If you find yourself still reading fantasy baseball articles at this time of year, congratulations are likely in order, as you must be competing for a championship.
As such, every move you make should be a direct reflection of your biggest category needs. If saves happen to be one of them, and the cost of trading for a high-end closer is too expensive, you should be able to find help on your waiver wire, as most people tend to overlook bullpens on bad teams. Even bottom-feeding teams will get their wins, and, more often than not, their wins will come in close games.
The Athletics may have just 33 wins, but in 20 of those games, a save was recorded. It isn’t an overwhelming number, but with 47 games remaining there will be more than just a handful of opportunities for someone to collect a save.
Trevor May is in line for that work, and it is likely he is available in your league. The 4.02 ERA doesn’t inspire fantasy managers, but in this case, you’re strictly looking for saves.
He is not going to log enough innings for even a few minor hiccups to hurt you in ERA, and there isn’t another reliever in that bullpen ready to steal his job. Even just 10-15 saves could make a massive difference.
Though the Cardinals have given up on their season, the franchise is too broad to lay down the rest of the way, and Giovanny Gallegos is ready to help close out some games. His opportunities might be short-lived, as Ryan Helsely is expected back soon, but he has looked strong over his past few outings and has one save with five strikeouts over his past four innings. Even just a share of the ninth-inning workload can offer some value for Gallegos, at least until another potential opportunity arises.
Bullpens remain tricky late in the season, so following those on teams not competing for a playoff spot is important. Those teams are always ready to audition relievers in preparation for next year, and will often rotate players in and out of their farm system just to see what is available in the future.
If you can patch up your saves work with someone like May or Gallegos now, you could be primed for an even bigger move should lightning strike and put another potential closer in your lap.
Howard Bender is the head of content at FantasyAlarm.com. Follow him on Twitter @rotobuzzguy and catch him on the award-winning “Fantasy Alarm Radio Show” on the SiriusXM fantasy sports channel weekdays from 6-8 p.m. Go to Fantasy-Alarm.com for all your fantasy baseball advice.
