American League Closer Landscape: Weekly Fantasy Baseball Breakdown

It's time to look over closer situations across the MLB. We will look at American League teams here, going in order of records so far.

Check back for the writeup on National League teams. Here's the last AL update we did.

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Rays

Bryan Baker has emerged as the team's closer. He had two saves over the past week, but blew a save six days ago.

Mason Englert earned a save on Sunday, a day after Baker blew his save.

The Rays' bullpen is a fluid one, so this is still a situation to watch. I like Baker, and think he's worth adding in some deeper leagues, but he needs to keep earning every save to see his own percentage keep rising.

Twins

No Minnesota reliever earned a save over the past week, so nothing has been cleared up.

Cole Sands, Taylor Rogers and Justin Topa still are the best options for saves, so they are the ones to watch. We'll see if we ever get an answer on who the team's go-to closer is. Minnesota is winning enough to support a fantasy owner, at least for now.

Guardians

Cade Smith earned a save for Cleveland this week, but also blew a save.

The closer role belongs to Smith, but more struggles could lead to a guy like Hunter Gaddis or Erik Sabrowski getting save chances at some point.

Athletics

Joel Kuhnel earned two saves for the Athletics this week, but Mark Leiter Jr. also got one. It looks like the go-to closer is Kuhnel, but that's not set in stone quite yet.

Kuhnel is worth adding in more fantasy leagues, but just deeper leagues for the time being. Keep tabs on him and we'll see if he keeps getting the save chances.

Rangers

Jakob Junis earned the only save of the week for Texas. He earned a hold on Thursday though, before Jacob Latz blew a save.

Junis is probably the preferred closer, but the situation is still up in the air. Cole Winn, Robert Garcia and Tyler Alexander are some other options, while Chris Martin is not after he hit the 15-day injured list.

Keep tabs on this situation, as it's an evolving one.

Tigers

Kenley Jansen earned two saves for Detroit this week. Drew Anderson earned one too, but it was a 61-pitch effort over 3 1/3 innings.

The closer role belongs to Jansen. Now it's up to the Tigers to win enough to support Jansen.

Kyle Finnegan and Will Vest are probably the top options to get saves if Jansen is ever unavailable or injured.

Yankees

David Bednar is the team's closer. He earned a win this week, but blew a save and took a loss last Saturday.

He's still in no danger of losing the closer role, and I think Bednar should remain a good fantasy option in the long run.

Camilo Doval and Fernando Cruz are likely the next two in line for saves if Bednar is ever hurt or unavailable.

Angels

Jordan Romano has been serving as the team's closer, but he took two blown saves and losses this week. Now his role is maybe up in the air, so it's a situation to watch.

Drew Pomeranz earned holds in both games Romano blew saves, so he could maybe earn some save chances going forward. Chase Silseth and Sam Bachman are a couple other options.

Orioles

Ryan Helsley got a save for the Orioles this week, and has the closer role locked down for now.

Rico Garcia and Anthony Nunez are the top setup men for now, as several Baltimore relievers are out with injuries. 

Astros

Enyel De Los Santos emerged as the Houston closer this week. He earned saves on Tuesday and Wednesday.

Bryan Abreu had the closer role coming into the season, but struggled and lost the honor of closing games. He and Bryan King are options for saves alongside De Los Santos as Josh Hader is still out.

Hader is expected back in May, so even though De Los Santos could be a short-term option, he's worth utilizing for a little bit.

Mariners

Andres Munoz is the team's closer, but didn't get a save over the past week. He did get a win, but he also took a loss.

Matt Brash and Jose A. Ferrer are the next in line for saves in Seattle, but Munoz will get the save chances unless he's unavailable, or injured.

Blue Jays

Jeff Hoffman should still be the team's closer, but he did blow a save this week. Tyler Rogers also blew a lead and took a loss, and he'd likely be next in line for saves.

The job should belong to Hoffman, unless he keeps struggling, or gets injured. Now, Toronto just needs to start winning some more to help Hoffman start earning some more fantasy points.

Red Sox 

Aroldis Chapman is the Boston closer, but he didn't earn a save this week. He pitched on Tuesday, and didn't earn a decision.

Garrett Whitlock would likely be next in line for saves, and Greg Weissert is likely after that. Chapman is in no danger of losing the closer role, but Boston needs to win more, so Chapman can work and score more fantasy points.

Royals

Lucas Erceg is holding down the closer role with Carlos Estevez still on the injured list. Erceg earned a save on Saturday, but blew a lead and took a loss on Thursday, so he'll be dropped in a few leagues.

We'll have to wait until Estevez is activated to see who gets the save chances in Kansas City. For now, I think Erceg is the guy, but it's something to watch daily.

White Sox

Seranthony Dominguez is the team's closer. He had mixed results this week, earning one save, but also blowing a save and taking a loss.

I think the job still firmly belongs to Dominguez though. I just don't think Chicago will win enough to make him anything but a deep-league fantasy asset, and Dominguez might not be consistent enough to own in standard leagues anyways.