Closer Encounters: Reliever Trade Madness!

Relievers were in high demand at the Major League Baseball trade deadline. Remarkably, there were 28 trades involving at least one relief pitcher during the week leading up to the deadline. That's not counting the two reliever trades that happened earlier in July, with Hunter Harvey going to the Royals and Phil Maton moving to the Mets. 28 trades is a huge spike from last year's total of 18 over the final week.

Nearly half the league made deals that moderately or significantly impacted their high-leverage hierarchies. In particular, the Padres, Phillies, Orioles, Royals and Mets made significant changes to their respective bullpens. We'll dive into those teams and the fantasy impact of the trades they made momentarily.

Additionally, there were plenty of smaller scale reliever trades that may not have as much impact, both in real life and in fantasy. The Red Sox (Luis Garcia, Lucas Sims), Twins (Trevor Richards), Rangers (Andrew Chafin), Brewers (Nick Mears) and Astros (Caleb Ferguson) added to their arm barns for their respective playoff pushes, but their moves might not translate into fantasy vlue outside of AL-only or NL-only formats or extremely deep leagues. Meanwhile, the Cubs took a gamble on a former top prospect (Nate Pearson) with the future in mind.

There were also some surprising non-trades for players who were the subject of trade rumors but wound up remaining with their respective clubs. Kyle Finnegan (FA in 2026) was the most surprising, especially since Washington moved Dylan Floro and the aforementioned Harvey. The Rays were involved in several deadline deals, but they held onto closer Pete Fairbanks ($7M team option in 2026). Veterans Hector Neris ($9M team option in 2025), Kirby Yates (FA in 2025) and Chad Green (FA in 2026) remained with the Cubs, Rangers and Blue Jays, respectively. Yates staying in Texas wasn't surprising, but I'm guessing clubs didn't meet Chicago's or Toronto's asking prices for Neris and Green, perhaps due to their additional years of team control. Finally, Mason Miller (finger) was a long shot to be traded and got hurt in the days leading up to the trade deadline.

Before I dive into all the necessary Closer Grid updates, let's review all of the relief pitcher trades that went down and examine their fantasy impact.

Significant Fantasy Impact

Padres

• Acquired Tanner Scott and Bryan Hoeing from Miami for Robby Snelling, Adam Mazur, Graham Pauley and Jay Beshears.
• Acquired Jason Adam from Tampa Bay for three prospects.

Scott was the best reliever available at the deadline and will help give the Padres a stellar back end of the bullpen alongside Robert Suarez, Jeremiah Estrada and fellow newcomer Jason Adam. As of this writing, it's not yet clear how manager Mike Shildt plans to handle the closer role, but Suarez has been outstanding this season with 23 saves in 26 chances and a 0.84 WHIP. His fantasy value could take a hit if he and Scott end up sharing closing duties, but Suarez remains the presumed favorite since he's signed long-term with San Diego, while Scott is a rental.

Phillies

• Acquired Carlos Estevez from the Los Angeles Angels for Samuel Aldegheri and George Klassen.
• Acquired Tanner Banks from the Chicago White Sox for William Bergolla.

Philadelphia acquired the second-best reliever on the trade market in Estevez, who saved 20 games and produced a 2.38 ERA and 0.74 WHIP prior to the move. His new manager Rob Thomson typically deploys a committee approach, and Estevez is open to any role, but right-hander figures to slot ahead of both Jose Alvarado (13 saves) and Jeff Hoffman (nine saves) on the closer depth chart. Estevez's fantasy value may take a hit, however, as his share of the ninth inning will likely be smaller than it was in Los Angeles. In addition to Estevez, the Phillies traded for Tanner Banks, while sending both Seranthony Dominguez and Gregory Soto to Baltimore in separate deals.

Diamondbacks

• Acquired A.J. Puk from Miami for Deyvison De Los Santos and Andrew Pintar.
• Acquired Dylan Floro from Washington for Andres Chaparro.

Paul Sewald's ERA more than doubled in July and he was pulled from his latest save chance on Wednesday. Had he stayed in and blown another save, that would have brought his total to five in July, which is just as many as he tallied. Given Sewald's lasting struggles, Arizona may give him a break from closing duties, especially since they're in the thick of the NL Wild Card race. Newly acquired A.J. Puk may take over for Sewald, as the southpaw has been in dominant form, fanning 19 over 11 July innings while only giving up one hit(!) all month. Torey Lovullo could also turn to Kevin Ginkel, who closed for the D'Backs' earlier this year while Sewald was on the injured list. In any case, Puk's acquisition carries significant weight for the defending National League champions, especially if he receives the next save chance. 

Dodgers

• Acquired Michael Kopech from the Chicago White Sox in a three-team deal. 

After a strong start to the season, Evan Phillips was awful in July (11.74 ERA, 2.22 WHIP, two blown saves) and has only recorded one of the Dodgers' last seven saves. He's having a particularly difficult time against left-handed batters (.321 BAA). Daniel Hudson recently tallied four saves in a row for Los Angeles, but blew his most recent opportunity. Brent Honeywell and Alex Vesia are also in the mix for saves, and the newly acquired Kopech figures to join them after racking up nine for the White Sox earlier this year. This situation is messy, so we'll be monitoring the next several save chances to see if anyone emerges from the pack.

Pirates

• Acquired Jalen Beeks from Colorado for Luis Peralta.

The significant fantasy impact lies in Beeks' value taking a hit, as he goes from a quasi-closer in Colorado to fourth or fifth in the hierarchy for saves in Pittsburgh. He's droppable in all formats.

Marlins

• Bullpen acquisitions: None

Miami's bullpen hierarchy was heavily impacted after trading Tanner Scott and Bryan Hoeing to San Diego and Huascar Brazoban to the New York Mets. Calvin Faucher, Andrew Nardi and Anthony Bender remain, with Faucher working the ninth inning of Wednesday's 6-2 win over Tampa Bay. Nardi worked the sixth inning of that game when the Marlins were only up by two runs, so he may pitch in the highest-leverage situations, which may or may not fall in the ninth inning. Faucher is riding an eight-game scoreless streak but has a 1.36 WHIP on the season. Bender earned six saves for Miami back in 2022 and has been solid thus far (3.83 ERA, 1.25 WHIP). I added Nardi prior to Miami's flurry of trades and will likely hold another week while this sorts itself out. Based on today's usage, Faucher might have been the correct reliever to speculate on, but it's hard to get excited about any reliever in the Marlins bullpen, as save chances will be hard to come by.

Rockies

• Bullpen acquisitions: None

Colorado's bullpen was impacted by the relievers they traded away. Jalen Beeks led the Rockies with nine saves prior to his trade to Pittsburgh, while Nick Mears — who may have ascended the Rockies' leverage ladder in Beeks' absence — was also dealt to Milwaukee. Victor Vodnik has secured three of the Rockies' past four saves and figures to continue getting save chances for the time being. Justin Lawrence is who I'd speculate on as Vodnik's backup, but saves will be few and far between.

Moderate Fantasy Impact

Royals

• Acquired Lucas Erceg from Oakland for Mason Barnett, Will Klein and Jared Dickey.
• Acquired Hunter Harvey from Washington for Cayden Wallace and a draft pick.

Kansas City bolstered their bullpen with two relievers who carry plenty of upside. Erceg was a long-term add (he's not a free-agent until 2030) who has the potential to slide into the closer role as soon as the Royals' next game. James McArthur has racked up 18 saves through July but has had a few disaster outings recently. As inconsistent as Harvey has been this season, he's among the league leaders with 28 holds. Both he and Erceg are huge upgrades in the late innings over Chris Stratton, John Schreiber (knee) and Will Smith.

Yankees

• Acquired Mark Leiter from the Chicago Cubs for Benjamin Cowles and Jack Neely.
• Acquired Enyel De Los Santos from San Diego for Brandon Lockridge.

Yankees closer Clay Holmes was inconsistent in July and now has legit competition for saves in Leiter. Leiter, who boasts a career-best 34 percent strikeout rate and 16.9 percent swinging strike percentage, has a 2.22 FIP that is nearly two full points lower than his 4.10 ERA. I expect Holmes to get the next save chance for New York, but manager Aaron Boone is no stranger to using him earlier in games against tough lineup pockets. If he reverts back to this type of usage, Leiter stands to benefit with potential save chances.

Orioles

• Acquired Seranthony Dominguez from Philadelphia for Austin Hays.
• Acquired Gregory Soto from Philadelphia for Seth Johnson and Moises Chace.

Neither Dominguez nor Soto figure to overtake Craig Kimbrel, but both have experience closing if Kimbrel gets hurt. Most importantly, Soto (55 career saves) and Dominguez (28) add depth and experience to this bullpen who has been without closer Felix Bautista (elbow) all year and Danny Coulombe (elbow) since early June. They'll join Yennier Cano and Jacob Webb as part of the bridge to Kimbrel in the ninth.

Mariners

• Acquired Yimi Garcia from Toronto for Jonatan Clase and Jacob Sharp.
• Acquired JT Chargois from Miami for Will Schomberg.

Garcia might have a higher chance at a potential save share alongside Andres Munoz than most people think. He tallied five saves for Toronto before the trade, and his 0.76 WHIP is sixth-best among qualified relievers. Munoz has been dominant, but keep an eye on Garcia over these next few weeks. If Ryne Stanek (now a Met) got save chances with Munoz available, Garcia can easily do so as well.

Rays

• Bullpen acquisitions: None

Tampa Bay overhauled its 20th-ranked bullpen by ERA (4.20) by trading away Jason Adam, Shawn Armstrong and Tyler Zuber. Pete Fairbanks already had a pretty solid grasp on the Rays' closer role, but his stability increases given the trades.

Blue Jays

• Bullpen acquisitions: None

With Jordan Romano currently on the 60-day IL with an elbow injury, Chad Green's stability as the Jays' closer increases with Yimi Garcia and Trevor Richards out of the picture.

Minimal or No Fantasy Impact

I won't bother diving into most of these trades, as most won't have any fantasy impact outside of extremely deep or "only" formats.

Mets - Acquired Ryne Stanek from Seattle for Rhylan Thomas.

Mets - Acquired Huascar Brazoban from Miami for Wilfredo Lara.

Mets - Acquired Tyler Zuber from Tampa Bay for Paul Gervase.

Red Sox - Acquired Lucas Sims from Cincinnati for Ovis Portes.

Red Sox - Acquired Luis Garcia from Los Angeles Angels for a package of prospects.

Braves - Acquired Luke Jackson from San Francisco in a multi-player deal, with Tyler Matzek heading back to the Giants.

Brewers - Acquired Nick Mears from Colorado for two prospects.

Twins - Acquired Trevor Richards from Toronto for Jay Harry.

Rangers - Acquired Andrew Chafin from Detroit for Joseph Montalvo and Chase Lee.

Astros - Acquired Caleb Ferguson from New York Yankees for Kelly Austin.

Cardinals - Acquired Shawn Armstrong from Tampa Bay for Dylan Carlson. The fantasy impact actually lies on the opposite side of this deal, with Carlson potentially getting the chance to reignite his career with the Rays.

Cubs - Acquired Nate Pearson from Toronto for two prospects. It's possible they give him a shot in the ninth inning as the season winds down, but his first outing with his new team was not very inspiring.

Angels - Acquired Mike Baumann from San Francisco for cash.