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We are gearing up for another fantasy baseball season here at Fake Teams, and that began with refreshing each position’s cumulative rankings. Today’s the last position, the volatile relievers.
When it comes to closers specifically, I’m a confessed hater. I loathe spending draft capital on one of the most volatile positions in fantasy baseball. I’d much prefer to mine for the next up-and-comer via the waiver wire. That said, in 2020 I don’t think you can be so cavalier with the ignoring of this category. Sure, maybe you paid up for Aroldis Chapman and the recent positive COVID-19 test is a massive bummer. But if you’re playing fantasy baseball at all in 2020, you’re playing roulette with all of your players, anyway. In general, my strategy for closers in 2020 is endeavoring to leave any draft with two guys who have the closer’s role locked up on their team right now. Playing for the future is overrated, but it’s especially overrated in a 60-game season. If you hold your nose and draft just TWO guys out of the 30 or so on your roster, you’ll have a great chance of besting at least half your league in one category.
As always, we welcome your disagreements in the comments section. Your kind and respectful disagreements, obviously.
Updated Top 40 RPs
Rank | PLAYER | TEAM | Early Rank | Heath | Mark | Garrett | New Avg |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Rank | PLAYER | TEAM | Early Rank | Heath | Mark | Garrett | New Avg |
1 | Josh Hader | MIL | 1 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 1.5 |
2 | Kirby Yates | SD | 2 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 2 |
3 | Roberto Osuna | HOU | 4 | 3 | 3 | 1 | 2.75 |
4 | Aroldis Chapman | NYY | 3 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 3.75 |
5 | Taylor Rogers | MIN | 5 | 6 | 6 | 5 | 5.5 |
6 | Kenley Jansen | LAD | 6 | 7 | 7 | 6 | 6.5 |
7 | Brad Hand | CLE | 7 | 8 | 5 | 8 | 7 |
8 | Liam Hendricks | OAK | 8 | 5 | 8 | 9 | 7.5 |
9 | Ken Giles | TOR | 9 | 9 | 10 | 7 | 8.75 |
10 | Raisel Iglesias | CIN | 10 | 11 | 9 | 10 | 10 |
11 | Edwin Diaz | NYM | 11 | 10 | 11 | 11 | 10.75 |
12 | Craig Kimbrel | CHC | 12 | 19 | 12 | 12 | 13.75 |
13 | Archie Bradley | ARI | 15 | 13 | 17 | 15 | 15 |
14 | Nick Anderson | TB | 21 | 14 | 13 | 13 | 15.25 |
15 | Hansel Robles | LAA | 20 | 12 | 14 | 16 | 15.5 |
16 | Brandon Workman | BOS | 14 | 15 | 15 | 18 | 15.5 |
17 | Alex Colome | CWS | 18 | 17 | 16 | 20 | 17.75 |
18 | Carlos Martinez | STL | 13 | 18 | 24 | 18.33333333 | |
19 | Hector Neris | PHI | 16 | 16 | 20 | 22 | 18.5 |
20 | Jose Leclerc | TEX | 22 | 20 | 19 | 17 | 19.5 |
21 | Sean Doolittle | WAS | 17 | 24 | 22 | 19 | 20.5 |
22 | Giovanny Gallegos | STL | 19 | 26 | 23 | 14 | 20.5 |
23 | Keone Kela | PIT | 24 | 23 | 18 | 21 | 21.5 |
24 | Ian Kennedy | KC | 23 | 22 | 21 | 23 | 22.25 |
25 | Joe Jimenez | DET | 26 | 21 | 27 | 25 | 24.75 |
26 | Mark Melancon | ATL | 25 | 25 | 25 | 24 | 24.75 |
27 | Will Smith | ATL | 27 | 27 | 26 | 30 | 27.5 |
28 | Hunter Harvey | BAL | 29 | 28 | 30 | 31 | 29.5 |
29 | Seth Lugo | NYM | 31 | 34 | 28 | 26 | 29.75 |
30 | Scott Oberg | COL | 28 | 37 | 29 | 29 | 30.75 |
31 | Wade Davis | COL | 35 | 30 | 31 | 28 | 31 |
32 | Corey Knebel | MIL | 35 | 33 | 27 | 31.66666667 | |
33 | Tony Watson | SF | 33 | 32 | 34 | 33 | 33 |
34 | Matt Magill | SEA | 38 | 31 | 32 | 32 | 33.25 |
35 | Daniel Hudson | WAS | 30 | 33 | 36 | 37 | 34 |
36 | Emilio Pagan | SD | 34 | 35 | 35 | 34.66666667 | |
37 | Brandon Kintzler | MIA | 39 | 29 | 41 | 34 | 35.75 |
38 | Mychal Givens | BAL | 32 | 37 | 42 | 37 | |
39 | Diego Castillo | TB | 40 | 36 | 38 | 40 | 38.5 |
40 | Dellin Betances | NYM | 37 | 39 | 40 | 38.66666667 |