March 8, 2021
After many hours of angrily throwing pieces of paper at each other from our various branches, the Monkeys have come together on our set of closer rankings for 2021. Please keep in mind that these rankings are based on traditional (5×5) leagues, so while ratios and strikeouts are a consideration, holds potential is not. Stay tuned for our posts later this week where we’ll discuss middle relievers in more detail.
Tier 1: The Elite
1. Josh Hader
2. Aroldis Chapman
3. Liam Hendriks
Of all the tiers, we have the least to say about the cream of this year’s crop. Josh Hader, Aroldis Chapman, and Liam Hendriks should all deliver the goods: saves, low ratios, and strikeouts aplenty. There’s no clear favorite in this group, so adjust for your league’s nuances as you will.
Tier 2: The Reliable
4. Edwin Diaz
5. Kenley Jansen
6. Raisel Iglesias
7. James Karinchak
8. Ryan Pressly
9. Brad Hand
If things break right, any of these guys could lead the league in saves. They’ve all got good putaway stuff and, in most cases, limited competition even if they find themselves struggling out of the gate. We like Diaz best out of this group because of his amazing strikeout rate from last year; meanwhile, James Karinchak’s placement in this tier may surprise some — and we’ll stress that this ranking is assuming he wins the job, which isn’t 100% yet — but he’s got all the makings of a top-10-or-better closer.
Tier 3: Handle With Care
10. Kirby Yates
11. Craig Kimbrel
12. Trevor Rosenthal
Will we get the unhittable Kirby Yates from 2019 or the gas can from 2020? The 2011-through-2018 (plus-September-2020) Craig Kimbrel or the 2019 version who looked on his way to being one of the worst free agent signings ever? The 2014/2015/2020 Trevor Rosenthal or the guy from 2016-2019 whose control was as sharp as an arrow in a pile of glass? We think Yates and Kimbrel should be fine this season, but if you’re going off recent performances, Rosenthal might be your best bet here. But again, not a lot separating these three for us.
Tier 4: The Rays
13. Nick Anderson
Simply put, Nick Anderson is great, but we have no idea how frequently the Rays will use him in the 9th versus how often they’ll use him in the 6th when their ace is in the midst of a shutout. And we’re not really going to guess. So the weirdo Rays get their own tier.
Tier 5: Guys Who [Squints] Could Be Great!
14. Matt Barnes
15. Will Smith
16. Archie Bradley
17. Rafael Montero
18. Amir Garrett
These middle round closers are the ones who can make or break your bullpen, and as we often say in this post, there’s usually a guy from this group who ends up a top 5 closer by season end. But who?! Well, let’s examine. After 2019, Matt Barnes and Will Smith both seemed primed to enter the top tier of closers, but they struggled last season and subsequently fell down our rankings. Archie Bradley has been consistently good but never great. Rafael Montero settled into the 9th inning role nicely last year but has the shortest track record of any of these guys. Finally, if you’re going on pure upside, Amir Garrett is your guy, but he doesn’t even have the job yet. All this to say, keep an eye on Garrett over the next couple weeks. If you don’t like how that situation shakes out, cross your fingers and go with one of the others.
Tier 6: Pick Your Poison
19. Giovanny Gallegos
20. Mark Melancon
21. Greg Holland
22. Jose Leclerc
23. Jake McGee
24. Alex Colome
25. Richard Rodriguez
There’s a reason to dislike pretty much everyone here, so let’s bang those out in reverse order real quick. Richard Rodriguez could get traded and the Pirates suck; Alex Colome might have to share chances; Jake McGee’s manager is Gabe Kapler; Jose Leclerc has walked 41 guys in his last 70 IPs; Greg Holland got injured while you were reading this; Mark Melancon throws 89 mph; and Giovanny Gallegos has never closed for more than like 30 seconds before. Despite the Kapler factor, McGee is the one most likely to outperform his slot here. While his 2016-2019 outputs in the mile-high air were all pretty forgettable, he had a strong 2020 campaign with the Dodgers, albeit over just 20.1 innings.
Tier 7: Maybe Just Take a Good Middle Reliever?
26. Joakim Soria
27. Hunter Harvey
28. Anthony Bass
29. Scott Oberg
30. Gregory Soto
Cheap saves still count! But if you’re considering any of these guys with your next pick, maybe check out our articles later this week and see if there’s a middle reliever that strikes your fancy. It’s a longshot that any of these guys keep their jobs all season — if they win them at all.