Fantasy Baseball Rankings: Top 30 Closers for 2015

I saved my closer rankings for last as some teams had/still have question marks at the position now that we are about five weeks from pitchers and catchers reporting to spring training.

Not to sound like a broken record, but the closer position is one of the hardest to predict due to the turnover that occurs every season. A few bad weeks for a hitter, and he might get a day off to rest and work on his hitting mechanics. A few bad weeks for a closer, even a veteran closer, and he can lose his job and be used in the 7th inning or mop up duty to work on a few things.

It is important to draft a closer you can count on all season, but you must grab them earlier than you want to as there are only a handful that you can rely on to stay in the role for the whole season. Should you want one of the dominating, top five closers, you will need to draft them in the first 5-6 rounds of your mixed league draft. In auction leagues, be prepared to pay $20-25 in mixed leagues, or $30+ in "only" leagues.

In one of my NL-only keeper leagues, one of the owners is utilizing a rebuild strategy and has been offering me a $39 Craig Kimbrel for one of my hitting prospects all offseason. Paying $39 for a closer when your league salary cap is $260 is a tough pill to swallow, but that is the price of the top closer in the game. My team is built to compete in 2015, I think, but I already own two cheap potential closers, a $5 Ken Giles and a $7 Sergio Romo, so I have been reluctant to deal for him before the draft in March.

A couple thoughts on some of the closers ranked below:

David Robertson, White Sox

Robertson leaves New York for Chicago on a four year, $46 million contract. He is one of the more dominant closers in the game, but gave up more than a home run per nine innings last season, and think this could be an issue going forward.

Santiago Casilla/Sergio Romo, Giants

Who begins the season as the Giants closer? I assume it will be Casilla, but hope that the two year contract that Romo signed this offseason pushes him into the role before Opening Day. Casilla was solid after taking over the role from Romo at midseason and helped the Giants win the World Series last season. Romo strikes out more batters, walks few batters, but gave up more home runs than Casilla did last season. Romo had a bad stretch of appearances which led to him losing the job last season, but he is the more dominant pitcher in the Giants pen.

Trevor Rosenthal, Cardinals

Rosenthal is one of the more polarizing closers heading into the 2015 season, as he struggled mightily in the second half of the season and in the playoffs. He strikes out more than 11 hitters per nine, but also walks five batters per nine, and owns the second lowest K/BB ratio among my top 30 closers behind only Joe Nathan.

Both are on the hot seat heading into spring training and will need to show that they can regain form before Opening Day. Jonathan Papelbon lurks as a trade candidate for both teams should either struggle in spring training or in April.

Brett Cecil, Blue Jays

The Blue Jays have Cecil listed as their closer at this point in the offseason, but with guys like Rafael Soriano, Francisco Rodriguez and John Axford still on the free agent market, the Blue Jays, who are built to win now, could have a new closer once pitchers and catchers report in mid-February.

Now onto my Top 30 Closer Rankings for 2015:

Fantasy Rundown

If you are looking for more fantasy baseball rankings, make sure you check out Fantasy Rundown, your one stop on the 'net for all of your fantasy news and rankings.