed slowly if I had to guess. | |
| Setup | Seranthony Dominguez – This front office has decided to shed the cumbersome contracts of veteran relievers and see what they can do with the younger arms. Sir Anthony should factor into the back-end easily. | |
| Useful Arm | Nick Pivetta – As a strikeout artist the bullpen is a good fit for Pivetta. There’s also the chance a rotation spot opens up. I currently only see 2/5 spots truly secured. | |
| Saves Dart | Jose Alvarez – It’s always an uphill battle for a lefty to earn a save but Alvarez is one of the few vets left in this bullpen. He may get the call if things go awry up top. | |
| Washington Nationals | Razzers | |
| Co-Closer | Sean Doolittle – What’s with the major discount on Doolittle? He wears down every single season. That’s no shock. They added some vets who could steal opps. None are on Doolittle’s level, however. I’ll be buying him. | |
| Co-Closer | Daniel Hudson – Hudson was pretty good down the stretch for Washington. That earned him a new contract and a crack to continue co-closer duties. He’s all ceiling and no floor, though. The team has stockpiled veteran righties that could supplant him. | |
| Useful Arm | Tanner Rainey – Another potential source of strikeouts if the young man can get his ratios under control. | |
| Saves Dart | Will Harris – It’s not a stretch to think Harris will actually win the righty co-closing role sometime in the early season. He’s shown to be a pretty solid late-inning reliever over his career. | |
Sup Wan,
With the Pagan trade, how do you value Anderson now?
A little higher but that pen is murky as ever. Castillo or Poche could easily leapfrog Anderson.
Thanks for these posts.
Any advice in a 5×5 league with saves/holds as one of the cats?
I’ve never drafted a team with holds before.
Devalues most closers considerably. Sure an elite closer with ratio and Ks contributions is still valuable but those are few. The easier way to profit is find the next Nick Andersons (also don’t overpay for the current Nick Anderson). There are sooooo many good RPs that have high K-rates and can earn saves. Like you could draft Dominguez, Lugo, and Martin at the very end of your draft and be fine.
Thank you very much.
Does not seem like there is anyone I would want to draft. How confident are you in Diaz?
Thanks for the write up
Not very? The team felt it was necessary to spend money on Betances.
Is this the same team that signed Jed Lowrie and traded away Jarred Kelenic? :-)
Agree. I am not confident with any of the NL East’s bullpen / closer situations.
The Braves basically have four closers – three with prior experience and one (Martin) who might be the best pitcher of that group.
Washington is a two-headed monster with Doolittle (great Pixies album) and Hudson. Either could close, and my belief is both probably will split the duties until Doolittle hits the DL in late July. Hudson should run away with it at some point.
The Mets have Diaz who *should* own the role, but last year made them go sign Betances, muddying up the Flushing Meadows water.
The Phillies with Neris might be the “favorite” to be the most reliable actual closer in the NL East at the start of the season, but how long can he last throwing splitters 142% of his pitches? Do like the Pivetta dark, dark horse.
And the Marlins… that’s a disaster. Because it’s the Marlins. They are always a disaster. It will be Kintzler until they trade him away. It was supposed to be Nick Anderson, but the Marlins went all Marlins and traded away their future closer in Marlins fashion.
Agree with all besides Hudson. He’s had one good season (really a half) and people are ready to pony up for him? Should have some opportunities but that team loves stockpiling righties who can close.