50 Fantasy Relievers Of Note, Version 1.4

An in-depth look at saves, why you shouldn't draft closers early (or trade a lot for them)

Maybe don’t draft closers early. (Or give up a lot for them in trades).

The caveat to that first argument is that you might say, well, draft Emmanuel Clase and Mason Miller early, providing wins in the saves each week (in head-to-head leagues) and thus keeping my weekly (or season-long) ERA and WHIP totals down while adding some extra strikeouts.

And that’s an entirely defensible strategy. It can work.

The only reason I’m not as high on that strategy is that you miss out on elite hitters early by taking Clase and or Miller. That’s another story for another day, but the nature of how closers and relievers in general are deployed in today’s game makes the closer position even more fickle with struggles magnified and more matchup-based approaches by teams and managers optimized.

Really, it’s always been fickle.

It’s why for years multi-year deals for free agent relievers who weren’t closers were few and far between.

It’s also why you should perhaps approach some current closers with some apprehension, at least where their potential 2025 save totals are concerned. Because it’s possible some (or many) won’t repeat their 2024 save totals. Furthermore, some relievers might come out of nowhere (at least in terms of their previous save totals) to log a strong season where saves are concerned.

Here’s a look at each reliever with at least 15 saves last season in the Majors and their respective save totals in 2023.

(A quick note, if you’re having trouble reading the tables in full in the Substack app, they can be viewed in full either in the email or in a web browser.)

Put slightly differently, here are all the relievers who logged at least 15 saves in 2023 and their respective saves tallies in 2024 last season.

Some of all this is injury-related. Felix Bautista missed all of 2024. Devin Williams missed time in the first half of 2024, allowing Trevor Megill to step in as an elite closer.

Player movement is a key part too. Josh Hader’s free agent departure from San Diego opened up the closer’s role for Robert Suarez and thus bumped Ryan Pressly into a setup role.

Still, the keyword is fickle, especially year to year.

And that first table isn’t even mentioning Ryan Walker, Lucas Erceg and Justin Martinez, who were arguably three of baseball’s best ninth-inning options down the stretch.

All currently have reasonably low ADPs.

• Ryan Walker 107.16*

• Lucas Erceg 198.20*

• Justin Martinez ADP: 2276.09*

All ADP numbers via NFBC data.

All three are being drafted in the first 20 rounds. Walker’s ADP in particular is notable in that setup relievers (and relievers in general) ascend to closer roles and fantasy prominence often.

And in the case of Erceg and Martinez, it illustrates the fickleness of the position. Both were excellent last year, but Erceg finds himself in a ninth-inning timeshare of sorts with offseason addition Carlos Estevez (the type of move that is great from a real-life baseball perspective and not so great for fantasy managers) and Martinez is in a similar situation with fellow incumbent late-inning relief options in Arizona in AJ Puk and (when healthy) Kevin Ginkel.

Even the relievers who carried over save production from 2023 to 2024? Most of them aren’t in full-time closing jobs currently, or even closing gigs for that matter. Craig Kimbrel is a free agent. Clay Holmes is the New York Mets’ Opening Day starting pitcher. Jason Foley was optioned to the minors and might be in a committee alongside Tommy Kahle, Will Vest, Beau Brieske and Tyler Holton when he returns to the Majors.

Estevez is also in a committee situation. Yates could see some saves in Los Angeles with the Dodgers, but so too could Tanner Scott, Evan Phillips, Alex Vesia and (eventually) Michael Kopech among others in what is an absolutely loaded Dodgers bullpen.

You could also eschew saves entirely in drafts and play the waiting game via waivers. Of course, that strategy isn’t without its own risk as it might put unforeseen and undue stress on your FAAB budget as the season progresses while investing in other positions in the draft in March.

And now, on to the 50 relievers of note!