I am always a day late and a buck short on the posts because I am relegated to be the Saturday morning cartoon of the Razzball variety. No worries, I mean, who doesn’t love 80’s cartoons and can’t list 10 shows that would drastically alter children’s universes today? One word… Snorks. So with everyone else doing the second-half rankings, I felt it was my duty to give the closer rankings based solely on the second games remaining. The elite will still be the elite, the mediocre are still mediocre, and the middling teams will still be middling. I don’t care what algorithm Jimmy Bill came up with to have expected win totals and blah blah. Expected win totals are an indicator of save expectations. because the percent of saves converted in wins by teams has been pretty stagnant at 52%, give or take a few sheckles each way. So looking at the games remaining, some teams have less games to play then others, and some have more so the expected totals for some teams will be different then what you would expect them to be. So as a wise person once said to me in throws of fantasy passion, lets have at it. Cheers!
3. Zach Britton
4. Jonathan Papelbon
6. Cody Allen
- These are the good-type guys. All on elite teams with decent enough starting pitching and no threat to their closing jobs.
- Chapman, if he gets traded, will be the closer of that team, barring a trade to the Dodgers.
9. Sam Dyson
10. Wade Davis
11. A.J. Ramos
12. Francisco Rodriguez
13. Steve Cishek
14. Will Harris
15. Seung-hwan Oh
16. Andrew Miller
17. Santiago Casilla
- I would fully invest in this group if I was looking for a saves trade to augment my roster.
- Davis should be back shortly, and he will be the pitcher he was and is.
- Oh, and Cishek have great odds at win expectancy the rest of the way. A trade by either team kills their value of course, but I can see them being near the top of the saves leaders from here on out.
- Miller gets the gig if/when Chapman gets traded. Making him the best non-closer to be a future closer in this list.
18. Hector Rondon
19. Craig Kimbrel
20. Alex Colome
21. Roberto Osuna
22. Ryan Madson
23. Huston Street
24. Arodys Vizcaino
25. Jeanmar Gomez
26. Jeremy Jeffress
- Rondon is way down in cumulative save totals and I think the Cubs improve that situation via trade.
- The Red Sox will get Kimbrel back eventually, and he will do his best to get you 10-15 saves the rest of the year.
- Osuna and the Blue Jays are a complete conundrum and their save situations are lower then they should be because they score runs. They also have played 91 games, a few more then others.
- This group is littered with potential, now, closers to be traded and not be…
27. Koji Uehara
28. Carlos Estevez
29. Kelvin Herrera
30. Tyler Clippard
31. Brandon Maurer
32. Tony Cingrani
33. Dellin Betances
34. Ryan Dull
35. Daniel Hudson
36. Brandon Kintzler
37. Cam Bedrosian
38. Mauricio Cabrera
39. Tyler Thornburg
40. Fernando Rodney
- Fill-in closers for now, maybe quantity guys for non-contenders.
- Betances is here because in case the Yankees go full sell.
- Bedrosian, Thornburg, and Cabrera are my guys to look at if speculating the saves trade game.
