2012 Relievers: How Bad Is Bad? (N.L.)

On Tuesday, I looked at how the 10 most expensive A.L. relievers are doing so far in 2012.


The horror. The horror.


If they keep up this brutal pace, the lack of production of American League relievers would obliterate the previous record for ineptitude since I began tracking this in 2009.

So, since everyone has been pissing and moaning about how bad relievers are across the board, the assumption is that the most expensive closers in the National League have been pretty bad as well.

Ten Most Expensive N.L. Relievers 2012

#	Player	$	Sal	+/-	CBS	LABR	TOUT
1	Craig Kimbrel	$27	$22	6	$23	$21	$21
2	Jonathan Papelbon	$17	$19	-2	$19	$19	$19
3	John Axford	$9	$18	-9	$18	$19	$18
4	Heath Bell	$5	$17	-12	$18	$17	$15
5	Joel Hanrahan	$23	$17	7	$17	$15	$18
6	Rafael Betancourt	$13	$16	-4	$16	$16	$17
7	J.J. Putz	$12	$16	-4	$16	$17	$15
8	Jason Motte	$21	$16	5	$15	$15	$17
9	Carlos Marmol	$1	$15	-14	$18	$12	$15
10	Huston Street	$19	$15	4	$14	$15	$15
	Average	$15	$17	-2	$17	$17	$17

But that's not the case at all. While you could argue that a $2 loss per pitcher makes this a losing group, you can't say that these pitchers have been historically bad.

Ten Most Expensive N.L. Relievers 2009-2011

Year	$	Cost	+/-	+/-	CBS	LABR	TOUT
2011	$13	$16	-$3	-16	$14	$16	$16
2010	$15	$18	-$3	-4	$20	$17	$18
2009	$15	$18	-$3	-19	$19	$18	$18

If you only play N.L.-only and your knowledge of the American League doesn't extend past Justin Verlander and Robinson Cano, you can be forgiven for wondering why there are so many Chicken Littles out there gnashing their teeth over the state of relief pitching in Major League Baseball. There are some disappointments, to be sure. But there are disappointments out there every year. On the whole, this crop of relievers is just about the same as they have been early other year; in fact, they're a little bit better than the 2011 batch.

The biggest difference between the American League pool and the National League pool, of course, is injuries.

Every reliever on the N.L. list has at least 10 saves. As a result, there isn't a single negative earner to be seen. Marmol and Bell have been disappointments, but if you paid $15 for Marmol and wind up getting 15-20 saves this year, it's not the same as paying $15 for Kyle Farnsworth and getting a big goose egg.

If you play in a mixed format, closers have been less reliable on the whole. However, combining the N.L. and A.L. pools makes this dip in value significant but less of the seismic drop it would be otherwise...and far less than those that are screaming about the instability of closers would have you believe. There's a separate question lurking underneath the surface here: are closers an inherently bad investment? I'll explore this question tonight or tomorrow.