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I’m a big fan of bullpens in fantasy baseball. I kind of like the volatility, craziness, and, most importantly, the way you can get an elite option off the waiver wire in the middle of the season. You can’t do that at too many positions. With all that volatility comes a lot of uncertainty in predicting who will close for some teams. Most fantasy baseball websites post closer grids, depth charts, bullpen reports, etc. tracking each team’s bullpen roles. This time of year we know very little about how managers will use their relievers, but that doesn’t stop everyone from taking a stab at it.
In this post, I’ve collected all of these bullpen depth charts from five different sites. If you are wondering where Yahoo, CBS, Rotographs, and Closer Monkey are, well, they haven’t updated their depth charts yet for 2017. I thought it would be useful to have all of these in one place as you prepare for drafts. I’ve got a table for the presumed closer(s) on each team and another for the next in line guys. The cells with “x” in them just mean that all of the sites had the same name as ESPN did.
ESPN | Razzball | Rotoballer | MLB.com | Fantasy Pros | Rotoworld | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Team | Closer | Closer | Closer | Closer | Closer | Closer |
Arizona | Fernando Rodney | x | x | x | x | x |
Atlanta | Jim Johnson | x | x | x | x | x |
Baltimore | Zach Britton | x | x | x | x | x |
Boston | Craig Kimbrel | x | x | x | x | x |
Chicago Cubs | Wade Davis | x | x | x | x | x |
Chicago White Sox | David Robertson | x | x | x | x | x |
Cincinnati | Raisel Iglesias, Drew Storen, Michael Lorenzen | Raisel Iglesias, Drew Storen | Raisel Iglesias | Raisel Iglesias | Tony Cingrani, Raisel Iglesias, Michael Lorenzen | Raisel Iglesias |
Cleveland | Cody Allen | Cody Allen | Cody Allen, Andrew Miller | Cody Allen | Cody Allen | Cody Allen |
Colorado | Adam Ottavino, Greg Holland | Adam Ottavino, Greg Holland | Adam Ottavino | Greg Holland | Adam Ottavino | Adam Ottavino |
Detroit | Francisco Rodriguez | x | x | x | x | x |
Houston | Ken Giles | x | x | x | x | x |
Kansas City | Kelvin Herrera | x | x | x | x | x |
Los Angeles Angels | Huston Street, Cam Bedrosian, Andrew Bailey | Huston Street | Huston Street | Huston Street | Huston Street, Cam Bedrosian, Andrew Bailey | Huston Street |
Los Angeles Dodgers | Kenley Jansen | x | x | x | x | x |
Miami | A.J. Ramos | x | x | x | x | x |
Milwaukee | Neftali Feliz | Neftali Feliz | Neftali Feliz | Neftali Feliz | Carlos Torres, Corey Knebel | Neftali Feliz |
Minnesota | Brandon Kintzler, Glen Perkins, Trevor May | Brandon Kintzler | Brandon Kintzler | Brandon Kintzler | Brandon Kintzler, Glen Perkins | Brandon Kintzler |
NY Mets | Jeurys Familia | x | x | x | x | x |
NY Yankees | Aroldis Chapman | x | x | x | x | x |
Oakland | Ryan Madson, Santiago Casilla, Sean Doolittle | Ryan Madson, Santiago Casilla | Ryan Madson | Ryan Madson | Ryan Madson | Ryan Madson |
Philadelphia | Jeanmar Gomez, Hector Neris | Jeanmar Gomez, Hector Neris | Jeanmar Gomez | Jeanmar Gomez | Jeanmar Gomez, Hector Neris | Joaquin Benoit |
Pittsburgh | Tony Watson | x | x | x | x | x |
St. Louis | Seung Hwan Oh | x | x | x | x | x |
San Diego | Brandon Maurer | x | x | x | x | x |
San Francisco | Mark Melancon | x | x | x | x | x |
Seattle | Edwin Diaz | x | x | x | x | x |
Tampa Bay | Alex Colome | x | x | x | x | x |
Texas | Sam Dyson | x | x | x | x | x |
Toronto | Roberto Osuna | x | x | x | x | x |
Washington | Shawn Kelley, Blake Treinen | Shawn Kelley | Shawn Kelley | Shawn Kelley | Shawn Kelley, Blake Treinen | Shawn Kelley |
ESPN | Razzball | Rotoballer | MLB.com | Fantasy Pros | Rotoworld | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Team | Next Up | Next Up | Next Up | Next Up | Next Up | Next Up |
Arizona | Jake Barrett | Enrique Burgos | Randall Delgado | Randall Delgado | Jake Barrett | Jake Barrett |
Atlanta | Mauricio Cabrera | Arodys Vizcaino | Arodys Vizcaino | Arodys Vizcaino | Mauricio Cabrera | Arodys Vizcaino |
Baltimore | Brad Brach | Darren O'Day | Brad Brach | Darren O'Day | Brad Brach | Darren O'Day |
Boston | Tyler Thornburg | x | x | x | x | x |
Chicago Cubs | Carl Edwards | Hector Rondon | Hector Rondon | Hector Rondon | Carl Edwards | Hector Rondon |
Chicago White Sox | Nate Jones | x | x | x | x | x |
Cincinnati | Tony Cingrani, Blake Wood | Michael Lorenzen | Drew Storen | Drew Storen | None | Michael Lorenzen |
Cleveland | Andrew Miller | Andrew Miller | Bryan Shaw | Andrew Miller | Andrew Miller | Andrew Miller |
Colorado | Jake McGee | Greg Holland | Greg Holland | Adam Ottavino | Jake McGee | Jake McGee |
Detroit | Alex Wilson | Alex Wilson | Justin Wilson | Justin Wilson | Alex Wilson | Mark Lowe |
Houston | Will Harris | Will Harris | Luke Gregerson | Luke Gregerson | Will Harris | Will Harris |
Kansas City | Joakim Soria | x | x | x | x | x |
Los Angeles Angels | JC Ramirez, Deolis Garcia | Cam Bedrosian | Cam Bedrosian | Cam Bedrosian | None | Cam Bedrosian |
Los Angeles Dodgers | Pedro Baez | Sergio Romo | Pedro Baez | Sergio Romo | Pedro Baez | Pedro Baez |
Miami | Kyle Barraclough | Brad Ziegler | Brad Ziegler | Brad Ziegler | Kyle Barraclough | Kyle Barraclough |
Milwaukee | Corey Knebel | x | x | x | None | x |
Minnesota | Ryan Pressly, Taylor Rogers | Ryan Pressly | Glen Perkins | Glen Perkins | None | Ryan Pressly |
NY Mets | Addison Reed | x | x | x | x | x |
NY Yankees | Dellin Betances | x | x | x | x | x |
Oakland | Ryan Dull, Liam Hendriks | Ryan Dull | Santiago Casilla | Sean Doolittle | Ryan Dull | Sean Doolittle |
Philadelphia | Joaquin Benoit, Pat Neshek | Joaquin Benoit | Hector Neris, Joaquin Benoit | Hector Neris | None | Hector Neris |
Pittsburgh | Daniel Hudson | x | x | x | x | x |
St. Louis | Trevor Rosenthal | Kevin Siegrist | Kevin Siegrist | Kevin Siegrist | Trevor Rosenthal | Kevin Siegrist |
San Diego | Ryan Buchter | Ryan Buchter | Carter Capps | Carter Capps | Ryan Buchter | Carter Capps |
San Francisco | Hunter Strickland | x | x | x | x | x |
Seattle | Steve Cishek | x | x | x | x | x |
Tampa Bay | Brad Boxberger | x | x | x | x | x |
Texas | Matt Bush | Jim Jeffress | Matt Bush | Matt Bush | Matt Bush | Jim Jeffress |
Toronto | Jason Grilli | x | x | x | x | x |
Washington | Koda Glover, Sammy Solis, Trevor Gott | Blake Treinen | Blake Treinen | Blake Treinen | None | Blake Treinen |
As you can see, there is much disagreement on the teams with very fluid open competitions, but agreement on almost all of the stable situations. The Reds have already said they will use Iglesias, Lorenzen, and Storen in the role. I can’t trust Greg Holland since he hasn’t really been the same since his surgery in 2015. Ottavino also had Tommy John, but he looked better than Holland in 2016, so my money’s on him. No, I didn’t literally gamble money on Ottavino being the closer, it’s just an expression. Sheesh.
As for the other murky situations, I think the returning incumbents in Philly, Minnesota, Oakland, and Washington will start with the job again. I would prefer Feliz in Milwaukee and Bedrosian in Anaheim, but maybe the teams won’t think the same way as I do. Street has looked rough in the past couple seasons.
There is much more disagreement between the sites when it comes to the next in line guys. There are some very intriguing names here like Carter Capps, Matt Bush, Brad Brach, Blake Treinen, Kyle Barraclough, and Carl Edwards, to name a few. They all have great skill and are just waiting for an opportunity. Although not shown, Shae Simmons in Seattle is interesting and could easily jump over Cishek into second position.
Update: I just added Rotoworld’s depth charts to the tables and they have some, er, curious choices. Benoit as closer in Philly? Mark Lowe as first in line behind K-Rod in Detroit? I’m not sure where they got these ideas, but the rest of their projections seem reasonable.
Those are my initial thoughts on these lists. I hope they provide some value at this early point. We should know much more about these situations near the end of spring training. Until later, Tschus!