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buster olney
multiple authors
Spring training camps are underway, which means it’s time to look at the state of baseball. As part of our 2026 MLB season preview, ESPN’s Buster Olney surveyed people from across the industry to help rank the top 10 players at every position as part of his annual positional rankings series.
Today, we rank the best of the best relievers.
The aim of this exercise is to identify the best players for the 2026 season and not who can be the best in five years or in their careers. We will be releasing one post per day over the next two weeks. Here is the program: starting pitcher (Monday), catchers (Wednesday), first basemen (Thursday), second basemen (Friday), third basemen (February 23), shortstops (February 24), corner outfielders (February 25), center fielders (February 26) and designated hitters (February 27).
The Padres checked in with The Athletic on Mason Miller’s availability midway through the 2024 season and again last June. As Padres general manager AJ Preller recalled in a recent conversation, there appeared to be no prospects for a potential deal. But about a week before the trade deadline, after A’s GM David Forst spoke to a handful of teams about Miller, Preller indicated he was open to adding 19-year-old shortstop Leo De Vries, considered one of the best prospects in baseball.
Typically, executives are unwilling to give up high-level position prospects for relievers. Preller felt this was different. “When you’re talking about someone like Mason Miller,” he said, “no one should be left off the table.”
Forst was focused on structuring a potential Miller trade around pitching, but he quickly shifted. “Leo was a difference-maker,” he recalled.
With a deal still a possibility, the two sides worked things out and completed the trade, and over the last two months of the season, Miller was everything the Padres could have hoped for, striking out 45 of the 83 batters he faced in the regular season. After joining the Padres, opponents batted .096 against him. In San Diego’s playoff series against the Cubs, he struck out eight of nine batters, not striking out one. His average fastball velocity of 101.2 mph was the highest of any reliever last season.
There is a great debate over who is the best starting pitcher in baseball. But among relievers, there’s really no doubt who is No. 1.
Top 10 Relief Pitchers
1. mason miller, San Diego Padres
Preller met Miller when the pitcher was in college, before the A’s drafted him in the third round in 2021. And besides Miller’s physical talent, what was most important to him was his presence—the leadership qualities he saw. Preller acknowledged this is not typical among relief pitchers, but the Padres have some history with it, with Hall of Famer Trevor Hoffman and, later, Craig Stammen, whom Preller recently chose as his manager. The Padres started seeing something out of Miller late last year, Preller said.
2. Edwin Diaz, los angeles dodgers
Twelve relievers combined to contribute to the Dodgers’ record 46 saves the previous season, as injuries and inconsistency forced manager Dave Roberts to cycle through an army of relievers in the closer role. The Dodgers’ response: Outbid the rest of the industry for the best available reliever this offseason. Last year was the second-best year of Diaz’s career – he allowed only 37 hits and struck out 98 in 66⅓ innings, and he held opposing hitters to a .502 OPS.
3. jhon duran, philadelphia phillies
Duran’s dramatic, mysterious entrance into games and his power (average fastball: 100.6, second-fastest in the majors) obscure the difficulty hitters will have in doing any damage against him. He struck out 80 hitters in 70 innings, and walked only one in his 20 innings with the Phillies, but he also had an absurd groundball percentage of 65%, the highest of any reliever. His kryptonite is running game: He allowed 13 steals in 14 innings last year.
4. aroldis chapman, boston red sox
For the first time in his career, Chapman was able to command his fastball more consistently on the inner half of the plate, and he achieved a degree of dominance in the first half of his career. At age 37, Chapman allowed the lowest walk rate (6.6%) of his career for a staggering OPS+ of 351. The Red Sox worked with him on a $13.3 million extension at the end of the regular season, which could be one of the largest deals of the upcoming season.
5. cad smith, cleveland patron
After Emmanuel Clase was sent on leave last year, the Guardians could not have had a better Plan B than Smith, who is perhaps the closest of his generation to matching Mariano Rivera’s indifferent demeanor. Through success or the occasional failure, opposing hitters see exactly the same in their response. If the baseball thing ever stops working for him, Smith could become the sentry of Buckingham Palace. He has had 207 strikeouts in the first 149 innings of his career.
6. andres munoz, seattle mariners
Munoz has had four consecutive years with an ERA+ of at least 135, and last season was his best: Munoz punched out 83 hitters in 62⅓ innings and held opposing hitters to a .493 OPS. His saves could be heartbreaking given his walk rate (11%), but he surrendered only two homers in 64 regular season starts.
7. abner uribe, milwaukee brewers
Uribe had an ERA+ of .249 in his first full season in the big leagues, and the right-hander’s stellar delivery and breaking stuff made him a nightmare for hitters. Last year, righties batted .211 against them, with a .268 on-base percentage, but lefties fared even worse as they allowed only one homer and a .171 average in 132 plate appearances against them.
8. robert suarez, atlanta braves
Suárez did not make his major league debut until after his 31st birthday. In his first four full seasons, he established himself as one of baseball’s most consistent relievers, which is why Atlanta, needing help in their bullpen, signed the right-hander to a three-year, $45 million deal.
9. devin williams, New York Mets
Williams made the jump from crosstown to the Mets and was reunited with David Stearns, who ran baseball operations in Milwaukee when Williams’ transformation became famous there. Williams’ inconsistency in his one season with the Yankees prompted Aaron Boone to move him out of the closer’s role – then in and then out – but Williams allowed only one earned run in two of his last 19 regular season starts.
10. josh haider, Houston Astros
Hader has moved down a few spots on this list following the recent news that he is slightly behind in his throwing program due to biceps inflammation, and it is unclear when he will rejoin the Houston bullpen. Remember, his last appearance in 2025 was on August 8. The 31-year-old Hader is making a strong case for the Hall of Fame, given his level of dominance — he has had two seasons in his career in which his adjusted OPS was over .300, and he has allowed 282 hits in 512⅓ innings over his first nine seasons.
honorable mentions
Garrett Whitlockred Sox: It was clear from his first conversation with reporters this spring that Whitlock was beating himself up about his playoff performance, but without him, Boston probably wouldn’t have gone this far.
Adrian MorejonPadres: He allowed only 49 hits and two homers in 73⅔ innings. He will be a free agent after the upcoming season.
David Bednar, New York Yankees: : Bednar may not have the best stuff out of any reliever, but he seems to have an ideal temperament for New York.
brian abreuAstros: Houston may need Abreu in a closer role early in the upcoming season.
tyler rogers, toronto blue jays: : Rodgers’ command is absurd: He led the majors with 81 appearances last season and walked only seven hitters. Right-handers made 155 plate appearances against him and drew one walk (and hit one homer.)
ronnie henriquez, miami marlins: : Miami picked up Henriquez on waivers from the Twins last February and he had a stellar season with the Marlins, posting an ERA+ of 199.
brad kellerPhillies: Keller’s success with the Cubs last year prompted the Phillies to sign a two-year, $22 million deal with the right-hander.
gab spearSailor: Seattle added jose ferrer In an offseason trade, that should take some pressure off Spear, who worked in 76 games in the regular season and seven more in the postseason.
jeremiah estradaPadres: Suarez left San Diego as a free agent, but Estrada is the third Padre on this list. Stammen’s bullpen should be excellent in his first season as manager.
griffin jax, tampa bay rays: : He wasn’t as powerful last year as he was in 2024, but he still averaged 13.50 strikeouts per nine innings and improved after Tampa Bay acquired him in midseason.
Randy Rodriguez, san francisco giants: : He’ll likely miss the entire ’26 season after an elbow reconstruction, but he earned his name on this list with his performance last year.
