5 best relievers still available at the trade deadline after Emmanuel Clase suspension

The MLB trade deadline just got more interesting. Cleveland Guardians closer Emmanuel Clase, arguably the best reliever tumbling around the rumor mill, has been suspended through Aug. 31 as part of an MLB gambling investigation that includes his teammate Luis Ortiz. ESPN's Jeff Passan broke the news.

Clase was the great white whale of the 2025 deadline for a lot of teams. His blend of accomplishment, youth and team control is hard to come by. That said, there are plenty of quality relievers expected to change teams over the next few days. This was not a Clase-or-bust situation, so teams interested in the Cleveland fireballer can easily turn their attention to other high-leverage options.

Here are the five best relievers left on the trade market, excluding some of the more improbable pipe dreams like A's closer Mason Miller.

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5. David Bednar, Pittsburgh Pirates

The Pittsburgh Pirates' inability to hold leads for Paul Skenes, Mitch Keller and others has been a popular storyline, but that has more to do with an impotent offense than the back of the bullpen. After a bumpy 2024 campaign, 30-year-old closer David Bednar has rediscovered peak form in 2025. He has a 2.19 ERA and 1.05 WHIP with 51 strikeouts in 37.0 innings this season, including 16 saves.

With an exceptional swing-and-miss rate, landing him in the 97th percentile for strikeouts per Statcast, Bednar is one of the league's premium late-relief buzzsaws. He leans heavily on a dynamic fastball and a hard-bending curve, with a decent splitter thrown in for good measure.

After avoiding arbitration this past offseason, Bednar is under contract through 2026 at an affordable price tag. The Pirates are in sell mode once again and Bednar, after years of being held off the trade market, finally seems destined to join a more serious contender. He'd be a fine consolation prize for a team once interested in Clase.

4. Dennis Santana, Pittsburgh Pirates

For some reason we don't really talk about Dennis Santana, who's enjoying career-best success in Pittsburgh this season. Again, the Pirates are a total mess, but Santana has been a shutdown force since arriving in the Steel City. After a rocky few years with the Yankees to begin his career, Santana is on a skyward arc. He's under contract through next season at arbitration rates, so the 29-year-old is another great value play — at least financially.

Santana has a remarkable 1.44 ERA and 0.84 WHIP through 44.1 innings this season. He's not an elite swing-and-miss reliever, which might spook some teams, but the proof is in the pudding. Even with the benefit of profoundly good luck, Santana sits in the 97th percentile for expected ERA at 2.97 — as in, even his regression will leave him among the very best pitchers in baseball.

While he's not a strikeout machine, Santana works confidently outside the zone with a sweeping slider, which he deploys on 47 percent of pitches. He mixes in a solid four-seam fastball and the occasional cutter or changeup. He keeps hits on the ground, he doesn't cough up free bases very often, and he's incredibly precise in terms of command. Whatever did not work in New York has been completely relegated in Pittsburgh, which should translate to a new clubhouse.

3. Griffin Jax, Minnesota Twins

Griffin Jax's numbers leave much to be desired on paper — 4.00 ERA and 1.24 WHIP across 45.0 innings — but he's still sixth among relievers in FIP and seventh in fWAR this season. Few pitchers have been victimized more by bad luck in 2025. Factor in his absurdly electric production from last season, when he finished with a 2.03 ERA and 0.87 WHIP in a career-high 71.0 innings, and there's reason to believe Jax can stabilize and help a contender down the stretch.

Still arbitration-eligible through 2027, Jax's contract is of tremendous value, which is a double-edged sword of sorts. He's controllable, but he's also more expensive in terms of what the Minnesota Twins will demand in return. Jax is comfortable in either a setup or a closing role and he's one of the best strikeout pitchers in MLB, sitting in the 99th percentile for both K rate and whiff rate. He's already up to 70 punch-outs on the season.

Working religiously in the off-speed department with a devastating sweeper and changeup combination, Jax can operate outside the strike zone and keeping hitters guessing. When he does dial up the fastball, Jax can touch the upper 90s in velocity. He's an incredible pitcher waiting desperately for a better situation.

2. Cade Smith, Cleveland Guardians

Unless he gets wrapped up in the gambling controversies with Clase and Ortiz, Cade Smith just became the Guardians' most valuable trade asset at the deadline. His excellence has been lost in Clase's shadow a bit, but it's about to take center stage. Smith boasts a 3.02 ERA and 1.19 WHIP through 44.2 innings, including a mighty impressive tally of 65 strikeouts.

Much like Jax, Smith's surface-level numbers don't really do him justice. He's sixth in reliever fWAR this season and No. 1 if we include last season's data, too (h/t ESPN). Smith gets a ton of extension and throws with blistering velocity, expertly tossing in the occasional splitter or sweeper to complement his lively fastball, which is one of the best pitches in MLB.

Smith can miss bats and hammer the zone at the same time. His command can waver on occasion, which has been his greatest weakness this season, but few relievers can achieve Smith's peak. His expected ERA (2.53) sits in the 95th percentile, a reminder of his bad luck and the potential for improvement in a new ballpark.

1. Jhoan Durán, Minnesota Twins

Chances are, if your favorite team is a contender in search of bullpen depth, you've hard Jhoan Durán's name tossed around in recent weeks. It's unclear if the Twins will actually trade the 27-year-old when he's under team control for two additional seasons, but Durán's youth and top-shelf stuff make him the créme de la créme of potentially available relievers. And he's putting together the best campaign of his career in 2025.

Durán has a 1.86 ERA and 1.14 WHIP with 52 strikeouts in 48.1 innings. He's consistently working in the triple digits with his fastball, mixing it with a splinker that falls out of the zone with lethal stealth. He can twist hitters into knots and draw surprisingly weak contact, boasting a 100th percentile ground-ball rate (66.9 percent) despite his willingness and ability to work up in the zone with elite power.

There is not a better reliever in the marketplace, point blank. Durán is still scratching the surface of his potential and he already has multiple All-Star-caliber seasons under his belt, even if the league has yet to properly recognize him with such an honor. It will take multiple high-level prospects to pry Durán out of Minnesota, but a needy contender with a deep farm system just might do it.