Having a reliable closer is at the top of every team's agenda. The Kantian ideal of a closer is a big, intimidating fireballer with a steely glare and nerves of titanium. If you actually look at real-life closers, however, you see a large variety of types. There are hard-throwers, sinker/slider guys and junk-tossers.
Where do closers come from? Let's take a look at each pitcher who saved 10 or more games in the major leagues in 2000. We'll list them by most saves, but remember that saves are a funky stat, and don't always correlate well with actual performance. Antonio Alfonseca was the saves leader with 45, but does anyone actually believe he's better than Mariano Rivera? Of course not. Also listed are county of origin and the pitcher's role while in the minor leagues.
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Where closers come from
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Name
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Saves
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Origin
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Minor-league role
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Antonio Alfonseca
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45
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FA - Dominican Republic
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Starter
(converted in AAA)
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Trevor Hoffman
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43
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11th round - college
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Bullpen
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Todd Jones
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42
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1st round - college
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Starter
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Derek Lowe
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42
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8th round - high school
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Starter
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Armando Benitez
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41
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FA - Dominican Republic
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Bullpen
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Robb Nen
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41
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32nd round - high school
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Starter
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Kazuhiro Sasaki
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37
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FA - Japan
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Bullpen
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Mariano Rivera
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36
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FA - Panama
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Starter
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Keith Foulke
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34
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9th round - college
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Starter
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John Wetteland
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34
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2nd round - college
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Starter
(converted in AAA)
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Jason Isringhausen
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33
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44th round - college
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Starter
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Billy Koch
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33
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1st round - college
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Starter
(projected closer)
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Roberto Hernandez
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32
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1st round - college
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Starter
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Troy Percival
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32
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6th round - college
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Bullpen
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Danny Graves
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30
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4th round -- college
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Bullpen
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Bob Wickman
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30
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2nd round - college
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Starter
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Rick Aguilera
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29
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3rd round - college
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Starter
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Dave Veres
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29
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4th round - college
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Starter
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Jeff Shaw
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27
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1st round - college
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Starter
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Jose Jimenez
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24
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FA - Dominican Republic
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Starter
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John Rocker
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24
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18th round - high school
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Starter
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Mike Williams
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24
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14th round - college
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Starter
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Steve Karsay
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20
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1st round - high school
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Starter
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Matt Mantei
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17
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25th round - high school
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Bullpen
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Ricky Bottalico
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16
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Undrafted FA - college
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Bullpen
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Ovtavio Dotel
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16
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FA - Dominican Republic
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Starter
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LaTroy Hawkins
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14
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7th round - high school
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Starter
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Steve Kline
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14
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8th round - college
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Starter
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Byung-Hyun Kim
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14
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FA - South Korea
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Bullpen
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Ryan Kohlmeier
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13
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14th round - college
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Bullpen
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Mike Timlin
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13
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5th round - college
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Starter
(converted in A)
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Curt Leskanic
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12
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8th round - college
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Starter
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Kerry Ligtenberg
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12
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Undrafted FA - college
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Bullpen
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Mike Remlinger
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12
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1st round - college
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Starter
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Bob Wells
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10
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Undrafted FA - college
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Starter
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Ugueth Urbina
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8
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FA - Venezuela
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Starter
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Billy Wagner
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6
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1st round - college
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Starter
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I tacked injury-riddled Urbina and Wagner on at the end for the sake of completeness.
The first thing we notice is the origins. Of the 38 closers on this list, 24 came out of college. Only six came from North American high schools. Six were Latin American free agents, and two came from Asia.
The breakdown:
North American college: 24 (63 percent)
North American high school: 6 (16 percent)
Latin America: 6 (16 percent)
Asia: 2 (5 percent)
Only seven of the 38 pitchers were first-round or supplemental first-round draft choices. And none of the seven pitchers so drafted were used as a closer as an amateur.
Also, look at how the 38 pitchers were used in the minor leagues:
Starter: 22 (58 percent)
Bullpen: 10 (26 percent)
Converted in minors: 5 (13 percent)
Special case: 1 (3 percent)
The majority of current major-league closers were used as starters nearly exclusively in the minors. About one quarter were used in minor-league bullpens; another 13 percent began their minor-league careers as starters but converted to relief at some point, usually in the upper minors. Billy Koch is a special case; he was used as a starter in both college and the minors, but the Blue Jays intended for him to be a relief pitcher all along.
What does all of this mean? Mostly, it means that closers come from a variety of origins, although the majority are former starters. Few were hot draft picks; very few were at the top of their game in high school.
Keep all this in mind when your favorite team starts praising a Double-A closer as the next bullpen savior, or when clubs start drooling over some hot college closer come draft day. The odds are against such pitchers developing the way the clubs expect.
John Sickels is the author of the STATS 2001 Minor League Scouting Notebook.
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