If you thought that the experts were pinching their pennies on the starting pitchers last season, you're going to think that they were a bunch of Scrooges when it comes to the relievers.
Ten Most Expensive A.L. Relievers
| # | Name | $ | SAL | +/- | CBS | LABR | TW | PK | 2010 |
| 1 | $23 | 23 | 0 | 23 | 22 | 24 | 21 | $20 | |
| 2 | $13 | 23 | -10 | 23 | 22 | 24 | 24 | $22 | |
| 3 | $16 | 22 | -6 | 23 | 21 | 22 | 24 | $23 | |
| 4 | $20 | 20 | 0 | 20 | 20 | 19 | 19 | $17 | |
| 5 | $16 | 18 | -3 | 18 | 18 | 19 | 16 | $16 | |
| 6 | $5 | 18 | -13 | 20 | 17 | 18 | 16 | $13 | |
| 7 | $22 | 18 | 4 | 19 | 15 | 20 | 16 | $14 | |
| 8 | $11 | 17 | -6 | 19 | 19 | 13 | 11 | $15 | |
| 9 | $7 | 15 | -8 | 12 | 16 | 16 | 11 | | |
| 10 | $8 | 13 | -5 | 12 | 14 | 12 | 8 | $7 | |
| | Average | $14 | 19 | -5 | 19 | 18 | 19 | 17 | $15 |
Pessimism paid off. For the third year in a row, A.L. owners who spent on closers took it on the chin. No wonder they don't pay for these guys anymore.
Rotoman learned his lesson. In 2010, he was in lockstep with the market. Last spring, he scaled back, though only on the non-elites. In a four-way battle with the three expert leagues, he would have bought Feliz and tied Tout Wars on Soria. Where Rotoman is really wary is on the rest of the pack. CBS gets Thornton and ties LABR on Bailey and Papelbon. LABR gets Francisco and ties Tout Wars on Nathan. Tout Wars - the most aggressive bidder here - gets Rivera, Perez, and Valverde.
I've commented on this before, but relievers (and closers in particular) are where the expert leagues will tell you to take your pricing theory and stick it where the sun doesn't shine. Is Tout Wars offering up some kind of grand commentary on Valverde's chances of bouncing back? It's far more likely that Mike Siano needed a closer and wound up paying a buck or two more than he would have liked.
Even in my own auctions I'm a pricer, so I often wind up without a closer if the price isn't right. As the charts show, there is a ceiling on what these guys can earn. Yes, your goal is to get saves, not dollars, but at some point paying too much for a closer is a losing proposition. Bailey, Nathan, Soria and Thornton were all terrible investments. Their owners would have been better off pushing that money into offense and hoping to trade that offense for a closer later.
Next 10 Most Expensive (11-20) A.L. Relievers 2011
| # | Name | $ | SAL | +/- | CBS | LABR | TW | PK | 2010 |
| 11 | $3 | 10 | -7 | 9 | 12 | 9 | 7 | $1 | |
| 12 | $5 | 10 | -5 | 9 | 10 | 10 | 11 | $14 | |
| 13 | $17 | 9 | 8 | 7 | 10 | 10 | 8 | $11 | |
| 14 | $1 | 8 | -7 | 8 | 7 | 9 | 2 | $5 | |
| 15 | $11 | 7 | 4 | 10 | 7 | 4 | 4 | $6 | |
| 16 | | 7 | -7 | 8 | 7 | 5 | 8 | $12 | |
| 17 | $14 | 7 | 7 | 8 | 6 | 6 | 6 | $10 | |
| 18 | $3 | 6 | -3 | 4 | 8 | 5 | 5 | $25 | |
| 19 | $10 | 5 | 5 | 3 | 5 | 6 | 5 | $12 | |
| 20 | $8 | 5 | 3 | 5 | 3 | 6 | 8 | $20 | |
| | Average | $7 | 7 | 0 | 7 | 8 | 7 | 6 | $12 |
Going cheap or cheaper in the hopes that you landed a first-tier closer at a second-tier price didn't work so well last year either. League was the lone success story; even the guys who got double-digit saves in this income bracket (Gregg, Capps) weren't success stories. The double-digit earners besides League were the set-up guys. Bard, Sale and Uehara all earned $10 or more despite the fact that they had all of a combined nine saves in 2011. The takeaway here is that if you're going to spend this kind of money on a closer-in-waiting or shaky closer, try to buy someone who will earn even if he doesn't close.
Twenty pitchers and 11 closers appear on the two charts above. Where are the rest?
Next 10 Most Expensive (21-30) A.L. Relievers 2011
| # | Name | $ | SAL | +/- | CBS | LABR | TW | PK | 2010 |
| 21 | $17 | 5 | 13 | 3 | 4 | 7 | 5 | $7 | |
| 22 | $11 | 4 | 7 | 5 | 6 | 2 | 3 | $10 | |
| 23 | $10 | 3 | 6 | 3 | 2 | 5 | 2 | $14 | |
| 24 | $12 | 3 | 9 | 2 | 3 | 5 | 3 | $9 | |
| 25 | Mark Rzepczynski | $5 | 3 | 2 | 3 | 1 | 6 | 2 | $0 |
| 26 | $4 | 3 | 1 | 7 | | 1 | 2 | $10 | |
| 27 | $7 | 3 | 5 | 1 | 3 | 4 | 6 | $14 | |
| 28 | -$1 | 2 | -3 | 1 | 1 | 5 | 2 | | |
| 29 | $6 | 2 | 3 | 2 | | 5 | 5 | $11 | |
| 30 | $11 | 2 | 9 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | $8 | |
| | Average | $8 | 3 | 5 | 3 | 2 | 4 | 3 | $8 |
Not (all) here. Only Farnsworth became a closer. Jordan Walden just missed making this chart ($2 average salary) while Sergio Santos wasn't bought in any of the expert leagues.
But there are still some pretty nice bargains here. Spending $3 on an $8 pitcher is a great way to win your league....if you do it two or three times on the back end of your pitching staff. Theoretically, a $5 profit per pitcher is nice. In practice, you need wins, strikeouts, and innings. Finishing miles ahead of everyone in ERA and WHIP and lucking into some saves is great, but if you don't sniff 1,000 - 1,100 innings during your auction, it's unlikely you're going to do it during the season via the free agent pool.
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