Relief Pitchers

Tier 1:             Craig Kimbrell, Kenley Jansen, Aroldis Chapman

Tier 2:             Greg Holland, Koji Uehara, Trevor Rosenthal, Joe Nathan

Tier 3:             Sergio Romo, David Robertson, Jason Grilli, Jim Johnson, Addison Reed, Glen Perkins, Jonathan Papelbon, Rafael Soriano, Grant Balfour, Casey Janssen

Tier 4:             Huston Street, Ernesto Frieri, Fernando Rodney, Steve Cishek, Bobby Parnell, Tommy Hunter

Tier 5:             Jim Henderson, John Axford, Neftali Feliz, LaTroy Hawkins, Jose Veras

Tier 6:             Nate Jones, Rex Brothers, Chad Qualls, Jesse Crain, Joakim Soria

* Note: Players in bold are those whom I expect to outperform their ADPs.

The adage spoken by many, including myself – don’t pay for saves – applies this year as well (and will apply for the foreseeable future). There is just too much turnover at the closer position to justify the risk of investing high picks. Those who remain active on the waiver wire will find closers during the course of the year. In terms of strategy, I would recommend drafting no more than one closer within your top 10 picks, and then take a flyer or two on some of the tier 4 through 6 guys.

The key again though is to be active on the wire to snag new closers as they are anointed. We know Neftali Feliz has lights out stuff, and assuming he holds off Joakim Soria for the closer role and if he stays healthy, he should provide great value for owners in the lower rounds.

It appears that Nate Jones has the lead for the White Sox closer role, and he’s another such value pick in the later rounds.

Rex Brothers holds the main setup chair for the Rockies, but if anything happens to LaTroy Hawkins, Brothers will see his value shoot up. 

Neema Hodjat is the fantasy sports writer for RealGM.  He can be reached via email at nhodjat@gmail.com and followed on Twitter at @NeemaHodjat.