Ranking Braves RP Raisel Iglesias' Top 5 Landing Spots Ahead of MLB Free Agency

Since the beginning of 2023, current free agent closer Raisel Iglesias has recorded an MLB-best 130 saves, doing so with a 2.60 ERA.

Through the first couple months of last season, it looked like his window as an elite closer had...well...closed. But he once again has been one of the best in the business over the past 16 months.

He also turns 37 in January, which could be a frightening proposition for prospective buyers.

Because while Aroldis Chapman has enjoyed quite the renaissance in his age-37 and age-38 campaigns in Boston, he and Mariano Rivera are two of the few exceptions who managed to keep Father Time at bay. Chapman has shown that relievers can remain effective into their late 30s, but Iglesias' age still represents a risk for prospective buyers.

Throw in the fact that guys like Louis Varland, Jacob Latz and Bryan Baker became All-Star closers out of nowhere this season and teams may be reluctant to invest eight figures in an aging closer.

Counterpoint: Imagine how differently things might have gone this season for the Washington Nationals and Detroit Tigers if those bullpens hadn't blown save after save after save.

With that in mind, let's take an early look at Iglesias' best/likeliest landing spots in free agency.

Already Have Their 2027 Closer, But Never Say Never

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There were 13 closers who recorded at least 26 saves this season, 11 of whom are under contract through at least next year.

In alphabetical order by team, they are:

• Boston Red Sox (Aroldis Chapman)
• Cleveland Guardians (Cade Smith)
• Houston Astros (Josh Hader)
• Milwaukee Brewers (Trevor Megill)
• Philadelphia Phillies (Jhoan Duran)
• San Diego Padres (Mason Miller)
• Seattle Mariners (Andrés Muñoz)
• St. Louis Cardinals (Riley O'Brien)
• Tampa Bay Rays (Bryan Baker)
• Texas Rangers (Jacob Latz)
• Toronto Blue Jays (Louis Varland)

Of that bunch, the worst seasons belonged to O'Brien and Muñoz. But St. Louis arguably isn't in a "give a closer a two-year, $30M contract" sort of place in its trajectory right now, and Seattle also has virtually its entire bullpen returning in 2027, including Seranthony Domínguez, Jose A. Ferrer and Matt Brash as viable backup plans if they're worried Muñoz might be unable to reel it back in.

Rather, if anyone in that group is going to pony up eight figures for Iglesias, it's probably the Blue Jays. They have deep pockets, a considerable amount of money coming off the books this winter and a bullpen that (aside from Varland and Tyler Rogers) left much to be desired. They might also want some security in case Varland—who had a 4.66 career ERA and zero saves prior to this season—loses his mojo.

However, it's more likely that they'll focus their spending on another starting pitcher, as well as someone who can homer after the power outage (aside from Kazuma Okamoto) that they experienced this season. And if they do invest in a reliever, my guess is it'll be southpaw Adrián Morejón as opposed to Iglesias.

Beyond those 11 teams, the Los Angeles Dodgers still have Tanner Scott and Edwin Diaz, the Minnesota Twins have both Yoendrys Gómez and Jeff Hoffman for at least another year, the Baltimore Orioles just got Félix Bautista back in the final week of the regular season and the Detroit Tigers could've just brought back Kenley Jansen on a club option if they wanted a well-seasoned closer.

That's 15 teams we can probably cross off right away.

Could Use a Closer, But Have More Pressing Needs

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Athletics: The A's need basically an entire pitching staff, and Hogan Harris was quietly solid after becoming the primary closer in late July. What's more, over the past two seasons, Iglesias has a ground ball rate of just 33.8 percent, which could be a disaster at Sutter Health Park.

Cincinnati Reds: Following Emilio Pagán declining his $10M player option for next season, maybe the Reds consider Iglesias. But they've already lost Hunter Greene to Tommy John surgery and had what would have been the worst pitching staff in 2026 were it not for Chase Burns. Throw in the lack of bats outside of Elly De La Cruz and Sal Stewart—not to mention a history of being frugal—and it's simply not a likely/good fit.

Colorado Rockies: We decided to at least mention all 30 teams, but the Rockies have suffered at least 100 losses in four consecutive seasons and let's just say a closer isn't the band-aid solution to their woes.

Kansas City Royals: The Royals had a $13M club option on Carlos Estévez if that's where they wanted to invest that type of money. But if they're spending any real money this winter, it should go toward upgrading the outfield and perhaps adding at least one more starting pitcher.

Los Angeles Angels: If he stays healthy, Ben Joyce is the plan at closer moving forward. But even if the Halos don't have faith in him, teams that have suffered 11 consecutive losing seasons probably shouldn't be spending big on closers. Plus, the last time they invested in Iglesias, they subsequently salary-dumped him to Atlanta.

San Francisco Giants: Randy Rodríguez missed all of 2026 after undergoing Tommy John surgery, but he's presumably Plan A for saves next season. The Giants also have several holes in their lineup to address and need to add multiple starting pitchers, unless they are irrationally confident in the bevy of rookies they called up late in a lost season.

Viable Candidates, But Not Frontrunners

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Atlanta Braves

Usually, when a closer is up for grabs, the team that most recently employed said closer is going to be a top five candidate to sign him. At any rate, there is now an Iglesias-sized hole in Atlanta's bullpen.

But the Braves do have Robert Suarez, who had an MLB-best 76 saves between the 2024-25 seasons in San Diego. They also have Didier Fuentes, who broke out in a big way and reasonably could be the next man up if Suarez gets injured or struggles. (He also could move into the starting rotation, though. If that's Atlanta's plan for him, re-signing Iglesias might be more likely.)

Plus, with Mauricio Dubón, Tyler Mahle and Martín Pérez also now free agents, Atlanta has bigger fish to fry than aggressively reinforcing the back of an already solid bullpen.

Miami Marlins

Fool me once, shame on you.

Fool me twice, shame on me.

And after investing $13M in a closer (Pete Fairbanks) this past winter before watching him post a negative-1.3 bWAR, the Marlins—who had the lowest payroll in all of baseball in both 2025 and 2026 and can't exactly afford to whiff on eight-figure salaries—will probably be reluctant to go back down that road.

Just to play devil's advocate, though, what if they had invested in the correct closer? One who had stayed healthy and didn't post an ERA north of 6.00 while blowing four saves and suffering three other losses? That could have been a season-changer for a team that didn't miss the playoffs by all that much.

New York Mets

If any team is going to invest in a third closer with a $15M luxury tax salary, of course it's the New York Mets.

They already have Devin Williams signed through 2028. Kodai Senga—who went 8-for-9 in save chances while Williams was on the IL—is also signed through at least next season, and presumably not re-entering the starting rotation.

But, hey, what's one more in the grand scheme of run prevention?

We're being a bit facetious there, but for as underwhelming as both Williams and Senga were this season, you never know. The Mets also already traded away Luke Weaver, Huascar Brazobán, Brooks Raley and AJ Minter and enter the offseason with a less than enviable bullpen situation as a whole.

Pittsburgh Pirates

Pittsburgh's closer situation was a mess for the first half of the season, but they appear to have found something special in Mason Montgomery, who had a 1.22 ERA over his final 38 appearances, going 18-for-19 in save chances.

However, Montgomery had a 5.01 ERA over the previous two seasons in Tampa Bay, as well as a 4.83 ERA through his first 32 appearances of 2026. And banking on saves from Dennis Santana—who had a breakthrough year in 2025 after posting a 4.76 ERA through his first seven seasons in the majors—is how they ended up in a pickle at closer this year.

If they're willing to repeat last winter's spending spree (by their historical standards) with a few more Ryan O'Hearn ($14.5M AAV) and Marcell Ozuna ($12M AAV) types of deals, maybe Iglesias could be a prime target for them. Though, figuring out how to replace Brandon Lowe's bat (if he declines his qualifying offer) should be their main focus.

5. Arizona Diamondbacks

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The big question here is how much faith the Snakes have in Justin Martínez.

The 25-year-old flamethrower is signed through at least 2029 and returned from Tommy John surgery in mid-August, pitching quite well over the final six weeks of the regular season. However, they almost exclusively used him in low-leverage situations, even though their closer situation was a five-headed committee.

Most likely, the plan is to have Martínez back in the closer saddle whenever the 2027 season begins. But this bullpen has been gutted by free agency, set to return just two of the seven pitchers who appeared in at least 40 games this season (Brandyn Garcia and Juan Morillo).

Could this be the year that they pony up for a closer for a change?

Giving Mark Melancon a two-year, $14M contract five years ago was the biggest investment Arizona has ever made in a relief pitcher, which is a bit self-evident from the revolving door they've had in the ninth inning since J.J. Putz was their go-to guy back in 2011-12.

Also, save for Joe Mantiply (who has saved three games in his MLB career) randomly serving as Arizona's representative in 2022, this team hasn't had a reliever named an All-Star since José Valverde in 2007.

After narrowly missing the postseason in both 2024 and 2026, the appetite for a real closer might be at an all-time high in the desert.

4. New York Yankees

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The Yankees would rank No. 1 on this list if the question were simply: Is the team likely to invest in a closer this offseason?

That's because right alongside Iglesias atop the list of free-agent closers is David Bednar, who has a 2.39 ERA and 45 saves since going from Pittsburgh to New York ahead of the 2025 trade deadline.

The Bronx Bombers also lost Ryan Yarbrough, Tim Hill, Paul Blackburn and John Schreiber to free agency. They already dumped Camilo Doval in August. And Fernando Cruz is trying to rehab from a partial UCL tear without undergoing surgery. If he is unsuccessful, though, the Yankees are going to need to either replace or re-sign every single pitcher who tallied a save for them this season.

They do at least have Brent Headrick coming back after leading the team with 29 holds, but it's hard to imagine he becomes the closer.

The options appear to be A) bringing back Bednar, B) bringing in Iglesias or C) maybe trading with the Dodgers if they can get Edwin Díaz on the cheap.

How much is Bednar going to cost, though?

Coincidentally, Iglesias is the perfect comp.

Bednar will be 32 years old when next season begins. He has 146 career saves and a 3.03 ERA.

Heading into 2022, Iglesias was 32 with 140 career saves and a 3.06 ERA. After turning down a qualifying offer (which Bednar also figures to do in a few weeks' time), Iglesias got a four-year, $58M contract from the Angels. Adjusting for inflation, that's probably more like a four-year, $66M deal now.

Though Bednar has been solid for the Yankees, a shorter-term deal with Iglesias might be preferable.

3. Chicago White Sox

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This past January—when the White Sox were fresh off their third consecutive season of at least 100 losses and didn't feel like a remotely legitimate threat to reach the postseason—they signed Seranthony Domínguez to a two-year, $20M contract.

They subsequently traded him away for Luis Castillo, but if they were willing to spend like that for a semi-established closer before turning the proverbial corner, why wouldn't they also do so for a much more established closer now that there are routinely leads that need protecting?

Grant Taylor fared pretty well as Chicago's primary source of saves from July 4 onward, but he was a far cry from "lock him in as our main guy in 2027" dominant. He also pitched multiple innings in 31 of his 60 appearances and only started getting save chances because no one else was taking up the mantle.

In other words, bringing in a guy like Iglesias while letting Taylor and Bryan Hudson share the set-up duties could be the answer for a bullpen that sure was running on fumes toward the end of the regular season.

At any rate, after leading the AL in scoring, the White Sox don't need to worry about spending on bats this winter. If 2024 No. 5 overall pick Hagen Smith—who was spectacular in relief over the final two months—can make a seamless transition into the starting rotation alongside Sean Burke and Davis Martin, they shouldn't need to get too aggressive about upgrading the rotation. And they can definitely afford to do some spending this winter.

2. Washington Nationals

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After half a decade of haplessly rebuilding, the Nationals finally showed legitimate signs of life in 2026. In addition to having one of the highest-scoring offenses, Cade Cavalli emerged as the ace-caliber arm they have been desperately lacking since trading away Max Scherzer in 2021.

Sweet sassy molassy was this a horrendous bullpen, though, with fixing the closer situation offering a more obvious opportunity for improvement than anywhere else in baseball.

The Nationals obliterated the MLB record for blown saves in a season, ending up with 42.

While not all of their blown saves resulted in losses, posting a 6.39 ERA between the eighth and ninth innings is unquestionably the reason Washington was unable to snap its streak of losing seasons.

Sixteen different pitchers tallied at least one save, but 13 Nationals pitchers blew multiple saves. Meanwhile, their only pitcher with at least seven successful saves was Clayton Beeter, who went 12-for-19 before closing out the season in Triple-A Rochester.

And they are certainly familiar with Iglesias' work. Since landing with Atlanta in 2022, he has a 0.90 ERA against the Nationals, going 11-for-12 in save chances. That's a level of consistency in the ninth inning that Washington hasn't had on its side since Chad Cordero in 2005.

They do also need to make some additions to the starting rotation if they're legitimately going for it in 2027, but they have nothing but room in the budget to address multiple problem areas.

CJ Abrams' salary ($4.2M in 2026) is surely going to spike in arbitration, but James Wood still has one more preposterously underpaid year of pre-arbitration remaining. And no one else is earmarked for more than $5M in 2027.

This is the window back to relevance, if they want it. And landing a legitimate closer is a non-negotiable step in that journey.

1. Chicago Cubs

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With starting pitchers Kevin Gausman, Shota Imanaga, Matthew Boyd, David Peterson and Clay Holmes all now free agents—not to mention lineup regulars Ian Happ, Seiya Suzuki, Carson Kelly and Michael Conforto—get ready for the Chicago Cubs to feature prominently in a lot of landing-spots articles this winter.

But with the adventures they had in their bullpen this season, making a serious splash at closer has to be near the top of their to-do list.

Granted, if Daniel Palencia had been able to stay healthy, maybe the situation wouldn't have gotten so problematic, as the 2025 team leader in saves did have three within his first nine appearances this season. But by the time he landed on the IL for the second time in mid-June, Chicago was already looking at 10 saves and 10 blown saves for the year.

In the end, Jacob Webb led the team in saves (nine), holds (nine) and blown saves (eight), which is a rather bizarre triple crown of sorts.

What else is new, right, Cubs fans?

The only particularly reliable or durable closer they've had in the past nine years was Craig Kimbrel in 2021—and he was a disaster in both 2019 and 2020 before rebounding and being traded to the White Sox for Nick Madrigal and Codi Heuer.

It's time to change that narrative by actually investing in a closer for a change.

Because despite the aforementioned free agents, the Cubs are still very much in a championship window.

Pete Crow-Armstrong, Alex Bregman, Dansby Swanson, Nico Hoerner and Michael Busch aren't going anywhere any time soon. Justin Steele should(?) be back for Opening Day, with Cade Horton joining him at some point mid-season. Maybe Edward Cabrera bounces back in a big way, too, while Ben Brown picks up where he left off before his neck injury.

Something needs to be done about the ninth inning, though, and Iglesias should be the answer.