Fantasy Baseball Position Primer: Relief Pitcher

Closers are really a fantasy nuisance.

You're a fool if you draft them early — or if you draft too many of them — because we all know several new sources of saves will emerge during the season. Happens every year. Something like one-third of closing jobs will flip at some point.

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But of course if you don't draft any closers — or if you limit yourself to just one — then you'll spend the next six months of your life targeting saves on the wire. And for most of us, that's not much fun. Nor is it entirely practical if you're a normal human, instead of a fantasy professional.

In mixed leagues of standard size/shape, my recommendation is that you snag two or three of the late-round closers on draft day, so as to avoid the in-season stress of the saves chase. Try to do your shopping in the Cishek-Benoit bin, if possible. You should really be able to acquire saves easily enough without snagging one of the luxury closers. However, if you're playing in an A.L. or N.L.-only league, or a deep and competitive mixer, then the upper-tier bullpen arms have quite a bit more appeal. Depending on the quality of your league, you might reasonably decide it's worth paying a small premium for a closer who offers job security and stellar ratios.

Most of you are simply here for the closer grid, so let's get right to it. Today, we're breaking with the standard Position Primer format, scrapping the tiers. Instead, we're basically giving you a user's guide to MLB bullpens. Below you'll find a team-by-team snapshot of every closing situation. Each team's presumptive finisher is listed, with the primary handcuffs and holds options in parentheses. Key injuries are noted as well.

If you desperately need reliever ranks, we've got you covered right here.

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American League
Baltimore Orioles – Zach Britton (D. O'Day, T. Hunter)
Boston Red Sox – Koji Uehara (J. Tazawa, E. Mujica)
Chicago White Sox – David Robertson (J. Petricka, Z. Duke)
Cleveland Indians – Cody Allen (B. Shaw)
Detroit Tigers – Joe Nathan (J. Soria, B. Rondon)
Houston Astros – Luke Gregerson (C. Qualls, P. Neshek)
Kansas City Royals – Greg Holland (W. Davis, K. Herrera)
Los Angeles Angels – Huston Street (J. Smith)
Minnesota Twins – Glen Perkins (C. Fien, B. Duensing)
New York Yankees – Dellin Betances (A. Miller, D. Carpenter)
Oakland Athletics – Tyler Clippard (R. Cook); Sean Doolittle out until May (shoulder)
Seattle Mariners – Fernando Rodney (Y. Medina, D. Farquhar)
Tampa Bay Rays – Brad Boxberger (E. Frieri, K. Jepsen); Jake McGee out until April/May (elbow)
Texas Rangers – Neftali Feliz (S. Tolleson, T. Scheppers)
Toronto Blue Jays – Brett Cecil (A. Loup, S. Delabar, M. Estrada)

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National League
Arizona Diamondbacks – Addison Reed (B. Ziegler)
Atlanta Braves – Craig Kimbrel (J. Grilli, J. Russell)
Chicago Cubs – Hector Rondon (P. Strop, N. Ramirez)
Cincinnati Reds – Aroldis Chapman (J. Diaz, S. LeCure, A. Cingrani)
Colorado Rockies – LaTroy Hawkins (A. Ottavino, J. Axford, R. Brothers)
Los Angeles Dodgers – Joel Peralta (JP Howell); Kenley Jansen out until May (foot)
Miami Marlins – Steve Cishek (M. Dunn, AJ Ramos)
Milwaukee Brewers – Francisco Rodriguez (J. Broxton)
New York Mets – Jenrry Mejia (J. Familia, V. Black); Bobby Parnell out until May (elbow)
Philadelphia Phillies – Jonathan Papelbon (K. Giles, J. Diekman)
Pittsburgh Pirates – Mark Melancon (T. Watson, A. Bastardo)
St. Louis Cardinals – Trevor Rosenthal (J. Walden, S. Maness)
San Diego Padres – Joaquin Benoit (K. Quackenbush, N. Vincent, D. Thayer)
San Francisco Giants – Santiago Casilla (S. Romo, J. Machi, J. Affeldt)
Washington Nationals – Drew Storen (C. Janssen, A. Barrett)