March 3, 2021
Chicago White Sox – The White Sox made a splash in free agency when they signed Liam Hendriks. Hendriks will replace Alex Colome as the team’s closer and lead a bullpen that could be one of the best in baseball. Veterans Aaron Bummer and Evan Marshall return and should handle the set-up duties in the 7th and 8th innings to start the season. Codi Heuer impressed in his rookie season and has closer potential so he will be a guy to keep an eye on.
Starting 2021 hierarchy: Hendriks | Bummer | Marshall.
Holds candidates: Bummer, Marshall, Cody Heuer.
Cleveland Indians – With Brad Hand moving on to the Washington Nationals, the Indians will be looking for a new closer. Veteran Nick Wittgren returns and brings stability to the back end of the bullpen. However, Cleveland fans and fantasy owners won’t be getting excited about Wittgren. Cleveland does have some exciting bullpen arms in flamethrowers James Karinchak and Emmanuel Clase, who both want to close games. Karinchak had a great rookie season and should get the first chance to close games. Clase is returning from his season-long suspension and the Indians will hope the 22-year-old can jump right into high-leverage spots.
Starting 2021 hierarchy: Karinchak | Wittgren | Clase.
Holds candidates: Wittgren, Clase, Oliver Perez.
Detroit Tigers — The Tigers’ bullpen looks to be wide open at this point and will be something to watch as we get closer to the regular season. A.J. Hinch will name a closer but it’s hard to say who that will be. Bryan Garcia finished the year as the closer but is not guaranteed to be in that same role to start this season. Gregory Soto has elite stuff but needs to throw more strikes. Hinch had good things to say about Buck Farmer, who will have an important role in the Tigers’ bullpen. Joe Jimenez, who finished last year strong, could also be in the mix. We will go with the raw stuff in Soto for now but we will monitor this situation closely through spring training.
Starting 2021 hierarchy: Soto | Garcia| Farmer.
Holds candidates: Farmer, Garcia, Jose Cisnero.
Kansas City Royals – The Royals re-signed Greg Holland, who went 6 for 6 in save opportunities last year before missing the end of the season with an oblique injury. The veteran Holland should get the first chance at closing out games but the Royals also have some intriguing options behind him. Scott Barlow recorded a couple of saves last year and struck out 39 batters in 30 innings. Flamethrower Josh Staumont was second in the league in strikeouts on pitches 99+ mph and Jesse Hahn had a microscopic 0.52 ERA last year.
Starting 2021 hierarchy: Holland | Barlow | Staumont.
Holds candidates: Barlow, Staumont, Jesse Hahn.
Minnesota Twins — The Twins lost Sergio Romo, Trevor May, and Tyler Clippard to free agency, but they brought back their saves leader from last year, Taylor Rogers. They also went out and signed former White Sox closer Alex Colome and added Hansel Robles. It looks like this will be a committee, with Colome and Rogers receiving the majority of save opportunities.
Starting 2021 hierarchy: *Colome | Rogers | Robles.
*closer-by-committee
Holds candidates: Rogers, Robles, Tyler Duffey.
