The All-Reliever Fantasy Draft: Chaos, Strategy, and What We Learned
Five years ago, my friends and I needed a better way to prove who had the sharpest eye for relief pitching. The settings for our beloved H2H categories league were constantly in flux as we learned the ins and outs of fantasy baseball. Setting a weekly roto lineup wasn’t enough for us—this group thrives on the intensity of a daily lineup league.
With our league already breaking the mold, we doubled down on alternative scoring, separating saves and holds to add another layer of strategy. The meta took shape quickly, as building a dominant bullpen became the clear path to victory. A relentless wave of elite closers and setup men, backed by pristine ratios, proved unstoppable.
Our obsession with relievers kept growing, but at some point, we realized we were drifting too far from the game's roots. That’s when we had an idea. What if we had a league that only counted relief pitching stats?
Since then, we’ve tweaked the settings but seem to have settled on a format that works:
6 teams, roto-style scoring with daily lineups
5 categories: saves, holds, Ks, ERA, WHIP
10 active RP slots, 3 bench, 1 IL
FAAB runs twice per week
Oh, and it’s an auction draft.
Two weeks ago, the 2025 bidding took place. Here’s what happened.
How the Draft Played Out
Below are the players who went for the most money. Remember that this isn’t the order in which they were nominated.
Miller's setting of the market makes sense. The A’s are no longer a bottom feeder, and his season-long strikeout upside is higher than anyone’s.
Clase’s grip on Cleveland’s ninth-inning understandably fetched a premium. This format rewards elite setup arms more than any other, but the totality of RPs rostered means that saves are a rare commodity on the waiver wire.
Then, we have a group of high-K, capital-C closers in the mid- to upper 20s. I was shopping in this range to secure an anchor, and I was able to purchase Muñoz at a slight discount.
Smith drew the highest bid among the elite setup men. As we’ll explore, the concentration of money at this upper range later led to some incredible values.
Best Bargains
The rush of an auction typically leads to early overpays. A few managers were locked out of specific price points with only six teams in the league. Here are the players I view as the biggest steals:
I specifically targeted Jax, Estrada, and Puk, three non-closers. I ended up with none of them. Everyone’s primary objective was to secure saves, but the flow of our auction led to this group slipping through at opportunistic times.
In retrospect, the salary gap between them and Smith seems wild, but balancing the need to secure top pitchers while maintaining a flexible budget proved a tough challenge.
My Roster
Sitting out the first wave of closers led to a spread-the-wealth approach among the second tier. Scott and Hoffman are low-end Tier 1 closers, and I was happy to wind up with them at the prices I did.
Hoarding Arizona’s bullpen was a goal, but missing out on Puk still hurts. Swapping out Strahm for him would’ve been optimal.
My biggest regret is Bednar. He came up early in the auction when everyone had money to spend. I liked the idea of cheaply buying saves, but even a few extra dollars would’ve made a big difference in the endgame.
Alvarado is my favorite sleeper. Spring stats don’t mean much, but he struck out 59% of the batters he faced in Grapefruit League play. Across nine innings, that’s not an insignificant sample. Combining him with Strahm and Kerkering means I’m fading Jordan Romano’s chances at closing.
Lastly, Montgomery is someone whose stuff plays up exceptionally well as a reliever. The Rays moved him to the bullpen last August. Between Triple-A (2024), the majors (2024), and spring training (2025), he has struck out 46 batters in 26.2 IP.
Final Thoughts
Fantasy baseball comes in many forms—roto, H2H, points, categories, dynasty, and best ball, to name a few. The all-relievers league adds another layer, offering our group a unique way to analyze the player pool.
We’re entering the fifth year of “RP League,” and I’d be lying if I said it wasn’t on life support at times. But I’m glad we’re doing it again. Fantasy baseball thrives when player analysis takes center stage, and adjusting rankings for a different scoring environment is a blast.
That’s what we’re all after, right? A way to escape, even for a few minutes, by checking how our fantasy teams performed that day? Enter the chaos of an all-relievers league, where years of data are tossed aside in favor of small-sample superstars lighting up the radar gun. Here’s to an entertaining 2025.