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David's closers and saves fantasy baseball waiver wire pickups and bullpen report for Week 20 (2025). His relief pitcher updates, and closers to add for saves.
After a week-long cooling-off period, yeah, that was still a wild trade deadline. Things we all assumed were obvious were ultimately just wrong. Things we never would have guessed would happen actually happened, and that's just in bullpens!
It was an exciting and eventful week, even after all the trades were completed. We saw new closers emerge and old closers struggle in their new roles. All that and more, read on.
Let's dive into this week's report! As always, stay tapped in with our Fantasy Baseball Closer Depth Charts for saves, holds, and bullpens. They will be updated frequently throughout the 2025 baseball season as new information becomes available.
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Waiver Wire Pickups For Standard Leagues
Dennis Santana, Pittsburgh Pirates (Rostered in 33% of leagues)
EDIT: Santana earned his seventh save of the season on Friday night.
The start of Dennis Santana's Pirates closer era hasn't gotten off to the best start. In his first three appearances since the team traded closer David Bednar, Santana has coughed up seven runs and taken two losses. It's likely and hopefully just a rough patch, and Santana is still the only one really ticketed for saves in Pittsburgh's bullpen.
Fantasy managers in deeper leagues should check their waiver wires, especially since Santana has been dropped in many leagues following his tough stretch.
Dennis Santana, Nasty 89mph Changeup. 👌 pic.twitter.com/cru6HwYpsm
— Rob Friedman (@PitchingNinja) April 17, 2025
Jose A. Ferrer, Washington Nationals (Rostered in 6% of leagues)
The Nationals haven't had a save chance since they traded closer Kyle Finnegan to the Tigers just before the trade deadline. Despite that, based on bullpen usage, it is pretty clear that Jose A. Ferrer will be the top saves option in this depleted relief corps. Ferrer is available in most leagues and could be a solid source of strikeouts with an occasional save sprinkled in going forward.
The time seems to be now for Jose A. Ferrer (0.2IP 1H 0R 0BB 1K) of the @Nationals. The hard throwing LHP spun a great changeup - winning our RP Pitch of the Day pic.twitter.com/td5BDXJymK
— Baseball Prospectus (@baseballpro) April 7, 2025
Randy Rodriguez, San Francisco Giants (Rostered in 48% of leagues)
Another new closer whose start in his new role hasn't gone perfectly is Randy Rodriguez of the Giants. Once Camilo Doval got traded to the Yankees, Rodriguez earned his promotion to the ninth inning. He's blown a save but recorded two and has started to look comfortable in the role. He has some of the best strikeout upside in the league and could be an elite closer option if he's able to adapt well to the role.
Randy Rodríguez, Devastating the Side. pic.twitter.com/gs1LSVhzFS
— Rob Friedman (@PitchingNinja) May 11, 2025
Phil Maton, Texas Rangers (Rostered in 19% of leagues)
The Rangers didn't acquire an outright closer at the deadline, but they did add to their bullpen by picking up Phil Maton from the Cardinals. With Robert Garcia not pitching his best and now dealing with back spasms, Maton looks to be sliding into the closer's role or at least into the role of committee lead.
He has strong strikeout numbers and will undoubtedly help ratios, and if he ends up in the closer's role consistently, he should provide significant fantasy value.
Start spreading the news!
Phil Maton logs his first save as a Ranger and the Rangers take the series vs the Yanks👏 pic.twitter.com/WVuDvGnlwI
— Rangers Nation ⚾️ (@rangers__nation) August 6, 2025
Waiver Wire Pickups For Deeper Leagues
Blake Treinen, Los Angeles Dodgers (Rostered in 14% of leagues)
Alex Vesia, Los Angeles Dodgers (Rostered in 28% of leagues)
The Dodgers are hoping to see Tanner Scott (elbow) return to the mound soon, and the fact that he threw a successful bullpen session earlier this week is certainly good news. Still, Scott is not ready to rejoin the Dodgers just yet, so Treinen and Vesia figure to continue splitting save chances for now.
Keegan Akin, Baltimore Orioles (Rostered in 4% of leagues)
Yennier Cano, Baltimore Orioles (Rostered in 3% of leagues)
EDIT: Akin collected his second save of the season on Friday, with Cano pitching the eighth inning ahead of him.
Corbin Martin threw a yes-hitter this week (he faced six hitters and all six reached and scored), so he's pitched himself out of any closer consideration in Baltimore. Keegan Akin and Yennier Cano figure to be the two bullpen arms who will take the mound for the ninth innings, and both are widely available and should have some fantasy value for the rest of the season.
Cole Sands, Minnesota Twins (Rostered in 7% of leagues)
Justin Topa, Minnesota Twins (Rostered in 1% of leagues)
The Twins traded just about everyone on their roster before the deadline, but they still have to play out the season. It looks like Cole Sands will be "the guy" in the Minnesota bullpen, likely seeing the toughest lineup pockets in the highest leverage moments. That won't always be the ninth inning, though, so Justin Topa figures to see save chances as well.
Both are on most waiver wires, so fantasy managers in deeper leagues can add a few saves and some strikeouts with either guy.
Michael Kelly, The Athletics (Rostered in 1% of leagues)
Sean Newcomb, The Athletics (Rostered in 3% of leagues)
The A's traded their elite closer, Mason Miller, who became a setup guy in San Diego. In his place, it looks like the former Oakland team will go with a committee approach featuring Sean Newcomb and Michael Kelly. It's still mostly unclear how they'll deploy their relievers, so this is more of a wait-and-see than an immediate add, but with both pitchers so widely available, it wouldn't hurt to peek at the wire.
JoJo Romero, St. Louis Cardinals (Rostered in 26% of leagues)
Riley O'Brien, St. Louis Cardinals (Rostered in 3% of leagues)
The Cardinals sent closer Ryan Helsley to the Mets at the deadline, leaving them with somewhat of a committee in their late innings as well. JoJo Romero has been used as the highest leverage option of late, with Riley O'Brien coming in afterwards if Romero throws an earlier inning. Romero is likely still the better add here, but O'Brien is worth a look as well and is much more widely available right now.
Short Relief: More Bullpen Notes
-This week's saves leader is Raisel Iglesias, with three.
-The holds leaders for the week is Andrew Kittredge, who threw an immaculate inning this week, with three.
-Rockies closer Seth Halvorsen (elbow) could miss the rest of the season, leaving Victor Vodnik as the likely Rockies closer, but...you know better than to add a Rockies reliever this year, right?
-Devin Williams has struggled, but so have the Yankees in general. It will be very interesting to see how a bullpen with so many legitimately excellent (at times) closers shakes up as the season continues.
-Kevin Ginkel (shoulder) was establishing himself as the closer in Arizona, and then he landed on the injured list. It'll be even more of a committee for the Diamondbacks now, featuring guys like Andrew Saalfrank, John Curtiss, and Kyle Backhus.
-It looks like Finnegan is taking over as the Tigers' closer. Will Vest had been doing well in the role, but he'll serve in a more versatile position now, it seems.
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