Top 10 Earners ERA + WHIP: N.L. 2009
| # | Pitcher | ERA$ | WHIP$ | Qual$ | $ | Sal |
| 1 | Chris Carpenter | $8 | $8 | $16 | $33 | $8 |
| 2 | Tim Lincecum | $8 | $8 | $15 | $38 | $34 |
| 3 | Javier Vazquez | $6 | $9 | $15 | $35 | $22 |
| 4 | Dan Haren | $5 | $10 | $14 | $33 | $27 |
| 5 | Adam Wainwright | $7 | $4 | $11 | $32 | $18 |
| 6 | Ted Lilly | $4 | $7 | $10 | $25 | $15 |
| 7 | Randy Wolf | $4 | $6 | $10 | $24 | $5 |
| 8 | Jair Jurrjens | $7 | $3 | $10 | $26 | $11 |
| 9 | Matt Cain | $6 | $4 | $10 | $26 | $17 |
| 10 | Josh Johnson | $4 | $5 | $8 | $26 | $17 |
Wow...not a single reliever cracked the Top 10 in ERA/WHIP earnings in 2009. You have to expand the table above to 12 pitchers to find a reliever (Mike Adams, who earned an obscene $7.45 in ERA/WHIP across a mere 37 IP).
Eugene's admonition against buying closers for their ERA/WHIP holds far more in the N.L. than it does in the A.L. The pitchers up above came from the expensive, mid-tier, and cheap corners of the starting pitcher market. You'd probably be better off in the N.L. trolling for cheaper closers rather than blowing $20+ on any one arm and using your excess money for quality SP.
Who were the most successful ERA/WHIP closers in the N.L. last year?
Top 10 Closers ERA + WHIP: N.L. 2009
| # | Pitcher | ERA$ | WHIP$ | Qual$ | $ | Sal |
| 1 | Jonathan Broxton | $3 | $4 | $7 | $26 | $19 |
| 2 | Trevor Hoffman | $3 | $3 | $7 | $21 | $8 |
| 3 | Huston Street | $2 | $4 | $5 | $21 | $10 |
| 4 | Rafael Soriano | $2 | $3 | $5 | $18 | $4 |
| 5 | Ryan Franklin | $3 | $1 | $5 | $19 | $2 |
| 6 | Heath Bell | $2 | $2 | $4 | $23 | $15 |
| 7 | Jose Valverde | $2 | $2 | $4 | $16 | $19 |
| 8 | Brian Wilson | $2 | $1 | $4 | $21 | $14 |
| 9 | Francisco Cordero | $3 | $0 | $3 | $18 | $15 |
| 10 | Chad Qualls | $0 | $1 | $2 | $12 | $16 |
For the most part, this is a pretty ho-hum list. Broxton and Hoffman are the only pitchers who earned more than $5 in ERA/WHIP and cracked the Top 20 in those combined categories in the N.L. last year.
You're also missing that pitcher who would convince me (or Eugene) that closers in the N.L. are underpaid. Andrew Bailey earned 40% of his Roto $ in ERA/WHIP in 2009 while Mariano Rivera earned 33%. Hoffman is the highest percentage earner in ERA/WHIP in the N.L. with 33%, but the arms on this list clearly don't have the same impact.
Looking at what these guys were paid, N.L. owners know this. None of the three relievers who cracked $20 in salary last year made this list; as I've probably said elsewhere before, why pay relatively big bucks for a closer in the N.L. when you can get a solid one for a few bucks less?
Two different leagues, two different pitcher pools, and two different approaches are what I love about one-league Roto.
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