Kill the Save.

A relief pitcher can get a Save only if his team wins. So how is that different than getting a Win? And if we are to kill the Win, doesn't killing the Save logically follow?

Funny how that seems to have eluded the enforcers of current conventional wisdom orthodoxy.

Mariano Rivera (652) and Trevor Hoffman (601) have been celebrated in consecutive years as Hall of Fame relief pitchers largely based on their high number of Saves. But what if they played for teams that did not provide nearly enough Save opportunities to accumulate those Save totals. What if Mariano Rivera played for a team that sucked?

He did in the 2002 first round in the tournament when his Yankees lost to the eventual champion, the Angels. Rivera was a non factor, even more than a cleanup hitter might be. At least the cleanup hitter would get four plate appearances per game. Whether they had any meaning is another matter but it's very likely that at least the first PA in each game would be in a competitive situation. Rivera saved game one but the Angels scored these runs in sweeping the next three games: 8, 9, 9. Rivera never pitched in any of those three losses.

Hall of Famers with the fewest innings pitched:

Rk	Player
1	Bruce Sutter
2	Trevor Hoffman
3	Babe Ruth
4	Mariano Rivera
5	Lee Smith
6	Rollie Fingers
7	Rich Gossage
8	Dizzy Dean
9	Hoyt Wilhelm
10	Sandy Koufax

Rk	Player	IP	SV	ERA+	From	To	Age	G	GS	CG	SHO	GF	W	L	W-L%	H	R	ER	BB	SO	ERA	FIP	K%	BB%	BAbip	HR	BF	IBB	HBP	BK	WP	Tm
1	Bruce Sutter	1042.0	300	136	1976	1988	23-35	661	0	0	0	512	68	71	.489	879	370	328	309	861	2.83	2.94	20.3%	7.3%	.275	77	4251	83	13	8	37	CHC-STL-ATL
2	Trevor Hoffman	1089.1	601	141	1993	2010	25-42	1035	0	0	0	856	61	75	.449	846	378	347	307	1133	2.87	3.08	25.8%	7.0%	.266	100	4388	58	9	0	49	FLA-SDP-MIL
3	Babe Ruth	1221.1	4	122	1914	1933	19-38	163	147	107	17	12	94	46	.671	974	400	309	441	488	2.28	2.81	10.0%	9.0%	undef	10	4896		29	4	25	BOS-NYY
4	Mariano Rivera	1283.2	652	205	1995	2013	25-43	1115	10	0	0	952	82	60	.577	998	340	315	286	1173	2.21	2.76	23.0%	5.6%	.265	71	5103	41	46	3	13	NYY
5	Lee Smith	1289.1	478	132	1980	1997	22-39	1022	6	0	0	802	71	92	.436	1133	475	434	486	1251	3.03	2.93	23.2%	9.0%	.299	89	5388	100	10	4	47	CHC-BOS-STL-NYY-BAL-CAL-CIN-MON
6	Rollie Fingers	1701.1	341	120	1968	1985	21-38	944	37	4	2	709	114	118	.491	1474	615	549	492	1299	2.90	2.96	18.7%	7.1%	.275	123	6942	109	39	7	40	OAK-SDP-MIL
7	Rich Gossage	1809.1	310	126	1972	1994	20-42	1002	37	16	0	681	124	107	.537	1497	670	605	732	1502	3.01	3.18	20.0%	9.8%	.276	119	7507	90	47	5	63	CHW-PIT-NYY-SDP-CHC-SFG-TEX-OAK-SEA
8	Dizzy Dean	1967.1	31	131	1930	1947	20-37	317	230	154	26	77	150	83	.644	1919	774	661	453	1163	3.02	3.22	14.2%	5.5%	.288	95	8171		27	5	12	STL-CHC-SLB
9	Hoyt Wilhelm	2254.1	228	147	1952	1972	29-49	1070	52	20	5	651	143	122	.540	1757	773	632	778	1610	2.52	3.06	17.6%	8.5%	.250	150	9164	61	62	4	90	NYG-STL-CLE-BAL-CHW-ATL-CAL-CHC-LAD
10	Sandy Koufax	2324.1	9	131	1955	1966	19-30	397	314	137	40	44	165	87	.655	1754	806	713	817	2396	2.76	2.69	25.2%	8.6%	.259	204	9497	48	18	7	87	BRO-LAD

The six relief pitchers have at least 228 Saves.

Kill 20 wins? Tuesday, January 19, 2016

Kill the win. The idea has been bouncing around. The idea is that wins and therefore losses are meaningless stats...

Obviously some seasons a pitcher does very well and that is not reflected in his wins and losses.  See Felix Hernandez 13-12 in 2010 when he won the Cy Young award.  But basically, 20 game winners since 2000 have had good seasons at the least.

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Kill the Closer! Millions Yanks will pay: Chapman $17, Betances $3. Tuesday, February 21, 2017

Top Yankee management clings to an outdated idea that is in disrepute. It took long enough for the disrepute to kick in. After fuming about it, I finally wrote about the silliness of the closer role ... in 2006.
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Kill the Win rule requiring a starting pitcher go 5 innings. Saturday, September 23, 2017

Was that scoring rule created 100 years ago to prevent a starting pitcher from leaving early with a big lead and having a relief pitcher throw more innings and not get the win? If so, that reasoning has long since been turned around.
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Brian Cashman will pay Chapman and Britton $30 million for 140 innings. Monday, January 7, 2019

Brian Cashman has been general manager of the New York Yankees since February 1998. In other words, way too long...

So, after the closer role has been degraded, Brian Cashman has signed two one inning pitchers who might, if Cashman is lucky, average 70 innings each. That's 140 innings for $30 million for each of the next three seasons...

... 140 innings at $30 million ... $214,000 per inning for Chapman/Britton ...

Brian Cashman is a moron.
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