Hoffman vs. Rivera

I looked into the historical track record on Jim’s concept of not paying up, and going with the quality REGULAR SEASON closer. In my league, over the past 13 years (years where both Hoffman and Rivera have been closers), Hoffman has averaged $14 and Rivera has averaged $27. That’s about 5.4% of the team budget for Hoffman and 10.4% for Rivera and consistent with Jim’s analysis.

I picked these two closers because they also fit the profile he Jim described. - Quality stats for Hoffman on a historically poor team during his tenure vs. arguably the top tier guy in River for arguably the top tier team during his tenure.

As you can see, if you take out Rivera’s amazing post season stats and the few opportunities that Hoffman had (that he blew), their rotisserie performance has been very similar. They each beat each other marginally in a few categories (all quality for each player) and they have both saved approximately 35 games per year.

You would have clearly done better having Hoffman by saving $13 each year than Rivera.

It’s important to remember that the best baseball player at a particular position may not actually be the best draft pick for your team based on what it costs to get him.

This is something I absolutely plan to use next year. I wish I had used it this year! Hoffman went for $6 in my league and has 15 saves, a WHIP of .47 and has not yet given up a run this year. I have Rivera for $15 more @ $21. I could have definately used the extra $15.

Thanks Jim for the Tip. – Charles Morgan

Charlie Morgan from Detroit, MI is a reader of Around The Horn who has graciously taken his time to share his analysis with us.

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