Dominate Fantasy - Sync your team
MLB
MIA
WSH
4
1
FINALFINAL
DET
TB
7
2
FINALFINAL
CHW
MIN
8
0
FINALFINAL
NYM
SEA
7
1
FINALFINAL
SD
PHI
2
3
FINALFINAL
BAL
BOS
1
8
FINALFINAL
CLE
NYY
5
4
FINALFINAL
KC
CIN
5
2
FINALFINAL
TOR
ATL
3
7
FINALFINAL
SF
MIL
1
0
FINALFINAL
TEX
STL
3
5
FINALFINAL
ATH
CHC
5
4
FINALFINAL
PIT
HOU
9
11
FINALFINAL
COL
LAA
4
11
TOP 9 • Q • • FDSW LIVE
LAD
ARI
7
0
TOP 8 • Q • • SN LA LIVE

American League Fantasy Baseball Closer Review: Who is Leading the Yankees, Tigers and Rangers?

Looking at closers from each American League team as May wraps up.

Morgan Rode May 30th 12:44 PM EDT.

May 25, 2025; Denver, Colorado, USA; New York Yankees relief pitcher Luke Weaver (30) pitches in the ninth inning against the Colorado Rockies at Coors Field. Credit: Isaiah J. Downing-Imagn Images
May 25, 2025; Denver, Colorado, USA; New York Yankees relief pitcher Luke Weaver (30) pitches in the ninth inning against the Colorado Rockies at Coors Field. Credit: Isaiah J. Downing-Imagn Images

After checking in on National League fantasy baseball closers, let's do the same for American League teams.

Here's the last AL closer update.

Explore the best in-season tool to manage lineup/start decisions including waiver pickups, projections, trade suggestions, trade value charts, rest of season rankings, power rankings, and tons more with Fantasy Assistant.

Yankees

Luke Weaver leads the team with eight saves this season. Devin Williams earned his fifth save in his most recent appearance, but that only came with Weaver unavailable to pitch after working the previous two days.

Weaver has five saves and a win over his past seven appearances. Over seven innings, Weaver has allowed a run on four hits and a walk, while striking out four.

Williams has a win, save and three holds over his past five appearances. The two runs he allowed in that span came in the save, and he's struck out seven over five innings.

Weaver is the New York reliever to own right now - he's rostered in 85% of leagues synced here at FantasySP. Williams is still a pretty good fantasy option, but is down to 77% owned now.

Rays

Pete Fairbanks has 10 of the team's 14 saves so far this season.

He has saves in his last two appearances, and has worked the ninth inning in three straight contests. Fairbanks has a 3-1 record and just one blown save on the season. He's the go-to closer for Tampa Bay.

Blue Jays

Jeff Hoffman leads Toronto in saves and seems to have a firm hold on that role.

Hoffman has three saves, a win and a blown save over his past five appearances, and he allowed runs in just one of those appearances. He has four strikeouts in that span.

Red Sox

Aroldis Chapman is up to eight saves for Boston, and is the clear closer.

He has two saves and a blown save over his past five appearances. Chapman allowed a run in just one of those games, and has four strikeouts in that span.

Justin Slaten is another high-leverage reliever for the Red Sox. He doesn't have a save since April 21, so he's just a deep, deep league option.

Orioles

Felix Bautista has seven of the eight Baltimore saves. Seranthony Dominguez got the other save, and it came after Bautista worked earlier in the day during a doubleheader.

Bautista has two scoreless outings in a row, and he got a save in his last appearance. Baltimore isn't winning enough to support him as a fantasy asset. He's down to 86% rostered, and it might continue to drop if he doesn't rack up more saves.

Tigers

Will Vest and Tommy Kahnle lead Detroit with seven saves each.

Vest has two saves in a row, and has three saves and a win over his past five appearances. He has four punchouts and just one run allowed in that span.

Kahnle got a save in his last appearance. He has two saves, two holds and a blown save over his past five outings. He has four strikeouts and one run allowed in that span.

Detroit continues to mix and match at the end of its bullpen. It limits each guy's fantasy outlook and ceiling. Vest is rostered in 51% of leagues, while Kahnle is owned in 39%. I also like Vest a bit more right now, but neither guy is a standard league fantasy asset for now.

May 27, 2025; Detroit, Michigan, USA;  Detroit Tigers pitcher Will Vest (19) throws a pitch against the San Francisco Giants in the ninth inning at Comerica Park. Credit: Lon Horwedel-Imagn Images
May 27, 2025; Detroit, Michigan, USA; Detroit Tigers pitcher Will Vest (19) throws a pitch against the San Francisco Giants in the ninth inning at Comerica Park. Credit: Lon Horwedel-Imagn Images

Guardians

Emmanuel Clase is up to 11 saves. Cleveland has 16 saves overall.

Clase has six saves over 9 2/3 innings pitched across 10 May appearances. He's allowed three runs (one earned) on five hits and two walks, while punching out 10.

He's definitely taken a step back from a dominant 2024, but Clase is at least back to being a standard league daily option now.

Twins

Jhoan Duran has had a massive month of May and is up to 97% rostered now.

He's 3-1 with seven saves and one blown save over 13 games and 13 innings this month. Duran has allowed three runs (one earned) on 12 hits and five walks, while striking out 18 batters.

Duran is one of the better fantasy relievers in the game right now. Depending on your opinion on him going forward, now might be a time to sell him high in a trade.

Royals

Carlos Estevez has 15 of the team's 18 saves this season - nobody else has more than one save.

Estevez has been good this season, going 2-0 and having just two blown saves over 23 appearances and 24 1/3 innings. He's got a 1.85 earned run average.

He has a win and six saves over nine games in May. Estevez has allowed a run on eight hits and a walk, while striking out 10.

Estevez's fantasy value is on the rise. He's rostered in 87% of leagues now.

White Sox

Five Chicago relievers have a save this season. None of them are good fantasy assets with how little winning the team does.

Avoid the White Sox relievers in all fantasy leagues if you can.

Mariners

Andres Munoz has 17 of the team's 18 saves on the season.

He's 1-0 and has two blown saves overall, but both runs he's allowed have been unearned. Munoz has 29 punchouts over 23 2/3 innings. 

Munoz is a top-end fantasy closer this season. If you don't believe in him for the rest of the season, now could be a time to sell him high.

Astros

Josh Hader is another elite fantasy closer this season. He's got 14 of the team's 15 saves so far.

Hader is 1-0 and has not blown a save yet. He's allowed four runs on 13 hits and six walks, while striking out 35 batters over 24 innings.

Hader has been stellar in May, collecting six saves over nine games and innings. He's allowed a run on four hits and three walks, while punching out 15 batters.

Rangers

The closer situation for Texas is a mess right now.

Luke Jackson has been the closer for the team and he still leads the team with eight saves. He hasn't pitched a ninth inning in any of his past five appearances. Jackson has only worked 3 1/3 innings in that span, going 1-1 with a blown save and just one strikeout.

Robert Garcia has three saves on the season, with two coming since May 25. He allowed a run in all three appearances he made between May 18-25, and then worked the eighth inning his last time out.

I'm not sure who would get a save opportunity tonight if Texas had one. My guess is Garcia. Jackson is rostered in 25% of leagues, while Garcia is at 22%.

This is a closer situation you need to be watching daily. We'll cover any big updates in drop stories or waiver articles.

Angels

Kenley Jansen continues to be the Angels' go-to closer. He has 11 saves on the season.

He's earned a save in four straight appearances, and has allowed just one run in that span. Jansen has four strikeouts in that span.

He's at 64% rostered, and it's likely to stick around there most of the season. LA doesn't win enough to roster him in more leagues, and Jansen is pitching well enough to keep rostering in all deeper leagues at least.

Athletics

Mason Miller has 12 of the team's 14 saves. He's the go-to guy despite some struggles this season.

Across 19 games and 18 2/3 innings, Miller has a 5.79 ERA, an 0-2 record and two blown saves. He's allowed 13 runs (12 earned) on 16 hits and 10 walks, but has struck out 36 batters to remain owned in almost all leagues.

With Miller's ERA lacking this season, now could be a time to sell him in a trade. He's got good trade value with all his strikeouts yet. I do expect Miller's ERA to improve as the season rolls along, so approaching him comes down to your personal opinion on him.

#closers

More From FantasySP

Latest from FSP

Waiver Trends

More Trends
Walbert Urena LAA SP +11.1
Dustin May STL SP +8.1
Jorge Mateo ATL SS +7.0
Shane Baz BAL SP +6.6
Stephen Kolek KC SP +6.2
Jake McCarthy COL CF +5.5
Troy Melton DET SP +4.9
Grant Holmes ATL SP +4.6
Colin Rea CHC SP +4.2
Jeffrey Springs ATH SP +4.2
Noah Cameron KC SP +4.2
Connelly Early BOS SP +3.6
Andre Pallante STL SP +3.5
Clayton Beeter WAS RP +3.1
Jeremy Pena HOU SS +3.0
David Sandlin CHW SP -15.5
Landen Roupp SF SP -10.0
Griffin Jax TB RP -7.7
Cade Cavalli WAS SP -7.0
Shane Drohan MIL RP -4.4
Spencer Miles TOR SP -4.1
Michael McGreevy STL SP -4.0
Riley O'Brien STL RP -3.8
Jacob Gonzalez CHW SS -3.3
Sean Burke CHW SP -3.3
Nathaniel Lowe CIN 1B -3.0
Ty Madden DET SP -2.7
Henry Bolte ATH CF -2.3
Ian Seymour TB RP -2.3
Taylor Ward BAL LF -2.1

Player News