SAGNOF: 2025 RP Rankings…Sorta

What’s poppin’, Razzpimples?

I figure it’s about that time of year when y’all wanna see my rankings. Thing is, I don’t rightly enjoy them. They’re format-dependent, and they’re apt to change between now and Opening Day for some reason or another (injury, free agent signing, etc.). Plus, we’ve got preseason Player Raters for that sorta thing. Now, tiers? I can get behind tiers. I can tell you whom I really like and why, and then you can decide for yourself what kind of price you’re willing to pay for someone in your particular league.

I’ve got a lame neighborhood analogy for my tiers: Household Names (aka The Elite), Next-Door Neighbors (aka The Great), Cool Guys Across The Street (aka The Good), Guys You Always See Walking Their Dog (The Decent), and then the Weirdos With Junk Everywhere (aka The Last Resorts). And something I’m doing different this year is lumping all RP into the same article, so you’ll see some names mentioned twice if I feel there’s a tier discrepancy depending on format. There is no order whatsoever to each respective list.

Don’t forget to keep that Razzball Bullpen Chart bookmarked. It’s been updated with the latest, and I’m usually quick to get it touched up once any type of news drops. And if you’re not a subscriber, I do highly, highly, highly recommend it. The tools are — how do you say? — bussin’. If’n you’re of the mind to consider it, you can find all the info here. I’m partial to the Relievonator Game Log Tool. So dope.

Welp. Let’s do it to it, pardner.

Note: All injured players have been omitted. If you believe in them that much, draft and stash on the IL, amigo!

---

Household Names

For SV-only:

Emmanuel Clase, Josh Hader, Edwin Diaz, Mason Miller, Devin Williams, Ryan Helsley, Raisel Iglesias, Felix Bautista

For SVHD:

Bryan Abreu, Griffin Jax, Jason Adam, Matt Strahm, Tanner Scott

I mean, I don’t really need to talk about any of these guys, right? You know their names. You know their price tags. There may be a bit of a discount on Bautista given he missed the entire 2024 season, but he sounds healthy and is thus an elite fantasy closer in my book. I will say that in SVHD you can probably wait a good long while before a non-closer Household Name is taken. And something tells me Strahm would get overlooked the most, despite last year’s ridonk 1.87 ERA and 0.75 WHIP. Elite K% and BB%. Just an absolutely crazy season from that guy and there’s every reason to believe a repeat is in store.

My favorite value in SV-only: Felix Bautista — the cheapest of the elite.

My favorite value in SVHD: Matt Strahm — the least household name-y of this crew.

 

Next-Door Neighbors

For SV-only:

Robert Suarez, Andres Munoz, Alexis Diaz, Jhoan Duran, Jeff Hoffman, Pete Fairbanks, Ryan Walker, Tanner Scott, Trevor Megill

For SVHD:

Porter Hodge, Jeremiah Estrada, A.J. Puk, Kirby Yates, Luke Weaver, Edwin Uceta, Yimi Garcia, Tyler Holton, Hunter Gaddis, Cade Smith

Here’s your next crop of studs. Really ain’t much wrong with any of these folks at all. Only the tiniest of dings keeps them from the elite. Could be they’re an injury risk or they walk too many batters or they lack elite K upside. But all of them have steady roles heading into the ’25 season, and every SV-only name you see there should be a mostly full-time closer. Hodge could feasibly steal the closer role from Pressly, Same goes for Puk potentially stealing Martinez’s job in Arizona. Scott should be the primary closer for the Dodgers, but I’ve bumped him down to Next-Door Neighbor status in SV-only given Dave Roberts mixed/matched a lot last year (but I’ve said before that he leaned on Evan Phillips as closer before injury, so I’m expecting that to happen again with Scott). That Cleveland duo should rake while setting up the Mr. Elite Clase. And I can’t stress enough how excited I am about the prospect of a full season of Uceta. Holton was damn near a Top 10 RP last year.

My favorite value in SV-only: Jeff Hoffman — covered him here.

My favorite value in SVHD: Edwin Uceta — also covered there. I love him. Dearly.

 

Cool Guys Across The Street

For SV-only:

Justin Martinez, Ryan Pressly, David Bednar, Jordan Romano, Kenley Jansen, Chris Martin, Carlos Estevez, Kyle Finnegan

For SVHD:

Aroldis Chapman, A.J. Minter, Dedniel Nunez, Orion Kerkering, Ben Joyce, Michel Otanez, Lucas Erceg, Tyler Rogers

All the closers in this tier have pretty good value for the price tag, but they’re risky to some degree. Injury recovery, injury risk, competition, etc. I like Chapman more in SVHD than I do in SV-only given the potential of splitting saves. Bro still has mad strikeout stuff so I can live with the ratios. Minter is probably the top option to set up for the Mets, but I surely do love me some Nunez, even though he’s being treated carefully this spring. Might not even be ramped up enough by the time Opening Day rolls around. Over the course of the season, I’m choosing to believe he earns his rightful place as probably the best non-Diaz in the Mets pen. Kerkering/Joyce/Otanez/Erceg are all in line to see high-leverage work and could provide fine ratios and big time strikeouts while doing it. Rogers will gobble HLD and probably give you great ratios, he just ain’t gonna be any kind of help for your Ks. Finnegan rejoined the Nationals, so he goes straight back into the closer role. Will be interesting to see how his ADP spikes over the coming days/weeks.

My favorite value in SV-only: Chris Martin — covered him here as well.

My favorite value in SVHD: Dedniel Nunez — am a smidge worried about durability, but he has the upside of an elite bullpen arm (.186 xBA, 34.7 K%, 5.9 BB% in ’24).

 

Guys You Always See Walking Their Dog

For SV-only:

Tyler Kinley, Calvin Faucher, Kirby Yates, A.J. Puk, Liam Hendriks, Aroldis Chapman, Porter Hodge, Tyler Holton, Jason Foley, Edwin Uceta

For SVHD:

Jojo Romero, Aaron Bummer, Pierce Johnson, Colin Holderman, Jared Koenig, Bryan Hudson, Joel Payamps, Ryan Thompson, Kevin Ginkel, Ian Hamilton, Fernando Cruz, Yennier Cano, Andrew Kittredge, Chad Green, Hunter Harvey, Tommy Kahnle, Beau Brieskie, Cole Sands, Danny Coulombe, Prelander Berroa, Camilo Doval, Garrett Whitlock, Blake Treinen

All the SV-only folks here are either in less-than-ideal situations or carry a risk of implosion. The only two true closers are Kinley and Faucher. I’m pretty high on Kinley given the risk/reward payoff (you can seriously wait until the very last pick of your draft to snag him). Faucher gets very little love from me except that he’s in line to see saves, so that counts for something. The others have a shot to see and/or steal the ninth. Detroit situation remains unclear and all those guys are more or less free for the taking in SV-0nly. On the holds side, none of these guys are useless, and there’s still plenty of upside to many of them. Could Romero end up being the 2025 Kittredge for St. Louis? Does Cano return to form now that his BFF Bautista is back, or does Kittredge’s ’25 season earn him top setup looks early on? Or are there enough holds to go around that both are great? Who knows?! Either Sands or Coulombe could end up being sexy sleeper types behind Duran/Jax. Berroa has huge K upside but struggles with control. Doval could easily bounce back as well. In short, most of these guys are behind other setup men, sharing duties, coming off down years, or don’t have clearly defined roles yet (looking at you, Brew Crew Bois).

My favorite value in SV-only: Tyler Kinley — covered him here.

My favorite value in SVHD: Camilo Doval — recency bias will have people soured on him (4.88 ERA and 1.58 WHIP will do that). I’m not sold he’s broken yet.

 

Weirdos With Junk Everywhere

For SV-only:

Jesus Tinoco, Garrett Whitlock, Manuel Rodriguez, Yimi Garcia, Justin Anderson, Prelander Berroa, Beau Brieskie, Tommy Kahnle, Lucas Erceg, Robert Garcia, Ben Joyce

For SVHD:

Tyler Kinley, Seth Halvorsen, Luis Peralta, Ryan Zeferjahn, Jose Leclerc, Collin Snider, Gregory Santos, Robert Garcia, Jacob Webb, Will Vest, Ryan Fernandez, Matt Liberatore, Taylor Rogers, Scott Barlow, Emilio Pagan, Dylan Lee, Reed Garrett, Jose Butto, Lucas Sims, Jose Alvarado, Justin Slaten, Jorge Lopez, Jose Ferrer, Derek Law

Not a lot to say about the SV-only names here. Pretty much handcuff options or part of a messy committee. Or they’re an unknown entity with upside, like Zeferjahn and Halvorsen. These tiers were made with 12-team mixed leagues in mind, so if you’re in something bigger or in AL/NL-only, that would change things for a lot of these folks. Just about everyone you see has a shot at regular-ish SVHD as 6th or 7th (or even 8th) inning options, they’re just down here cuz, well, I don’t like ’em as much as the others, ya dig?

My favorite value in SV-only: Prelander Berroa — has straight filthy grody stuff. Sure, the White Sox are at the bottom of baseball’s all-time abysmal teams list, but he could easily win the closing role and provide some value.

My favorite value in SVHD: Gregory Santos — the Mariners always find a way to dole out SVHD. Santos has a good deal of upside and could pitch well enough to be the #1 setup guy for Munoz, it’s just he has durability issues. Not elite for K, but the BB% and weak contact should help the ratios stay very healthy.

 

That’s all for this week! Thanks for reading. Leave me a comment below so I feel all warm and fuzzy.

---