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2021 Fantasy Baseball Rankings: Top 40 Relief Pitchers

The Fake Teams writers rank the most volatile position of all.

By Heath Capps
MLB: Cincinnati Reds at Minnesota Twins Jesse Johnson-USA TODAY Sports

Welcome to Raisel Iglesias—I mean, Relief Pitcher Week! Garrett, Andrés, and myself are offering up our top 40 relievers this morning. What a fresh hell this is, by the way. There are some wild swings in the rankings—I’m really digging Archie Bradley, for instance. And I guess when Drew Pomeranz openly says “I’m not tied to a role,” that makes me freak out a little.

If it means anything at all, I’m really rooting for Amir Garrett in Cincinnati. We so often hear about the “closer mentality.” Well, that guy is the physical embodiment of said mentality. I hope to see him in the role, but for now I’m waiting to see if Garrett will pitch in Spring Training games next week as planned.

Anyway, we’ll chat more on relievers as we go this week. If you’ve got a strong take, I’d love to hear it in the comments. In the meantime, eviscerate this rankings set, why don’t ya?

Oops, I nearly forgot—yours truly didn’t rank guys like Freddy Peralta or Tejay Antone. I have a hard time comparing bulk relievers to guys I’m drafting solely for saves. Maybe it’s just me. Where I’d draft Peralta compared to these guys...does it really matter? But according to ADP, I think I could justify drafting Peralta as early as pick 220 or 230—which puts him in the Amir Garrett range according to recent NFBC ADP. If that matters to you, there ya go...

Top 40 Relievers for 2021

RANK PLAYER NAME TEAM HEATH ANDRES GARRETT Avg Rank
RANK PLAYER NAME TEAM HEATH ANDRES GARRETT Avg Rank
1 Liam Hendriks CWS 1 1 1 1.00
2 Josh Hader MLW 2 2 2 2.00
3 Aroldis Chapman NYY 3 3 3 3.00
4 Edwin Diaz NYM 4 4 5 4.33
5 Raisel Iglesias LAA 5 5 8 6.00
6 Brad Hand WSH 8 6 6 6.67
7 James Karinchak CLE 10 8 4 7.33
9 Ryan Pressly HOU 6 7 10 7.67
8 Trevor Rosenthal OAK 7 9 7 7.67
10 Kenley Jansen LAD 9 11 11 10.33
11 Kirby Yates TOR 12 10 9 10.33
12 Will Smith ATL 15 15 12 14.00
13 Rafael Montero SEA 14 17 15 15.33
14 Devin Williams MIL 19 13 14 15.33
15 Nick Anderson TB 18 12 18 16.00
16 Craig Kimbrel CHC 16 14 19 16.33
17 Amir Garrett CIN 20 20 16 18.67
18 Drew Pomeranz SD 30 16 13 19.67
19 Alex Colome MIN 13 21 26 20.00
20 Taylor Rogers MIN 17 22 21 20.00
21 Jordan Hicks STL 11 27 24 20.67
22 Greg Holland KC 24 19 20 21.00
23 Richard Rodriguez PIT 29 18 17 21.33
24 Jose Leclerc TEX 22 23 25 23.33
25 Daniel Bard COL 26 24 23 24.33
26 Matt Barnes BOS 23 25 27 25.00
27 Joakim Soria ARI 25 26 28 26.33
28 Archie Bradley PHI 21 30 35 28.67
29 Hector Neris PHI 36 28 22 28.67
30 Jake McGee SF 31 29 30 30.00
31 Mark Melancon SD 35 31 29 31.67
32 Freddy Peralta MIL NR 32 32 32.00
33 Anthony Bass MIA 27 33 37 32.33
34 Tanner Scott BAL 28 37 NR 32.50
35 Giovanny Gallegos STL 34 34 33 33.67
36 Yimi Garcia MIA 33 38 31 34.00
37 Chris Martin ATL 32 39 41 37.33
38 Bryan Garcia DET 39 35 38 37.33
39 Jordan Romano TOR 40 42 34 38.67
40 Diego Castillo TB 38 40 39 39.00

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