We haven’t talked much about Kirby Yates since Spring Training, when I identified him as a potential sleeper. There honestly hasn’t been much to say, as he has dominated all season, leading all qualified relievers in saves and ERA while ranking sixth in K/9, 16th in BB/9 and fourth in K/BB. Throw in a 48.7 percent ground ball rate and some home run luck, and you have the best closer in fantasy. Recently, I’ve heard Yates come up in the context of Edwin Díaz and Blake Treinen . Both were outstanding in 2018, and were the second and third closers off the board in ADP this season despite limited track records prior to 2018. It is easy to see the parallels between Yates in 2020 and Diaz and Treinen in 2019, and I think it is probably wise to view 2019 as Exhibit A for why you don’t pay up for closers. That being said, I am much more confident in Yates for next season than I was in Treinen for this season.

Yates has lowered his BB/9 in three straight seasons since posting a 4.14 mark in 2016. His K/9 has been 12.86 or higher in each of those three seasons. That strikes me as far different from Edwin Díaz , who had a 4.36 BB/9 as recently as 2017, or Blake Treinen , whose career-high 11.20 K/9 in 2018 was way, way, way higher than his previous career-high of 8.80. Yates will almost certainly see regression after allowing just two home runs in 55.2 innings so far, but even so, I am confident he will at least be a top-10 closer next season.

That being said, I doubt I will own Yates or my boy Ken Giles in any leagues next season, but I don’t think you need to. You can always find saves during the season if you look hard enough, and this season, you haven’t even needed to look that hard. Over the last 30 days, three players have more than seven saves. They are Archie Bradley , Mark Melancon and Emilio Pagán . All were widely available a month ago, and they are still available now in many shallow leagues. I like Pagan the best of the three, though it is worth noting Mark Melancon hasn’t allowed a walk in a month and he hasn’t allowed a home run since July 12. He has been pitching much better than his 5.91 ERA in August would indicate.

The Washington Nationals haven’t had a save in more than two weeks, so you probably have to at least think about moving on from Sean Doolittle . It’s probably a bit fluky that Washington keeps winning by more than three runs, but I would rather own Pagan and Melancon. Bradley is close for me, as another guy who was great in 2018 but walked way too many batters in 2019, a la Edwin Díaz .

Ian Kennedy is up to 25 saves this season, as we all saw coming at the beginning of the season. I’ve trusted him for a while this season, but I’d be lying if I said I knew what to expect next season. He’s upped his strikeouts and lowered his walks as a reliever, and while I don’t necessarily expect that to carry into next season, I’m not ready to dismiss it. Perhaps more importantly, Kennedy has a career-high 45.7 percent ground ball rate this season. In this home run crazy environment, getting ground balls is invaluable. On top of that, Kennedy has allowed a career-high .353 BABIP. Some of that is likely due to all of the ground balls, but I think part of it is bad luck, as well. Even if Kennedy enters 2019 as some team’s closer, I doubt anyone will trust him, but I’ll probably be willing to take a shot late in drafts.

The last Ranger to get a save was Emmanuel Clase, who pitched a scoreless inning Friday after José Leclerc took the loss Thursday. Clase got two outs in the ninth in a tie game Saturday and earned the win, and Texas hasn’t gotten a save yet. Leclerc had thrown two days in a row when Clase got the save, and if I had to bet, I think Leclerc gets the next save. That being said, the Rangers could decide to give them both saves, or simply give Clase a month-long audition for next season. If you’re desperate for saves, Clase is worth adding. And if you need an excuse to drop Leclerc, this is as good as any.

The last situation of note is in Minnesota, where Sergio Romo hasn’t gotten a save in over two weeks. He does have five holds over the last two weeks, giving him 20 holds and 10 saves on the season. It’s the exact opposite of what I predicted for him in March, but I think anyone who added him in a saves+holds league has to be pretty happy with what they’ve gotten. Perhaps more importantly, Taylor Rodgers appears to finally have the closer job all to himself. He has five saves over the last two weeks, and he should end the season with more than 25 saves.