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Please see our player page for Brandon Hughes to see projections for today, the next 7 days and rest of season as well as stats and gamelogs designed with the fantasy baseball player in mind.

Greetings and salutations, Razzballers! Can you believe the All-Star Break is in two weeks (either because this season has felt immensely short or long)? Speaking of the All-Star Break, was there anyone you hoped to see or are surprised to see? Aaron Judge is, forever, on the All-Star roster. I wrote a quick blurb below […]

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Howdy, Razzball Brethren! Pete Fairbanks has visited the IL a few times this season, but have you seen his most recent, season-threatening injury? While this is a family-friendly column, I agree it is important to dunk on kids, even if it means sustaining a black eye. They must meet the long-arm of the law sometime. […]

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The World Series begins Friday, meaning the MLB offseason is just around the corner. But there never really is an offseason as the action just changes from the field to the front office.

And just like the majors, there is no offseason when it comes to fantasy baseball. Fantasy baseball GMs are already thinking about next year, and that is especially true for those who are in keeper leagues.

Since the last pitch of the regular season, those who play in keeper leagues have been looking at trade targets to shore up weaknesses exposed during this past season and wondering who the top keepers are going to be in 2023 fantasy baseball.

Well, I’m here to try to help you with that last part of the sentence – who are the top keepers for next season. Each week I am going to reveal my list of top keepers for 2023, starting with relievers. Next week I will focus on starting pitchers before going around the infield and then ending with the top outfielders.

A CRAZY GROUP

Before we move ahead, a disclaimer about relievers. The three things we know about relievers are this:

They are wildly inconsistent from year to year
They are wildly inconsistent from year to year
And they are wildly inconsistent from year to year

The inconsistent play even takes place during the season, with Josh Hader being a prime example of that. If there is one position that could use a dartboard to help with the rankings, it is relievers. Thus, these rankings are based a little on past performance, a little on the eye test and a lot of what my gut is telling me.

Unlike other positions, where age weighs in heavily for my top keepers, the age of a reliver doesn’t factor in as much. It may move them down the list if I think other relievers on the staff can become the closer in 2023 (I’m looking at you, Jose Alvarado), but if they are proven closers and also 33, I’m fine with that.

Also, I am assuming that most keeper leagues don’t just use saves but also have holds or saves+holds. A deep league doesn’t just showcase closers. A real pitching staff has starters, middle relievers and closers, so this list features top closers and setup men.

With that in mind, let’s get on with the Top 40 keepers for 2023 – reliever edition.

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The plan for today’s article is pretty complex in its simplicity. I set out to build a championship-level redraft team for 2023 using only rookies from 2022. 

C: Adley Rutschman

C: MJ Melendez

1B: Jose Miranda

2B: Vaughn Grissom 

3B: Bobby Witt Jr.

SS: Oneil Cruz

MI: Jeremy Peña 

CI: Gunnar Henderson

This infield is good. Might not win us the league, but getting steals all around the diamond puts us on a winning path. Not just because speed is increasingly rare but because these steals come from middle-order hitters with power.  

Catcher is a pretty clear win. I suppose the Sal Perez team has a leg-up on you if they’ve got anyone in the C2 spot, but aside from that, we’ve got a top-of-the-scale catching duo. 

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I realize that some of you beautiful people out there may have your H2H Championship this week, and I don’t want to leave any of you hanging!  If you have read this article all season long, you know that you should always play your studs!  Don’t get too cute, they have gotten you this far.  This is designed to give you that competitive edge that feels like cheating but isn’t!  It’s the first time a Nathan’s Hot Dog Eating contestant introduced a glass of water to dip the bun.  Dip those buns, Razzballers!  (Welcome new readers who googled Nathan’s Buns.  Sorry, it didn’t produce what you were looking for.  You can find those pics on page 11).  

Welcome back from Page 11.  Now let’s turn our focus to your Championship Week!  I would love to see everyone’s championship score!  Screenshot it to me @natemarcum on Twitter.  I will enter all winners into a drawing for a nice little prize!

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