I don't care whether you've got snow on your lawn or not. All clubs have reported to Spring Training, which means it's springtime for all. We’ve been bringing you our February rankings updates over the past couple of weeks, and today we wrap up the series with our 2017 relief pitcher fantasy baseball rankings.

This round of rankings features picks from Kyle Bishop, Nick Mariano, Bill Dubiel, Brad Johnson, Harris Yudin and Jeff Kahntroff. Today Nick will examine relievers, which is always an intriguing exercise with where people feel comfortable taking the elite closers and how strong ratio non-closers are viewed.

Editor's note: Be sure to also check out our 2017 fantasy baseball rankings dashboard. It's already loaded up with tons of great rankings articles and draft analysis. Aside from our tiered staff rankings for every position, we also go deep on MLB prospect rankings, impact rookies for 2017, and dynasty/keeper rankings as well. Bookmark the page, and win your drafts.

 

2017 Fantasy Baseball Rankings: Relief Pitchers (February)

 

Ranking	Tier	Player	Position	Brad	Kyle	Nick	Bill	Harris Y	Jeff	Auction $
1	1	Aroldis Chapman	RP	58	67	57	56	66	65	20
2	1	Kenley Jansen	RP	61	65	62	61	65	64	20
3	1	Zach Britton	RP	66	69	63	62	60	67	19
4	2	Craig Kimbrel	RP	90	104	110	112	84	93	15
5	2	Edwin Diaz	RP	113	98	101	100	95	94	15
6	2	Seung-Hwan Oh	RP	131	93	97	96	94	92	15
7	2	Roberto Osuna	RP	104	99	122	123	121	96	13
8	2	Mark Melancon	RP	138	108	123	125	83	97	12
9	2	Kelvin Herrera	RP	98	109	127	127	123	109	12
10	2	Wade Davis	RP	182	133	170	109	76	112	10
11	3	Kenneth Giles	RP	170	132	159	160	96	95	10
12	3	Alexander Colome	RP	144	121	168	169	122	111	9
13	3	Andrew Miller	RP	129	122	176	176	108	133	8
14	3	Cody Allen	RP	130	129	166	167	143	110	8
15	3	Dellin Betances	RP	150	130	177	177	132	169	7
16	4	Jeurys Familia	RP	190	167	172	172	144	132	7
17	4	David Robertson	RP	163	145	209	209	179	130	6
18	4	A.J. Ramos	RP	205	193	181	181	178	131	6
19	4	Francisco Rodriguez	RP	180	165	226	226	177	126	5
20	5	Tony Watson	RP	216	257	250	250	180	177	3
21	5	Sam Dyson	RP	230	199	276	276	215	176	3
22	5	Cameron Bedrosian	RP	249	190	282	282	216	175	2
23	5	Neftali Feliz	RP			228	228	298		2
24	5	Raisel Iglesias	SP/RP	221	203	348	348	276	170	2
25	5	Shawn Kelley	RP	236	250	292	292	296	213	2
26	5	Addison Reed	RP	184	220	337	337	332	215	2
27	6	Adam Ottavino	RP	225	281	288	288	333	214	2
28	6	Brandon Maurer	RP	261	217	294	294	407	212	2
29	6	Joaquin Benoit	RP	280	233	363	363		236	2
30	6	Jim Johnson	RP	276	265	331	331	396	237	2
31	6	Fernando Rodney	RP	281	323	323	323	394	216	2
32	6	Glen Perkins	RP	316	266	347	347	395	239	2
33	6	Arodys Vizcaino	RP	356	350	339	339	334	238	2
34	6	Nate Jones	RP	301	279	341	341	433	284	1
35	6	Ryan Madson	RP	343	285	344	344	297	453	1
36	6	Sean Doolittle	RP	335	254	350	350	465	355	1
37	6	Felipe Rivero	RP		255				451	1
38	6	Matt Strahm	RP			354	354		352	1
39	7	Hector Neris	RP	346	379	343	343	372	356	1
40	7	Brandon Kintzler	RP	347	366	332	332	408	357	1
41	7	Carter Capps	RP	330	312	357	357	436	358	1
42	7	Chris Devenski	SP/RP	422	292	364	364	348	478	1
43	7	Kyle Barraclough	RP	364	288	381	379	435	454	1
44	7	Hector Rondon	RP	375	340	369	368	492	359	1
45	7	Ryan Dull	RP		348	358	358	446	432	1
46	7	Jeff Hoffman	RP						404	1
47	7	Jeanmar Gomez	RP		380	418	415	448	360	1
48	7	Cody Reed	RP						406	1
49	7	Andrew Bailey	RP	349	378	446	445	364	456	1
50	7	Chad Green	RP		413				401	1
51	7	Corey Knebel	RP	336				434	452	1
52	7	Keone Kela	RP		385				459	1
53	7	Matt Bush	RP	396	358	431	428	466	455	1
54	7	Ty Blach	RP		497	362	362		472	1
55	7	Darren O'Day	RP						424	1
56	7	Tyler Thornburg	RP		386	400	397	491	458	1
57	7	Grant Dayton	RP						427	1
58	7	Jhoulys Chacin	RP			471	471	382	398	1
59	7	Hyun-Jin Ryu	RP		440				428	1
60	7	Huston Street	RP	390	402	499	496	447	372	1
61	7	Luke Gregerson	RP		403				479	1
62	7	Santiago Casilla	RP					468	431	1
63	7	Daniel Hudson	RP		464					1
64	7	Will Harris	RP		472			467	461	1
65	7	Trevor Rosenthal	RP	453	482					1
66	7	Steven Brault	RP						469	1
67	7	Derek Law	RP						470	1
68	7	C.J. Edwards	RP						474	1
69	7	Andrew Cashner	RP					478		1
70	7	Michael Lorenzen	RP	485	477				480	1
71	7	Zach Eflin	RP			496	494			1
72	7	Brad Ziegler	RP			500	497			1

 
Reliever Rankings Analysis: The Tiers

Tier 1

There’s little that needs to be said about these three, as Aroldis Chapman, Kenley Jansen and Zach Britton have all established themselves as dominant stoppers that are longshots to let you down. One shouldn’t be banking on an ERA below one out of Britton, but he’s delivered totals under two each of the last three seasons. With more than a strikeout per inning and a hilarious 80% groundball rate in tow, he belongs with the elite.

Tier 2 

This tier houses players that anyone should feel comfortable owning as their RP1, but each is just a tick behind the first class due to small, but not ignorable, reasons.

Craig Kimbrel saw his control falter, but we might write a bunch of that off to his knee injury. Edwin Diaz and Seung-Hwan Oh both looked amazing, but it was their first season. Roberto Osuna just turned 22 despite having two strong years under his belt, but just doesn’t offer that extra strikeout flair that Diaz and Oh bring. Mark Melancon certainly doesn’t have that, but he’s a consistent force and now gets to close in pitcher-friendly AT&T Park.

The biggest piece here is that now Kelvin Herrera and Wade Davis will both get to close with Davis’ trade to the Cubs. I likely have Herrera too low, but at least we all have him in the top 10. The skills are there, especially after he improved his K% from 22.4% to 30.4% while chopping his walk rate from 9.1% to 4.2%. Even if he gives back a little of that, this is a great arm who finally has the opportunity. Meanwhile, drafting Davis just comes down to a matter of trust in his elbow. I’m letting others take it, but there’s severe upside there.

Tier 3

The third tier bequeaths our first non-closers into the rankings, though Andrew Miller may still mix-and-match into the ninth inning to chip in some saves alongside his dominant ratios and Ks. Dellin Betances probably won’t have that chance, but is pretty damn good in his own right—especially if Joe Girardi continues to trot him out there for around 80 innings.

Alexander Colome stepped up for Tampa Bay after Brad Boxberger went down, but few predicted a 1.91 ERA and 1.02 WHIP with a wild 31.4% strikeout rate (11.28 K/9). While it can be tough to trust a guy after only one year--especially on a team that doesn't like driving value up--Colome's skill set should allow him to remain a solid closer even as his 93% strand rate regresses a bit from last season.

Tier 4

Jeurys Familia has been fantastic on the mound, but there’s no ignoring the potential suspension looming. Baking a possible 30-game suspension into your rankings seems wise, but if he ends up not missing any time then the profits will be there.

David Robertson presents an interesting case due to the trade rumors and his slip in command last season (12% walk rate, blah), but this is a guy who does have a strong track record and would likely close wherever he went. This is what has really pushed Nate Jones (Tier 6) into draft consideration.

Tier 5

The fifth tier is for the speculators and sharps, as it’s led by two arms that don’t profile as closers. Tony Watson and Sam Dyson have been firefighters for a while now, but neither have overpowering stuff. Instead, they’ve relied on inducing weak contact and a heavy diet of grounders, respectively. They aren’t bad choices and may get overlooked for more exciting, traditional closing options.

There aren’t many of those left at this point, of course, but banking on Cam Bedrosian or Raisel Iglesias potentially winning their jobs would nab people a talented closer who could produce more than a strikeout per inning instead.

Tier 6

Adam Ottavino deserves love, even with Greg Holland in the picture. Colorado’s own Agent Zero was sharp in his return from Tommy John surgery last season, and it seems unlikely he’ll be ousted by a new guy who missed all of ’16.

Brandon Maurer, Jim Johnson and Fernando Rodney should all open 2016 as closers, with my trust in them holding down the job for at least the first half of the season reflected in that order. Joaquin Benoit could step into the job for Philadelphia should Jeanmar Gomez (Tier 7, whomp) falter. Did I type “should”? I meant when.