The Dynasty Closer Hierarchy is back… and crazier than ever! This year's trade deadline saw a ton of reliever movement, especially at the upper-echelons of closers. The greatest relief asset in the MLB, Mason Miller, was moved, proving once again that relievers are the most interesting group of baseball players out there.
Nate Rasmussen
With all of this player movement, you now have a window open to buy on some unknown faces that are now set up for leverage roles on selling teams. While it isn’t sexy to buy minor league relievers on bad teams, if you’re format is deep enough, this will be a huge advantage for you when these teams escape the basement of the MLB.
To give you some faith in this tool, let’s recall the past few updates, where I begged for you to pick up Randy Rodriguez. Well, he’s now in line to be the Giants’ everyday closer despite starting the year buried on their bullpen depth chart. The majority of these recommendations will not be short-term moves, but if you’re patient enough, you can land yourself some good players.
Hierarchy Players Moving Teams
Tyson Neighbors, Tier 1 Setup, 2027, BAL
Micah Ashman, Tier 2 Setup, 2028, BAL
Camilo Doval, tier 2 closer, now, NYY
David Bednar, tier 2 closer, now, NYY
Griffin Jax, tier 2 closer, 2026, TB
Louis Varland, tier 2 setup, now, TOR
Kyle Finnegan, tier 1 setup, now, DET
Phil Maton, tier 2 setup, now, TEX
Ryan Helsley, tier 1 closer, now, NYM
Jhoan Duran, tier 1 closer, now, PHI
Evan Sisk, tier 2 setup, 2026, PIT
Hunter Cranton, tier 1 setup, 2028, AZ
Mason Miller, tier 1 closer, now, SD
Smada
New to the Hierarchy
Andy Fabian, Tier 2 Setup, 2029, BAL
Matt McShane, Tier 2 setup, 2028, BOS
Yondrei Rojas, middle relief, 2028, TOR
Grant Taylor, tier 1 closer, 2026, CHW
Erik Sabrowski, tier 2 setup, now, CLE
Tyler Holton, tier 2 setup, now, DET
Augusto Mendieta, tier 2 setup, 2029, KC
Kade Bragg, middle relief, 2027 MIN
Brent Francisco, middle relief, 2028, MIN
Ruddy Gomez, middle relief, 2029, MIN
Sean Newcomb, tier 2 setup, now, ATH
Bryan King, tier 2 setup, now, HOU
Reid Detmers, tier 2 setup, now, LAA
Jose Fermin, middle relief, 2026, LAA
Carlos Vargas, tier 2 setup, now, SEA
Jesus Gamez, middle relief, 2029, TEX
Dylan Lee, middle relief, now, ATL
Josh White, tier 1 setup, 2026, MIA
Ronny Henriquez, tier 1 setup, now, MIA
Cole Henry, tier 2 setup, 2026, WAS
Pablo Aldonis, tier 2 setup, 2028, WAS
Adam Bloebaum, middle relief, 2028, WAS
Jackson Kirkpatrick, middle relief, 2028, CHC
Tony Santillan, tier 2 setup, now, CIN
Brandan Bidois, tier 2 setup, 2029, PIT
JoJo Romero, tier 2 setup, now, STL
Jaden Hill, middle relief, 2026, COL
Alex Vesia, tier 1 setup, now, LAD
Ronan Kopp, tier 2 setup, 2027, LAD
Marques Johnson, middle relief, 2028, SF
Now, as always, let’s get into some individual player and team notes.
Notes
The Grant Taylor Thing
Yes, I did not have Grant Taylor on the previous closer hierarchy. Yes, he is now on it! This is because he is now, in fact, a closer. You see, I choose not to put players into the hierarchy until I am sure that they will be a reliever, or at least 90% sure. I am still not convinced the White Sox won’t transition Grant Taylor back to starting at some point in the next few years, but for now, he is an electric closer on a team that is steadily improving. Taylor has all the makings of the next Mason Miller, and when Grant inevitably gets traded to a contender, his value will increase even more. I would overpay for Grant Taylor as soon as you can, because the price likely won’t be this low ever again.
Baltimore Orioles
The Orioles had a nice baby sell-off that included getting a haul of young pitching from the San Diego Padres. The most notable for this exercise is Tyson Neighbors, who projects to be the closer of the future in Baltimore. Neighbors has three plus pitches with a really great breaking ball. He strikes out batters at a high clip and has some draft pedigree coming out of Kansas State.
New York Yankees
The Yankees now have 4 tier 2 closers in my eyes, without a tier 1 closer. This is going to make this bullpen a ridiculous one to manage over the next year or two, which would lead me to recommend cutting your bait on some of these guys. My favorite of the group remains Devin Williams, because of the pure upside he possesses. You can buy low on Williams right now and enjoy a bounceback 2026, as his numbers under the hood really aren’t all that bad despite poor results.
Griffin Jax
This Rays bullpen is incredibly talented. Edwin Uceta is not even on the hierarchy, yet he is one of the most dominant relievers in baseball currently. I could see Uceta being moved this offseason for a bat or younger talent. I could also see Pete Fairbanks being moved soon, without much control on his contract, and the team trading for Jax signaling they might want to go in a different direction. While Jax appears to be one guy in a competitive group, I would anticipate him moving into a full-time closing role next year.
Cleveland Guardians
Well, Emmanuel Clase has been removed from the hierarchy amid his gambling investigation. Because of this, Cade Smith now has all of the runway to become one of the best closers in the league. It will be hard to pry Cade Smith away from owners now, but he’s on a team that is in a contending window without much competition for the closing role, assuming Clase will face a suspension or ban.
Detroit Tigers
I would stay away from the Tigers' bullpen except for maybe Will Vest. The Tigers' pen operates in a fast-moving way, where it is unlikely that any player will be their closer for a long period of time unless an A+ talent emerges soon. Will Vest is the safest bet to get save opportunities moving forward, despite the acquisition of Kyle Finnegan changing that in the short term.
Minnesota Twins Dumpster Fire
The Twins' bullpen has been absolutely demolished, with Cole Sands the only true survivor of their sell-off. Cole Sands is a good pitcher, but not an everyday closer type, with a large downtick in strikeouts this year. Kade Bragg could be the next guy up, but he’s still a ways away from a leverage role in the MLB, making this a team to stay away from for now.
The Athletics
The A’s sold their only true leverage reliever in Mason Miller, making this a team to circle in the dynasty world. The offense is good enough to start the A’s contending window in 2026, but they do not have a clear reliever to take over closing duties as they start winning more games. Justin Sterner is my highest recommendation at this point, after dominating to start the year but falling off as of late. The only problem with Sterner is that he gives up a lot of home runs, which in part is a byproduct of the ballpark he plays in. Elvis Alvarado is someone to keep an eye on, with the velocity and strikeout numbers to hold down a closing role in the future.
Texas Rangers
The Rangers are in a weird spot, with Phil Maton likely being their best reliever in the short term alongside Danny Coulombe. In the long term, there is no clear top dog for Texas, although I really like Robby Ahlstrom, who is currently in Triple-A. While he doesn’t profile as a top closer, I think high-leverage innings are in his 2026 future. I’d expect the Rangers to trade for or sign a top reliever this offseason.
Miami Marlins
The Marlins might be the best team in the league at developing relievers. I know that might come as a surprise, but they have so many good options that were left off their hierarchy. I really like Ronny Henriquez in the short term, including 2026, where I expect him to be their closer out of the gate. In the long term, Jesse Bergin is still my favorite pitcher in their system, but he has a bunch of competition with guys like Nigel Belgrave and Josh White.
Pittsburgh Pirates
Evan Sisk is the reliever to know in this system, after being dealt to the Pirates from the Royals in the Bailey Falter deal. Sisk has insane strikeout stuff, with better command being the only thing keeping him from leverage innings in 2026. The Pirates have Sisk in Triple-A, but we could see him join the big league pen soon.
San Diego Padres
Well, they did it. Mason Miller is the best closer asset in baseball, and with him now on a better team, I would project Miller’s value to be at an all-time high. While the Padres have an incredible amount of bullpen options, none provide the same upside and production that Miller does. If you can somehow swing a massive deal for Miller, I would do it and overpay at that.
Randy Rodriguez
It finally happened, Randy Rodriguez is getting save opportunities for the Giants. Rodriguez has been my biggest recommendation all year, and there is still an opportunity to buy on him for the coming years. His second-half production hasn’t been great, but I trust in Rodriguez’s stuff and abilities moving forward.
Craig Yoho
Despite a poor MLB debut, Craig Yoho is still the most talented reliever in Milwaukee's system and should get regular big league innings in 2026. While he might be a few years away from closing, he has as good a chance as anyone with some really high-quality stuff.
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