Williamson 300 – Top 20 Closer rankings

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  • By Paul Williamson

    Last Updated on February 2, 2026 10:09 am by Paul Williamson | Published: February 2, 2026

    Relief pitching values are not purely based on talent as this is not a ranking based on who I think the best arms are.

    This list is based on traditional five-category setups. The players that are valued here are not just arms I think are talented and will produce good ratios and strikeouts but also based on opportunity.

    If an arm is not a lock to receive save chances, that will be reflected in their ranking.

    When should you draft closers?

    Well, that depends primarily on the depth of your league.

    If you are in a deeper than 12-team league, it might be a good call to try and nab your first closer in the fourth to fifth round or so. These players are often highly coveted as there are only a select few number of relievers that are guaranteed to get a good portion of their team’s saves.

    If you are in a 12-team league or shallower, you can wait a few more rounds. The main reason for this is that the waiver wire will be filled with options as the season goes along as the league won’t have enough relievers rostered to completely dry up the wire.

    Also, there are just more closers that will remain undrafted as you get through the middle rounds. So, it may not make sense to be aggressive and use a top 50 pick on a closer when you can (generally) get a top-10 closer passed pick 100.

    As spring training goes along, I will update this list based on

    • Injuries
    • Performance
    • Announcements – there are teams that have unsettled closer roles (Angles, Athletics, Tigers, Rangers to name a few) so we will need to wait to hear from the team’s manager that a certain player is going to be the ninth-inning man before I can be confident in ranking them.

    I will give you the first five closers on my list for free while the full list will be available to our Fantasy Pass subscribers.

    So, without further ado, here are my top closers for 2026

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    February 2, 2026, 10:09 am