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We rolled out our final update on 2017 rankings this past weekend. While there haven’t been seismic shifts, some players have naturally seen their stocks rise or fall since our initial valuations were made in December. We’re gathered here today to look at relief pitcher rankings, tiers, and auction values, which have seen a bit of movement.
As before, this round of rankings features picks from myself, Nick Mariano, Kyle Bishop, Bill Dubiel, Brad Johnson and Jeff Kahntroff.
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2017 Fantasy Baseball Rankings: Relief Pitchers (March Updates)
| Ranking | Tier | Player | Position | Brad | Kyle | Nick | Bill | Harris | Jeff | Auction $ |
| 1 | 1 | Aroldis Chapman | RP | 57 | 64 | 60 | 68 | 68 | 55 | 19 |
| 2 | 1 | Zach Britton | RP | 64 | 66 | 64 | 64 | 58 | 61 | 19 |
| 3 | 1 | Kenley Jansen | RP | 60 | 62 | 63 | 74 | 67 | 53 | 19 |
| 4 | 2 | Craig Kimbrel | RP | 88 | 101 | 122 | 91 | 84 | 88 | 16 |
| 5 | 2 | Roberto Osuna | RP | 103 | 96 | 109 | 76 | 121 | 94 | 15 |
| 6 | 2 | Seung-Hwan Oh | RP | 131 | 97 | 97 | 114 | 109 | 70 | 14 |
| 7 | 2 | Edwin Diaz | RP | 113 | 90 | 101 | 120 | 110 | 89 | 14 |
| 8 | 2 | Kelvin Herrera | RP | 96 | 106 | 126 | 97 | 123 | 96 | 13 |
| 9 | 2 | Mark Melancon | RP | 138 | 105 | 123 | 129 | 83 | 93 | 13 |
| 10 | 2 | Andrew Miller | RP | 129 | 120 | 174 | 104 | 115 | 132 | 11 |
| 11 | 3 | Cody Allen | RP | 130 | 127 | 159 | 123 | 143 | 103 | 11 |
| 12 | 3 | Alexander Colome | RP | 144 | 119 | 170 | 143 | 122 | 104 | 10 |
| 13 | 3 | Wade Davis | RP | 182 | 131 | 167 | 138 | 82 | 110 | 10 |
| 14 | 3 | Kenneth Giles | RP | 170 | 130 | 165 | 163 | 111 | 90 | 10 |
| 15 | 3 | Dellin Betances | RP | 150 | 128 | 175 | 125 | 132 | 180 | 9 |
| 16 | 4 | Jeurys Familia | RP | 190 | 166 | 172 | 145 | 144 | 130 | 9 |
| 17 | 4 | David Robertson | RP | 163 | 142 | 213 | 171 | 177 | 128 | 8 |
| 18 | 4 | Francisco Rodriguez | RP | 180 | 164 | 252 | 179 | 175 | 124 | 7 |
| 19 | 4 | A.J. Ramos | RP | 205 | 193 | 182 | 288 | 176 | 129 | 6 |
| 20 | 5 | Neftali Feliz | RP | #N/A | #N/A | 215 | #N/A | 267 | 135 | 5 |
| 21 | 5 | Sam Dyson | RP | 230 | 199 | 283 | 214 | 217 | 156 | 4 |
| 22 | 5 | Tony Watson | RP | 216 | 258 | 277 | 219 | 178 | 157 | 4 |
| 23 | 5 | Cameron Bedrosian | RP | 249 | 190 | 288 | 218 | 218 | 155 | 4 |
| 24 | 5 | Raisel Iglesias | SP/RP | 221 | 202 | 343 | 255 | 254 | 174 | 3 |
| 25 | 5 | Shawn Kelley | RP | 236 | 251 | 229 | 316 | 265 | 182 | 3 |
| 26 | 5 | Jim Johnson | RP | 275 | 267 | 331 | 285 | 268 | 181 | 3 |
| 27 | 6 | Adam Ottavino | RP | 225 | 281 | 297 | 282 | 338 | 190 | 3 |
| 28 | 6 | Addison Reed | RP | 184 | 219 | 341 | 322 | 337 | 222 | 2 |
| 29 | 6 | Brandon Maurer | RP | 261 | 216 | 294 | 335 | 359 | 221 | 2 |
| 30 | 6 | Greg Holland | RP | 338 | 289 | 258 | 254 | 326 | 2 | |
| 31 | 6 | Felipe Rivero | RP | 256 | #N/A | 350 | 291 | 2 | ||
| 32 | 6 | Fernando Rodney | RP | 280 | 322 | 305 | 348 | 357 | 223 | 1 |
| 33 | 6 | Ryan Madson | RP | 342 | 285 | 356 | 170 | 266 | 456 | 1 |
| 34 | 6 | Jeanmar Gomez | RP | 379 | 337 | 303 | 360 | 225 | 1 | |
| 35 | 6 | Nate Jones | RP | 300 | 279 | 345 | 346 | 410 | 259 | 1 |
| 36 | 6 | Brandon Kintzler | RP | 346 | 365 | 332 | #N/A | 358 | 224 | 1 |
| 37 | 6 | C.J. Edwards | RP | #N/A | 429 | 197 | 361 | 1 | ||
| 38 | 6 | Glen Perkins | RP | 315 | 313 | #N/A | 358 | 377 | 297 | 1 |
| 39 | 6 | Arodys Vizcaino | RP | 353 | 349 | 346 | 317 | 339 | 301 | 1 |
| 40 | 7 | Hector Neris | RP | 345 | 378 | 351 | 310 | 375 | 260 | 1 |
| 41 | 7 | Kyle Barraclough | RP | 361 | 288 | 370 | 307 | 411 | 290 | 1 |
| 42 | 7 | Sean Doolittle | RP | 334 | 255 | 358 | 337 | 378 | 374 | 1 |
| 43 | 7 | Joaquin Benoit | RP | 279 | 234 | 398 | 340 | 467 | 322 | 1 |
| 44 | 7 | Carter Capps | RP | 329 | 311 | 359 | 392 | 395 | 258 | 1 |
| 45 | 7 | Matt Bush | RP | 394 | 358 | 361 | #N/A | 412 | 289 | 1 |
| 46 | 7 | Chris Devenski | SP/RP | 418 | 293 | 377 | 294 | 356 | 473 | 1 |
| 47 | 7 | Matt Strahm | RP | #N/A | #N/A | #N/A | #N/A | #N/A | 370 | 1 |
| 48 | 7 | Andrew Bailey | RP | 348 | 377 | #N/A | #N/A | 409 | 1 | |
| 49 | 7 | Brian Flynn | RP | #N/A | #N/A | 381 | 1 | |||
| 50 | 7 | Ryan Dull | RP | 347 | 380 | #N/A | 492 | 335 | 1 | |
| 51 | 7 | Tyler Thornburg | RP | 385 | #N/A | 247 | 468 | 458 | 1 | |
| 52 | 7 | Hector Rondon | RP | 372 | 338 | 416 | #N/A | 490 | 375 | 1 |
| 53 | 7 | Darren O'Day | RP | #N/A | #N/A | 369 | 431 | 1 | ||
| 54 | 7 | Ty Blach | RP | 496 | 373 | 281 | 469 | 1 | ||
| 55 | 7 | Huston Street | RP | 387 | 415 | #N/A | 486 | 376 | 372 | 1 |
| 56 | 7 | Corey Knebel | RP | 335 | #N/A | 444 | 490 | 396 | 384 | 1 |
| 57 | 7 | Grant Dayton | RP | #N/A | #N/A | 383 | 436 | 1 | ||
| 58 | 7 | Michael Lorenzen | RP | 481 | 476 | 371 | #N/A | 331 | 1 | |
| 59 | 7 | Jeff Hoffman | RP | #N/A | #N/A | #N/A | 415 | 1 | ||
| 60 | 7 | Cody Reed | RP | #N/A | #N/A | #N/A | 417 | 1 | ||
| 61 | 7 | Luke Gregerson | RP | 401 | 363 | 372 | 488 | 474 | 1 | |
| 62 | 7 | Keone Kela | RP | 384 | #N/A | #N/A | 459 | 1 | ||
| 63 | 7 | Derek Law | RP | #N/A | 380 | 468 | 1 | |||
| 64 | 7 | Chad Green | RP | 411 | 478 | 435 | 412 | 1 | ||
| 65 | 7 | Jhoulys Chacin | RP | 469 | 463 | 421 | 406 | 1 | ||
| 66 | 7 | Hyun-Jin Ryu | RP | 439 | 479 | 455 | 437 | 1 | ||
| 67 | 7 | Trevor Rosenthal | RP | 450 | 481 | 486 | #N/A | 411 | 1 | |
| 68 | 7 | Daniel Hudson | RP | 462 | #N/A | #N/A | 1 | |||
| 69 | 7 | Steven Brault | RP | #N/A | #N/A | #N/A | 467 | 1 | ||
| 70 | 7 | Will Harris | RP | 471 | 481 | #N/A | 466 | 461 | 1 | |
| 71 | 7 | Brad Ziegler | RP | #N/A | #N/A | 487 | 491 | 1 | ||
| 72 | 7 | Zach Eflin | RP | 500 | 484 | 1 | ||||
| 73 | 7 | Santiago Casilla | RP | #N/A | #N/A | #N/A | 489 | 500 | 1 | |
| 74 | 7 | Brad Ziegler | RP | #N/A | #N/A | 490 | 491 | 1 | ||
| 75 | 7 | Zach Eflin | RP | 500 | 487 | 1 | ||||
| 75 | 7 | Santiago Casilla | RP | #N/A | #N/A | #N/A | 489 | 500 | 1 |
Relief Pitcher Rankings Analysis: March Risers and Fallers
Tier 1
Yeah, yeah. Everybody has Aroldis Chapman, Zach Britton and Kenley Jansen as their top three, in some order. This hasn’t changed, and there's no reason to debate it. Moving along...
Tier 2
Lots and lots of strikeouts here. Those who are unwilling to pay up for any of the big three can find a ton of value in rounds 8-12 with any of these arms.
Andrew Miller, the league’s top non-closer, snuck into the end of the tier, largely as a result of jumping a whopping 72 spots in Bill’s rankings. Among qualified relievers, Miller finished the 2016 season ranked second in ERA (1.45), third in FIP (1.68), first in SIERA (1.10), first in strikeout rate (44.7 percent), second in walk rate (3.3 percent), fifth in batting average against (.159), second in WHIP (0.69) and eighth in swinging strike rate (16.4 percent).
Tier 3
If you take a look at the individual rankings for the tier three players, something jumps out here. Not only is my ranking of Wade Davis at No. 82 his sole ranking in the top 100, but Brad has ranked Davis a full 100 spots lower. The 31-year-old managed a 1.87 ERA — actually his highest since becoming a full-time reliever — across 43.1 innings last year, and while his overall numbers weren’t what they had been over the previous two seasons, Davis remains one of the most lethal late-inning arms in the game. He owns the best ERA and the fourth-best FIP among relievers over the last three years, and at 31 years old, he should continue to dominate while closing out games for the defending world champions.
Tier 4
Jeurys Familia hasn’t moved since our last set of rankings, but that could change in the coming days with a possible suspension looming. Anything less than 30 could mean a leap into the third tier, while 50 games or more would likely push him back even further.
David Robertson, Francisco Rodriguez and A.J. Ramos are all veterans with extended closing experience, and while they won’t post the most impressive numbers, they should all be on relatively long leashes.
Tier 5
This is the range where I no longer fully trust the current closers. It’s not that you should expect them to lose their jobs, but the confidence is lacking for me. Jim Johnson’s stock has risen since it became clear he would begin the year as Atlanta’s closer, but even he is not a sure thing to hold the job all year. He could easily be trade bait as bullpen depth for a contender, which would limit his time closing games to the first half.
Raisel Iglesias is my favorite pick here. Everybody’s starting pitcher sleeper from a year ago is now a popular sleeper as a reliever, and the electric stuff that had everyone excited last year hasn’t gone away. The Reds don’t offer too many save situations, but a strong ERA, above-average strikeout numbers and at least 20 saves could be very valuable this late in the draft.
Tier 6
In this group, you can find some of the lower-level closers. While guys like Brandon Maurer, Fernando Rodney, Ryan Madson, Jeanmar Gomez and Brandon Kintzler aren’t appealing, saves are still saves. At their current draft positions (all outside the top 230), each of these five pitchers could be worth taking a flier on for those unable or unwilling to spend on saves earlier. Of that group, Rodney appears to be the most likely to hold onto the role, considering his experience and lack of competition.
Also, Bill has C.J. Edwards — who probably isn’t even next in line for Chicago’s closer role — at 197, despite an ADP of 465 (per NFBC). Huh?
Tier 7
Nothing to see here, really. Unless you participate in a rather deep AL/NL-only league or one that counts holds as a separate category, you have no business worrying about middle relievers — for the most part. There are a few names, however, deserving of both recognition and, potentially, a roster spot.
Hector Neris served as Philadelphia’s closer for part of last year, but the job was awarded to Jeanmar Gomez this offseason. Regardless, Neris is the far superior talent, and it would not come as a shock if he were to re-take the role some point down the line.
Kyle Barraclough posted the seventh-highest strikeout rate and eighth-best FIP among qualified relievers in 2016, and even if he doesn’t earn any saves, his elite strikeout numbers make him worthy of a roster spot in all NL-Only leagues.
Carter Capps may need to change his entire delivery, but operating under the assumption that he will be effective either way, he is an interesting option in deep leagues. The 33-year-old struck out 16.84 batters per nine innings last season (albeit over just 31 frames). Plus, Maurer posted the third-highest hard hit rate last season, and is far from a lock to maintain ninth-inning duties.
