At some point, you look at your roster, then look at yourself in the mirror and the repeat that 31 more times and ask yourself this question…  When is chasing saves from the worst possibilities a bad idea?  My best advice, as your advocate of bullpen swagger, is never.  Realize the talent that is in the bullpen and say: is 1-2 saves really worth a waiver claim, a roster drop of someone else and a complete destruction of your rates and quite possibly your dignity?  If you haven’t guessed it, I am discussing the shatuation in the ‘Nati.  Just to get everyone up to speed on the demise, their (and keep in mind that it has only been two-plus weeks of games roughly) Hoover sucked. Jumbo is demoted to minors, Hoover back in and bad again, Cingrani more like Cingran-no.  Now all the hype is on Caleb Cotham.  Who has the time and rosterbatory rituals to have the right frame of mind to roster these guys from change to change?  I get that if you are in a NL-only league, it makes sense to be on the ball, but in mixed league… well, these guys are poop.  I was searching for a better word, but I can’t, and poop it is.  The combined ERA this year of Reds relievers in a save situation is over five.  That, my friends, is not worth the stretch for the sexy total of one save as a team.  Seriously, one whole save… you could have been rostering Ivan Nova and gotten the same total number so far. So anyone who likes the punishment, keep an eye on the health of Michael Lorenzen, as he could be next up. So what I am saying is: yes it’s cool and swanky to be the first guy on your fantasy block to unlock the new closer somewhere, but use common sense.  If a team is a pile of dung and will kill more stats then the assist, then, well, you already know my response because this is the end of the lede and I just went over it.  Stick around for some rankings, general chicanery with words on a page, and hell, maybe a whole pack of lies wrapped around stats.  Cheers!
- What in the hell happened to Cody Allen’s K rate. Â He ended the year last year K/9 over 11.5, this year he is half that through 5 appearances. Â A little early to worry but I am your friendly neighborhood smoke-dog just keeping you informed.
- If you are keeping up with the post above and follow crappy bullpens but with sleeper bullpen pieces look at Hector Neris. Â 9th highest K rate (14.46) among qualified relievers, is unscored upon and 3 for 3 in Hold sitches.
- I was secretly hoping for more from the Mets starters to glorify what I have seen from Jeurys Familia. Â He is serviceable at best but not worldly like i thought he would be. Â Come on Metropolitan starters.
- Ryan Madson has the goods to be a top 8 closer from here on out and he is steadily climbing the ranks up several spots from the previous A’s closer Doo-sorta-something.
- Tolleson is getting by but Dyson is a top 6 set-up guy right now and he needs to not stumble and he now has the gig all to himself with Kela hitting the DL with an elbow injury.
- Three straight clean appearances for Giles. Â Still giving up hits and I think he has Drew Storen disease about the 8th inning duties/closing. Â Make it 10 in a row and we can start talking.
- If B-rad Ziegler can maintain an above 8 K/9 he finishes in the top 15 closers. Â Based on quantity of saves chances and his k totals. Â He is basically Huston Street if he can maintain the pace.
Closer d’Etat  (Top set-up guys next up for saves)
A new feature that I have been looking to add is the top set-up guys who are either pitching well or are right behind the closer.  Getting the off day save for a shaky closer or someone who can jump in for a downed king of saves.  Never hurts to bag an extra reliever for your bench at best they either don’t play, you bench them or the do well.  No one ever does bad for someone we all roster…
$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 – (Pedro Baez, Chris Hatcher)
2. Wade Davis – (Kelvin Herrera, Joakim Soria)
3. Andrew Miller – (Dellin Betances, Jonny Barbato, Aroldis Chapman– Susp)
4. Trevor Rosenthal – (Kevin Siegrist, Seung-hwan Oh)
5. Jeurys Familia – (Addison Reed, Jim Henderson)
6. Zach Britton – (Darren O’Day, Mychal Givens)
7. Craig Kimbrel – (Koji Uehara, Junichi Tazawa)
8. David Robertson – (Nate Jones, Matt Albers)
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.
9. Mark Melancon – (Tony Watson, Neftali Feliz)
10. Hector Rondon – (Pedro Strop, Justin Grimm)
11. Jonathan Papelbon – (Shawn Kelley, Blake Treinen, Felipe Riviero)
12. Francisco Rodriguez – (Mark Lowe, Justin Wilson)
13  Cody Allen – (Bryan Shaw, Zach McAllister)
14. Roberto Osuna – (Drew Storen, Brett Cecil)
15. Luke Gregerson – (Ken Giles, Pat Neshek)
16. Huston Street – (Joe Smith, Greg Mahle)
17. Ryan Madson – (Sean Doolittle,  John Axford)
18. A.J. Ramos – (Mike Dunn, Bryan Morris)
19. Santiago Casilla – (Hunter Strickland, Josh Osich)
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.
20. Shawn Tolleson – (Sam Dyson, Jake Diekman)
21. Brad Ziegler – (Daniel Hudson, Tyler Clippard
22. Jeremy Jeffress –  (Michael Blazek, Tyler Thornburg )
23. Jake McGee – (Miguel Castro, Chad Qualls)
24. Steve Cishek – (Joaquin Benoit, Tony Zych, Joel Peralta)
25. Fernando Rodney – (Kevin Quackenbush, Brandon Maurer,)
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.
26. Alex Colome – (Danny Farquhar, Xavier Cedeno)
27. Jeanmar Gomez – (Hector Neris, Andrew Bailey, David Hernandez)
28. Arodys Vizcaino / Jason Grilli –  (Jim Johnson)
29.  Kevin Jepsen – (Trevor May, Ryan Pressley)
30. Caleb Cotham / Jumbo Diaz / Tony Cingrani
20 team league with holds and saves. i have rondon/colome/siegrist/jumbo, dropping jumbo for either cotham, but don’t think i want 3 saves guys/1 holds guy, esp when i could get a GOOD overall holds guy anyway. options are benoit/cedeno/hudson/treinen/tazawa.
2. separate deep league that also has K/9, relief appearances, relief wins and holds. quack is boring the crap out of me, no holds, bad K rate etc. which 2 you like best out of j.peralta,romero, buchter, bearclaw (FLA, intentional misspell). peralta at least appears as a steady 7th inning holds guy.
@Crapshoot Kershaw: hudson
peralta has re-emerged in seattle
@Smokey: yeah, i went with peralta and bearclaw, MIA’s late non-closer guys are pretty shit without dunn around, and phelps is actually best one so far. but if buchter keeps on like this he should be 8th inning soon, if results are what is wanted. maurer/quack haven’t been good and pom is a SP again.
Thanks for all the closer info provided. I see you have identified Lowe and Justin Wilson as the back ups for K-Rod. Where does Alex Wilson fit in? He had the job for a bit last year, is finally healthy and pitching okay. Speaking of the Tigers pen, how long of a leash does K-Rod have and why has he been so freakin’ bad so far this year? Thoughts?
@Five-On-One: anytime man! Wilson just needs some quality innings to overtake either, as they have a good Lh/Rh thing with both. He has a leash, because no one there has closer experience and at the end of the day he is probably the best option. He seems to be nibbling to much because his fastball location has been off.
Drop Tolleson to pick up Madson?
@Matt: why is Madson still available is the better question, but I would want all be greedy
Snell was just called up. in a 10 team 5×5 league in which i have 4 other closers, should I drop Jepsen for him?
@Baseball Fan 2000: in a ten team you would be re-feeding the save pool but I can see it aking sense as long as you have quality there and not just guys getting saves
Good stuff Smokey. Of this group, would you mind ranking the top 3 in order of ‘Most likely to get most Saves ROS?: Maurer, Neris, Bailey, Strickland, Shaw, McAlister, Lowe, J Wilson. Thanks in advance!!
@job3rd: Strickland, Neris, and since I dont wanna throw two Phils in there Wilson
@Smokey: Thanks again Sir. Picked up Strick. Already own Neris.
Drop Jepsen or Jeanmar for Neris?
@Sternal: No, Neris is a on the horizon move but a solid guy for rates and K’s right now. I wouldn’t drop a closer for a set-up guy just yet as tempting as the rates and K’s are
Do you like Trevor May as a top RP that could get saves in the future?
@Jim: yea of course but it all sways on Perkins health and Jepsen efficiency. But yes he is a high quality reliever who could be a closer
dynasty with k/bb and net saves and holds rather than holds or saves separately. lost romo/kela recently, both DL stashed. grabbed hudson when romo went down, go with phelps or one of these: treinen/hatcher/mcallister/lowe/blazek/bastardo. or really best 2 out of that whole group, in case any of those are better than hudson as well.
@goodfold2: all decent secondary holds guys can’t go wrong with any of them I would go Phelps or McAllister for now but wouldnt be afraid to move on after 1-2 quick holds
Quick hit! Which 2 of these 3 would you want on your team moving forward and why. Thanks loads. Chapman. Krimbel. Jansen
@Rusty Arms: Janse is the best closer in baseball for my dollar and Chapman will K more then Kimbrel when he comes back with similar save returns
awesome job smokey,ill smoke one for you
@AL KOHOLIC: nice puff puff give
Thanks for the goods. In a rotisserie league w limited free moves (2 per season). I have Giles. Should I drop him for k-rod or madson? Which one?
@Your Daddy: I would drop for either
Thanks, always a fun read. I have to lessen my spec-closer load for some RCL bench bats. If you’re dropping two of these four, who goes? D Hernandez, Strop, Maurer, Farquhar.
Holding Osuna, Street, and (*gag*) Grilli plus Joe Smith.
@de nachos: yea you got a lot of dead weight there. Farq and Maurer for starteres but you could refresh all 4 and I wouldn’t be mad at ya
Who would you prefer for holds ?
O’day or Giles ?
im in a 7×7 league with holds and k/walk ratio
I’m losing the holds category weekly
Debating dropping Tyler white for Giles . Thoughts ? He’s my third bench player behind Dickerson and piscotty
@Scotty doesn’t know: o’day by light years right now.
@Scotty doesn’t know: easily O’day Giles numbers this year including spring training are awful
Nsvhd , 12 teamer … ok to drop Jepsen? Could pickup Neris. Thanks
@danny almonte: well he should still see save chances here and there despite Harper ripping into his ass
20 team keep 7-9 where i used a fairly high round pick to secure a closer, and then TOR waited till very late to move off storen. holds too here, but i have no closers now, through no bad play for demotion, and i could’ve had berrios with that draft pick too. i have
treinen,storen,cedeno,maurer, lowe, replace anybody with any of these, clearly saves being biggest need: vincent, hembree, mcallister, j.peralta, hochevar, cotham, j.smith, b.wood.
2. even deeper league, is cedeno clearly better than all of these (saves also primary here, but K/9 as well as holds and relief appearances): a.wilson, hembree, bearclough, caminero. it seems such, who’s 2nd in case i can’t waiver cedeno?
@Mordacious Levator: throw liberatore into 2nd list as well.
@Mordacious Levator: Sorry for the tardy response, all tertiary guys Maurer for Cotham or Peralta but both are meh
Barraclough
@Smokey: in #2, what about peralta vs cedeno then? i have peralta/barraclough (insane K rate on him, as long as BB’s go down)
@Mordacious Levator: nevermind, i forgot question was who’s 2nd best in the first place in the question. so cedeno/peralta/barraclough.
@Mordacious Levator: plus peralta just moved up to 8th inning with benoit out, just saw.
@Mordacious Levator: Still the Bear Claw
@Smokey: so bear claw over peralta or cedeno. cedeno seems closer to saves.
best guy in net save and holds dynasty roto and K/BB: phelps, mcallister, treinen, j.peralta, phelps
2. 16 team h2h smaller keeper with save and holds separately. have siegrist/rondon/jeffress/treinen/cotham. options: phelps, hudson, baez, diekman, tazawa,vincent, mcallister, j.peralta. pick 2 of these if cotham isn’t worth attempting a 3rd closer, rather a 4th holds guy with 2 good closers.
3. in general for holds leagues, stick with lowe or any of hudson, mcallister, baez, j.peralta, cedeno
@Let Us Now Praise Famous Death Dwarves: Peralta for now long term I wouldn’t be so trusting
Hudson and Diekman
Lowe, k-Rod out for a few days, then grab Huddy
Is Casilla going to be an upgrade at all over K Rod?
Thanks
@Test Kitchen: as in Santiago? if so yes. If no then I haven’t a clue and re-post more info