Fantasy Baseball 2016: Every team’s closer, all in one place

Back in the day, it was almost impossible to save 20 games unless you threw 100-plus innings and looked as deadly as this dude. Saves were torture and relievers were terrible beast-people.

But today, of course, saves are not so hard-earned, and the closer aesthetic is far less threatening. You can be as gentle as a lamb, toss 65 innings and still save 40 games. And that’s great. No complaints here. Hooray, plentiful saves.

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If you’re a fantasy owner, it seems silly to ever punt this category in a standard mixed league, because saves are everywhere. You certainly don’t need to draft ’em in the early rounds. Generally speaking, you can find saves late in a draft, and new sources will emerge throughout the season. In a typical year, something like one-third of all MLB closing gigs will flip throughout the season.

The luxury closers are great, sure — Jansen, Kimbrel, Davis, et al — but you can still position yourself well in saves without spending big. For those about to draft, here’s a quick sweep of every team’s presumptive opening day closer, with key set-up relievers in parentheses…

NATIONAL LEAGUE

Arizona — Brad Ziegler (Clippard, Hudson)

Atlanta — Jason Grilli (Vizcaino)

Chicago — Hector Rondon (Strop)

Cincinnati — J.J. Hoover (Diaz)

Colorado — Jake McGee (Qualls)

Los Angeles — Kenley Jansen (Hatcher)

Miami — A.J. Ramos (Dunn)

Milwaukee — Will Smith (Jeffress)

New York — Jeurys Familia (Reed)

Philadelphia — David Hernandez (Garcia, Mujica)

Pittsburgh — Mark Melancon (Watson)