If it feels like Opening Day keeps getting earlier and earlier every year, that’s because it does! This year, we’ll be getting our first helping of baseball goodness on March 26, which means we are already T-minus 15 days until the games begin to count. All of which is a drawn-out way of saying that it’s high time we rolled out the first Closer Report of the 2020 season.
I’m pleased to report that FantasyPros has entrusted me with this column again this year. Loyal readers will know the routine by now: We’ll be running this feature a few times during spring training and then every week during the regular season, ranking each team’s closer situation and providing all the news and notes you’ll need to chase saves all season long successfully.
Looking at the big picture, I think it’s fair to say that the closer landscape is surprisingly stable this spring. Last year at this time, more managers than ever appeared to be infatuated with the closer-by-committee approach, leading me to label 11 closer situations as “committees.” This year, it’s only five. So perhaps this is a year where you can afford to wait a little longer before drafting your closers — there should be some saves available in the later rounds of most drafts.
But before we go celebrating peace and prosperity in the ninth inning, let’s remind ourselves that this is just the calm before the storm. If you aren’t expecting at least a handful of closer situations to descend into chaos by the end of April, then you just haven’t been paying attention. That’s what closers (and their finicky managers) do.
So while I’ll likely be ripping these rankings up and going back to the drawing board in a few short weeks, here is where things currently stand:
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| Team (Closer) | Rank (Change) | Notes |
| Brewers (Josh Hader) | 1 (-) | The best reliever in baseball could have a firmer hold on ninth-inning duties in 2020 |
| Padres (Kirby Yates) | 2 (-) | Top-3 closer in ’19 is poised for a repeat |
| Yankees (Aroldis Chapman) | 3 (-) | Mr. Consistency has 30+ saves in 7 of last 8 seasons |
| Astros (Roberto Osuna) | 4 (-) | K/9 rebounded last year, and BB/9 remained elite |
| Mets (Edwin Diaz) | 5 (-) | Coming off disastrous ’19 but projections point to a major bounce back |
| A’s (Liam Hendriks) | 6 (-) | Top breakout closer of last year should maintain success |
| Dodgers (Kenley Jansen) | 7 (-) | 32-year old’s numbers are trending downward but still solid, and he could lead the league in saves |
| Indians (Brad Hand) | 8 (-) | Gave up more hits in his first full season in AL, but still posted 3.30 ERA, 13.19 K/9, and 34 saves |
| Cubs (Craig Kimbrel) | 9 (-) | Elite track record is too good to completely write off based on 20 bad innings last season |
| Blue Jays (Ken Giles) | 10 (-) | Posted 1.87 ERA, 1.00 WHIP, and career-best 14.09 K/9 in 2019 |
| Twins (Taylor Rogers) | 11 (-) | Excelled in the closer role last year, but could have fairly short leash as a late-blooming left-hander in a deep bullpen |
| Reds (Raisel Iglesias) | 12 (-) | Posted career-worst ERA and WHIP in 2019 — but career-best save total and strikeout rate |
| Phillies (Hector Neris) | 13 (-) | Finished as a top-16 closer in two of the last three seasons |
| Nationals (Sean Doolittle) | 14 (-) | Ratios could rebound, but durability is always a concern |
| Pirates (Keone Kela) | 15 (-) | Can help in ratios and Ks, but save chances could be hard to come by in Pittsburgh |
| White Sox (Alex Colome) | 16 (-) | Strikeout rate won’t wow you but could rack up saves on improved White Sox squad |
| Rangers (Jose Leclerc) | 17 (-) | Has the stuff to dominate if he can keep the walks under control |
| Red Sox (Brandon Workman) | 18 (-) | Major regression candidate, but misses enough bats to provide value if he can hold onto the job |
| Angels (Hansel Robles) | 19 (-) | Coming off a terrific season, but some regression is likely |
| Braves (Committee) | 20 (-) | ATL will jump up the rankings if/when Will Smith steals closer job from Mark Melancon |
| Diamondbacks (Archie Bradley) | 21 (-) | Hasn’t quite lived up to the hype and wild at times, but can still get the job done |
| Rays (Committee) | 22 (-) | Nick Anderson won’t see every save chance, but elite K potential should provide standalone value |
| Royals (Ian Kennedy) | 23 (-) | Was quietly effective as closer last season, but midseason trade looks likely |
| Tigers (Joe Jimenez) | 24 (-) | Won’t likely put up great ratios or a huge save total, but can help with Ks |
| Cardinals (Committee) | 25 (-) | Giovanny Gallegos has plenty of fantasy potential if he can lock down this job |
| Marlins (Brandon Kintzler) | 26 (-) | Journeyman right-hander should have little competition for saves in Miami |
| Orioles (Mychal Givens) | 27 (-) | Orioles’ closer by default won’t be much help to your ratios but can provide plenty of Ks |
| Rockies (Wade Davis) | 28 (-) | Owning Davis could be a rocky ride |
| Mariners (Committee) | 29 (-) | Neither Yoshihisa Hirano nor Matt Magill will have much value unless they have the closer job to themselves |
| Giants (Committee) | 30 (-) | Tony Watson looks set to lead an uninspiring committee in San Francisco |
Random Musings
Atlanta Braves
The Braves surprisingly opted to acquire Mark Melancon and his hefty contract at the trade deadline last July, and he ended up doing a decent job as their closer down the stretch. Atlanta then handed a three year, $39-million contract to the man who had seized the closer job from Melancon in San Francisco: Will Smith. Without a doubt, Smith is the better pitcher of the two, but at least for now, Braves manager Brian Snitker sounds like he wants to use Melancon in the ninth inning and Smith in the eighth — or whenever the opponent’s best left-handed hitters are due up.
Tampa Bay Rays
Of all the teams that I labeled as “committees” to begin last season, Tampa proved to be easily the most insistent on keeping it that way. By the time it was all said and done, the Rays had won 96 games, and 11 different Tampa pitchers had collected saves — more relievers than the Rays or any other MLB team ever carries on the roster at one time. The simple truth is that it worked, and we would be foolish to expect Kevin Cash to suddenly change his ways now. But that doesn’t mean we shouldn’t draft any Rays relievers. Nick Anderson’s 15.23 K/9 rate in 2019 was the third-best among pitchers who threw 60-plus innings, so he can clearly have standalone value even if he only sees the occasional save opportunity. Jose Alvarado and Diego Castillo could also quickly become fantasy-relevant if either gets the opportunity to ultimately emerge from the committee the way that Emilio Pagan did at the end of last season.
St. Louis Cardinals
Jordan Hicks was something of a revelation in the first half of the 2019 season, but then he went under the knife for Tommy John surgery. He’ll miss at least the first half of this season, if not more. The Cards have not named a closer for 2020, but with Carlos Martinez ticketed for a rotation spot and Andrew Miller dealing with a mysterious physical ailment, it certainly looks like Giovanny Gallegos is the prohibitive favorite. Gallegos was lights out last season (2.31 ERA, 11.31 K/9), but he’ll need to prove that he can handle the pressure of closing, and it wouldn’t be surprising to see Mike Shildt play matchups, at least initially. Should Gallegos struggle, the ever-talented Alex Reyes is a name to file away.
Seattle Mariners
Mariners manager Scott Servais has already eliminated any intrigue about who might handle saves chances in Seattle this year, making clear that “there will be no closer.” That’s not what fantasy owners want to hear, although Servais did add the caveat that someone could eventually “jump up and grab” the job. The top candidates to do so are grizzled veteran Yoshihisa Hirano, who saved 156 games in Japan but has looked pedestrian through his first two seasons stateside, and Matt Magill, who has a 4.52 career ERA and is already 30 years old. Chicago Cubs outcast Carl Edwards Jr. is a potential wildcard. Given that none of these pitchers looks likely to put up elite ratios and Ks, and the Mariners don’t look likely to generate many save chances, there is no great need to draft a Seattle reliever outside of the most save-hungry leagues.
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Andrew Seifter is a featured writer at FantasyPros. For more from Andrew, check out his archive and follow him @andrew_seifter.