I'm constantly thinking about what makes a great reliever. As usual, I often come up with the quality vs. quantity debate, so while I had some time to kill in a Nashville airport, I figured I'd look at the intersections of those lists. Here are the top relievers in history, WAR per 200 IP and by raw WAR.
First, by rate:
| Name | Innings | Games | Starts | WAR | WAR/200 IP |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mariano Rivera | 1090.1 | 917 | 10 | 49.9 | 9.16 |
| Billy Wagner | 833.7 | 782 | 0 | 27.0 | 6.48 |
| Trevor Hoffman | 1041.8 | 985 | 0 | 31.5 | 6.05 |
| Jeff Mongomery | 868.6 | 700 | 1 | 21.1 | 4.86 |
| Bruce Sutter | 1042.1 | 661 | 0 | 25.0 | 4.80 |
| Lee Smith | 1289.4 | 1022 | 6 | 30.3 | 4.70 |
| Dan Quisenberry | 1043.2 | 674 | 0 | 24.3 | 4.66 |
| John Hiller | 1241.9 | 545 | 43 | 28.2 | 4.54 |
| Rich Gossage | 1809.3 | 1002 | 37 | 40.0 | 4.42 |
| John Franco | 1245.7 | 1119 | 0 | 25.8 | 4.14 |
| Steve Farr | 824.3 | 509 | 28 | 16.4 | 3.98 |
| Randy Myers | 884.7 | 728 | 12 | 16.9 | 3.82 |
| Doug Jones | 1128.2 | 846 | 4 | 21.5 | 3.81 |
| Mark Eichhorn | 885.8 | 563 | 7 | 16.5 | 3.73 |
| Hoyt Wilhelm | 2254.2 | 1070 | 52 | 41.3 | 3.66 |
| Roberto Hernandez | 1071.5 | 1010 | 3 | 19.5 | 3.64 |
| Jeff Reardon | 1132.4 | 880 | 0 | 20.3 | 3.59 |
| Gary Lavelle | 1085.1 | 745 | 3 | 18.9 | 3.48 |
| Kent Tekulve | 1436.3 | 1050 | 0 | 24.8 | 3.45 |
| Jay Howell | 844.6 | 568 | 21 | 14.5 | 3.43 |
And now by quantity:
| Name | Innings | Games | Starts | WAR | WAR/200 IP |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mariano Rivera | 1090.1 | 917 | 10 | 49.9 | 9.16 |
| Hoyt Wilhelm | 2254.2 | 1070 | 52 | 41.3 | 3.66 |
| Rich Gossage | 1809.3 | 1002 | 37 | 40.0 | 4.42 |
| Trevor Hoffman | 1041.8 | 985 | 0 | 31.5 | 6.05 |
| Lee Smith | 1289.4 | 1022 | 6 | 30.3 | 4.70 |
| John Hiller | 1241.9 | 545 | 43 | 28.2 | 4.54 |
| Billy Wagner | 833.7 | 782 | 0 | 27.0 | 6.48 |
| John Franco | 1245.7 | 1119 | 0 | 25.8 | 4.14 |
| Bruce Sutter | 1042.1 | 661 | 0 | 25.0 | 4.80 |
| Kent Tekulve | 1436.3 | 1050 | 0 | 24.8 | 3.45 |
| Rollie Fingers | 1701.3 | 944 | 37 | 24.4 | 2.87 |
| Dan Quisenberry | 1043.2 | 674 | 0 | 24.3 | 4.66 |
| Lindy McDaniel | 2120.4 | 983 | 72 | 23.4 | 2.21 |
| Tom Henke | 789.6 | 642 | 0 | 23.1 | 5.85 |
| Stu Miller | 1694 | 704 | 93 | 22.6 | 2.67 |
| Joe Nathan | 685 | 533 | 29 | 22.1 | 6.45 |
| Dave Righetti | 1403.5 | 718 | 89 | 21.6 | 3.08 |
| Doug Jones | 1128.2 | 846 | 4 | 21.5 | 3.81 |
| Bob Stanley | 1707.1 | 637 | 85 | 21.5 | 2.52 |
| Rick Aguilera | 1291.2 | 732 | 89 | 21.3 | 3.30 |
A colored background means that player appears in the Top 20 of both lists. If it is colored orange, that means the player appears in the Top 10 of both lists.
Picking the players who are in the Top 10 of both lists should, conceivably, be pretty much the list of Hall of Fame relievers, right? Let's see (in no particular order):
- Mariano Rivera
- Rich Gossage
- Trevor Hoffman
- Lee Smith
- John Hiller
- Billy Wagner
- John Franco
- Bruce Sutter
On this list, we have exactly two Hall of Fame relievers—Sutter and Gossage. Of course, Rivera, Hoffman and Wagner are still active while Franco is not yet eligible. So, who's missing? Dennis Eckersley is a special case. I don't really consider him a Hall of Fame reliever (he actually was worth much more as a starter). He's more of a Hall of Fame hybrid. Neither of his "careers" is Hall-worthy by itself, but he belongs if you combine them. So, where are Hoyt Wilhelm and Rollie Fingers?
Wilhelm is a bit of an odd duck himself. With over 2200 innings in his career, he was used much differently than the relievers who came after him. In raw WAR (which, spelled backwards, is "raw WAR"), Wilhelm is second all time. That's pretty special. As a rate stat, he ranks 15th. While the #15 rank doesn't look all that special, every pitcher ahead of him not named Gossage trails him by at least 900 innings (often by well over 1000). I'll never question Wilhelm's induction. He's a pioneer and he deserves it.
Rollie Fingers is a Hall of Famer because, for a while, he was the all time save leader. It's too bad somebody got in for leading in a flawed and meaningless statistic. Fingers was certainly a great pitcher—he's 11th all time in raw reliever WAR. But he doesn't even sniff the Top 20 as a rate stat, though. He actually ranks 34th, behind the likes of Greg Minton and Dan Plesac. I don't think Rollie Fingers is a bad pitcher. I just don't think he's any better than Kent Tekulve.
That brings us to the two pitchers on this short list who are eligible for the Hall, but aren't in—Lee Smith and John Hiller. I've written a lot about relievers, and these two guys come up an awful lot. I just so happen to think they both should be in the Hall of Fame. Honestly, I think Smith's saves hurt him. People assume he's 100% pure modern save fluff. Not true. He was a hell of a pitcher. Hiller's an interesting case, as his dominance was more condensed (even though he had a heart attack and recovery squeezed in there). Without a doubt, he's the most underrated reliever in history. In his only appearance on the Hall of Fame ballot, he collected just 2.6% of the vote. Smith has managed to stay on the ballot for seven years, peaking at 45%.
A guy who just barely missed this short list is one of my favorites—Dan Quisenberry. Quiz ranked 7th in WAR/200 and 12th in raw WAR. I've often compared him to Bruce Sutter (although they were very different pitchers). Sutter ranked 5th and 9th on both lists, respectively. Still no argument from me if Quiz was a Hall of Famer. Alas, he fared about the same as Hiller (3.8%).
What's your stance on relievers? Are there too many enshrined? Too few? Just right?