If you've been a subscriber here at Fantasy Alarm, you've seen the Fantasy Baseball Closer Grid before. If you're new, it's very simple. We not only list who the closer is for each team, but we then go another two-deep into the bullpen to let you know who would be next in line to accrue saves should there be an injury or a change, as well as which relievers you may want to target if your league scores for holds. This isn't about how the teams' depth charts read always, so keep that in mind. Sometimes the heir-apparent is an obvious one, but in many cases, it is not. I look for things like skill-set, contact rates, pitch-command, pitch-mix, how many lefties are in the bullpen, who has worked as a closer before, and who has the experience in high-leverage situations among other things.
GREEN will be those with strong talent, abundant opportunities and a high-level of job security. The tier below will be in YELLOW followed by ORANGE and lastly RED to indicate who may have the job right now but could lose it with one bad hiccup.
UPDATED: 9.24.21
Player News
Ben Nicholson-Smith of Sportsnet reports that the Blue Jays are among the teams interested in free agent right-hander Max Scherzer.
Phillies signed INF Rodolfo Castro to a minor league contract with an invitation to spring training.
Phillies re-signed Josh Breaux to a minor league contract with an invitation to spring training.
Jon Morosi of MLB Network reports that the Cubs have expressed interest in free agent right-hander Carlos Estévez.
Masyn Winn said Sunday that he’d like to steal 30-40 bases this season.
Matthew Liberatore is expecting to enter this spring as a starter after spending much of last season in the bullpen.