While cheat sheets and rankings are great, I often find it more valuable to come up with my own rankings based off of a research and place players by position in tiers. I am a big believer that balance is what wins, especially in fantasy baseball. I have already taken a look at my 1B TIERS, 2B TIERS, 3B TIERS, SS TIERS , OF TIERS and CATCHER TIERS. Now, it's time to turn our attention to pitching as we start by looking at relievers.

TIER 1 - Jonathan Pabelpon (BOS), Mariano Rivera (NYY), Joe Nathan (MIN), Francisco Rodriguez (NYM)

TIER 2 - Brad Lidge (PHI), Jonathan Broxton (LA), B.J. Ryan (TOR), Joakim Soria (KC)

TIER 3 - Brian Fuentes (ANA), Jose Valverde (HOU), Francisco Cordero (CIN), Matt Capps (PIT), Bobby Jenks (CHW), Kerry Wood (CLE)

TIER 4 - Heath Bell (SD), Brian Wilson (SF), Trevor Hoffman (MIL), Frank Francisco (TEX), Mike Gonzalez (ATL), Matt Lidstrom (FLA), Huston Street (COL)

TIER 5 - Chad Qualls (ARI), Joel Hanrahan (WAS), Brandon Lyon (DET), Manny Corpas (COL), George Sherill (BAL), Troy Percival (TB), Chris Ray (BAL)

TIER 6 - J.J Putz (SEA), Rafael Soriana (ATL), Jason Motte (STL), Joey Devine (OAK), Grant Balfour (TB), Carlos Villanueva (MIL), Grant Balfour (TB), Chris Perez (STL)

Drafting Strategy: Drafting closers is a tricky proposition. The Tier 1 guys are mortal locks barring injury to rack some serious points. Yet, there always seems to be a handful of players to come out of nowhere to post some monster numbers. I usually try to nab one reliever from the Top 2 tiers and then find value to fill out my pen.

Final Take: If you miss out on a player near the top list take some flyers on building depth from deep within. Tier 3 and Tier 4 players have the best shot of being sleepers.

Fantasy Baseball fantasy advice, tier rankings, fantasy rp