Later-Round Closers: Fantasy Baseball Draft Sleepers, Values - Cheap Relievers With Upside

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Later-round closers - fantasy baseball sleepers, breakouts predictions for 2026. These cheap relief pitcher draft values with upside make for great late-round picks.

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Today at RotoBaller we wrap up our late-round fantasy baseball values and sleepers series and review five relief pitchers/closers for fantasy managers who never pay for saves, or are looking for that late-round bargain reliever. Below, you will find our 2026 outlooks and analysis on five later-round closers and relievers fantasy baseball sleepers and values. Bryan Abreu, Seranthony Dominguez, Kirby Yates, Riley O'Brien, and Clayton Beeter are some late-round closer and reliever options to consider drafting.

The later rounds are where you can shoot for the moon and select players with league-winning upside, take a chance on an injured star, or even an emerging top prospect. If fantasy managers miss out on taking a top 15 reliever in their upcoming fantasy drafts, we have some late-round options who could pay off and be a tremendous value. Are their ADPs undervalued? Will these relief pitchers provide a big return on their draft day cost? Read on to see our takes.

The five closer/reliever fantasy baseball outlooks for 2026 below are meant to give you a taste of the in-depth analysis you receive with our industry-leading 2026 Fantasy Baseball Draft Kit. Be sure to save 30% on any MLB Package today to start reading all of our in-depth 2026 player outlooks and many other premium articles and tools, including Team Sync, the Live Draft Sync assistant, Custom Rankings Service, and so much more. Let's win some leagues in 2026!

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Later-Round Values: RP Fantasy Baseball Sleepers

Bryan Abreu, RP, Houston Astros

Houston Astros relief pitcher Bryan Abreu remains a high-end target for those in leagues that reward holds, but has seen his value increase as a high-end closer handcuff. In 2025, Houston's top closer, Josh Hader, missed time with a shoulder injury down the stretch, which allowed Abreu to emerge as a legit must-start RP1 in all formats.

He would log 71 total innings to the tune of a 2.28 ERA and a 1.15 WHIP. He would strike out 105 hitters (35.5% K%) and tally 25 holds, with a career-best seven saves, with most of them coming once Hader hit the shelf. This was Abreu's third-straight campaign hitting the 100-strikeout mark and tallying at least 24 holds. He generated a 75th percentile 3.43 xERA with a .211 xBA, suggesting he could face minor regression in 2026.

Bryan Abreu Could Begin Season as the Closer https://t.co/F2bFvZAgFp

— RotoBaller MLB (@RotoBallerMLB) February 24, 2026

However, the glaring concern in his profile is his command. He posted a hefty 10.5% walk rate, which placed him in the 16th percentile among qualified pitchers. This was the third time over his last four seasons in which he posted a double-digit walk rate. While this will keep his WHIP from being elite, his high-end strikeout totals provide him with a major advantage among relief pitchers.

Slated to open the season as the primary setup man in Houston, Abreu possesses 30+ hold upside with the ability to see his value spike to high-end RP1 territory if Hader were to miss time again. He is a top target for those in saves+holds leagues at his 212 ADP in NFBC drafts as of March. Managers in standard leagues should still consider using a late-round selection on Abreu to bolster their strikeout totals and to secure a high-end closer lottery ticket, given Hader's injury history.

-- Andy Smith - RotoBaller

Seranthony Dominguez, RP, Chicago White Sox

Across 62 2/3 innings split between the Baltimore Orioles and Toronto Blue Jays in 2025, Chicago White Sox relief pitcher Seranthony Dominguez pitched to a 3.47 ERA and 1.28 WHIP with 79 strikeouts, four wins, and two saves. The White Sox rewarded Dominguez with a two-year, $20 million contract in free agency, and the 31-year-old appears poised to open 2026 as Chicago's primary closer.

Dominguez has prior ninth-inning experience, as he's logged 40 saves across 322 career big-league appearances. He also posted a stellar 30.3% strikeout rate in 2025, so he's demonstrated the type of swing-and-miss stuff that teams typically look for in a closer. However, control has been a persistent issue for Dominguez, and he recorded a career-worst 13.8% walk rate in 2025. He's also been prone to giving up the long ball at times in his career, allowing a 1.84 HR/9 across 58 2/3 innings in 2024.

Right-handed reliever Seranthony Domínguez and the Chicago White Sox are in agreement on a two-year, $20 million contract, sources tell ESPN. Dominguez, 31, is expected to close for the White Sox, who use the money saved in the Luis Robert Jr. deal to continue adding this winter.

— Jeff Passan (@JeffPassan) January 23, 2026

While the White Sox are slowly getting better, they're still a team that has averaged 54 wins over the past three seasons and may not provide Dominguez with many save opportunities in 2026. Dominguez is a veteran arm that the White Sox chose to invest in over the winter, which could mean he will be afforded a long leash as the team's closer.

As a low-cost ninth-inning option with a current average draft position of pick 289, he should hold some appeal for fantasy managers. However, managers should take note that Dominguez could hurt them in the ERA and WHIP categories, and poor team context could ultimately suppress Dominguez's ability to rack up saves.

-- Will Brady - RotoBaller

Kirby Yates, RP, Los Angeles Angels

The Los Angeles Angels signed reliever Kirby Yates to a one-year, $5 million contract this offseason. Yates was a disappointment for the Dodgers last season, posting a bloated 5.23 ERA and 4.76 FIP in 41 1/3 innings. What went wrong for Yates in 2025?

It was a season marred by injury, as the 38-year-old Yates made three separate trips to the injured list last year. His home run rate also exploded to 1.96 HR/9, which is absolutely untenable for a reliever. His ground-ball rate fell to a career-low 29.9%, and the increased number of flyballs was not good for his ERA. To make matters worse, Yates struggled with walks last season, with a 9.6% walk rate.

That was actually lower than it had been in the previous few seasons, as Yates had been in the double digits the previous two seasons. He's always given up walks, but the combination of a high walk rate and a high home run rate was brutal. The veteran right-hander also lost half an mph of velocity on his fastball and over an inch of arm-side movement on his famous splitter. The splitter was uncharacteristically crushed for a .267 AVG, .520 SLG, and .365 wOBA in 2025.

He was a little unlucky last season as his 69.1% LOB rate, 17% HR/FB rate, and .293 BABIP were all big deviations from his career marks. His 3.33 SIERA suggests that there could be room for improvement, but he's got to cut the home runs if he wants to remain a high-leverage relief option.

Yates is in the closer mix for Los Angeles, but it's a crowded bullpen competing with Jordan Romano, Ben Joyce, and Robert Stephenson. However, Yates is the favorite to handle ninth-inning duties for the Angels for now and is a cheap source of saves (ATC projects 10 saves) at his current NFBC ADP of 324 in March.

-- Elliott Baas - RotoBaller

Clayton Beeter, RP, Washington Nationals

Washington Nationals relief pitcher Clayton Beeter's overall stats from 2025 don't look great (4.26 ERA, 4.20 FIP, 14.4% K-BB%), but things got much better for him after a deadline deal that sent him from the Bronx to Washington, D.C. With the Nationals, Beeter posted a 2.49 ERA, 2.72 FIP, and 38.1% K rate in 21.2 innings.

Those are exactly the type of numbers we like to see from a prospective closer, but unfortunately, it came with an ugly 16.7% BB rate. It also required a .189 BABIP to produce these results, which probably isn't sustainable long-term. Still, Beeter is the favorite to get the closing job in Washington heading into 2026, as the rebuilding Nats look to throw some spaghetti at the wall and see what sticks.

For Beeter, it's going to come down to reducing walks. He's got the stuff, with a 96.5 mph heater and an 87.4 mph wipeout slider, but his walk rate will give fantasy managers heart trouble during the season. The Nats do have a revamped coaching staff, so maybe they can help Beeter reduce his walk rate, but truthfully, we don't often see big gains in control and command for pitchers past age 25 (Beeter is 27).

Beeter is going around pick 346 in NFBC leagues in March, which makes him a decent late-round dart throw. He could be really dominant if he could ever curb the walks, and there isn't a lot of competition in Washington's bullpen for saves.

-- Elliott Baas - RotoBaller

Riley O'Brien, RP, St. Louis Cardinals

St. Louis Cardinals relief pitcher Riley O'Brien is projected to enter the season as the right-handed option of a closer-by-committee situation. The rebuild in St. Louis started at the trade deadline last year when the team unloaded Ryan Helsley. After that trade, O'Brien collected six saves while left-hander JoJo Romero logged eight. Both hurlers are back and expected to handle high-leverage roles in Oliver Marmol's bullpen.

Stuff-wise, O'Brien has all the makings of a quality closer. The lanky, 6-foot-4 righty throws a power sinker up to 98 MPH, which plays even faster thanks to his 90th percentile extension. More strikeouts would be preferred for a high-leverage reliever, but he does generate solid whiff rates with both a slider and a curveball. His 22.8% career K-rate is respectable, and when you factor in his sky-high 54.6% ground-ball rate, it's easy to see him thriving in a high-leverage bullpen role.

There's no question O'Brien can be a quality closer, but if the Cardinals split their limited save chances between two players, then O'Brien faces an uphill battle for mixed-league relevancy in fantasy. He's worth a late-round flier in leagues where saves are hard to find and is worth taking a chance on at his current 287 NFBC ADP in March.

-- Mike Schwarzenbach- RotoBaller