Headlines

  • Mets To Promote Top Prospect Brett Baty
  • Carlos Carrasco Diagnosed With Low-Grade Oblique Strain
  • A’s Promote Shea Langeliers, Release Stephen Piscotty
  • Rangers Fire Manager Chris Woodward
  • Walker Buehler To Undergo Season-Ending Elbow Surgery
  • Orioles Promote DL Hall
  • Previous
  • Next
Register
Login
  • Hoops Rumors
  • Pro Football Rumors
  • Pro Hockey Rumors

MLB Trade Rumors

  • Home
  • Teams
    • AL East
      • Baltimore Orioles
      • Boston Red Sox
      • New York Yankees
      • Tampa Bay Rays
      • Toronto Blue Jays
    • AL Central
      • Chicago White Sox
      • Cleveland Guardians
      • Detroit Tigers
      • Kansas City Royals
      • Minnesota Twins
    • AL West
      • Houston Astros
      • Los Angeles Angels
      • Oakland Athletics
      • Seattle Mariners
      • Texas Rangers
    • NL East
      • Atlanta Braves
      • Miami Marlins
      • New York Mets
      • Philadelphia Phillies
      • Washington Nationals
    • NL Central
      • Chicago Cubs
      • Cincinnati Reds
      • Milwaukee Brewers
      • Pittsburgh Pirates
      • St. Louis Cardinals
    • NL West
      • Arizona Diamondbacks
      • Colorado Rockies
      • Los Angeles Dodgers
      • San Diego Padres
      • San Francisco Giants
  • About
    • MLB Trade Rumors
    • Tim Dierkes
    • Writing team
    • Advertise
    • Archives
  • Contact
  • Tools
    • 2021-22 MLB Free Agent Tracker
    • 2021-22 MLB Free Agent List
    • 2022-23 MLB Free Agent List
    • Top 50 Free Agents
    • Projected Arbitration Salaries For 2022
    • Transaction Tracker
    • Extension Tracker
    • Arbitration Tracker
    • Agency Database
  • NBA/NFL/NHL
    • Hoops Rumors
    • Pro Football Rumors
    • Pro Hockey Rumors
  • App
  • Chats
Go To Pro Hockey Rumors
Go To Hoops Rumors

How Are Free Agent Relievers Doing?

By Tim Dierkes | June 17, 2011 at 10:21am CDT

During the 2010-11 offseason, 42 relievers signed Major League free agent deals.  From Rafael Soriano at $35MM to Taylor Buchholz at $600K, almost $253MM was invested in these relievers.  How are they doing so far?

Numbers for the average American League reliever:  a 3.86 ERA, 7.3 K/9, 3.8 BB/9, and 0.88 HR/9.  AL teams threw around much of the relief cash during the offseason, accounting for more than 81% of the total spend.  The 26 signees have totaled 576 1/3 innings, from Joel Peralta at 33 1/3 to Pedro Feliciano at zero.  The average reliever in this group has 22 innings.  The results for the free agents: a 4.09 ERA, 7.6 K/9, 3.5 BB/9, and 1.00 HR/9 – pretty close to league average.  Though he's allowed five home runs, Koji Uehara has probably been the best investment. 

The average National League reliever has a 3.54 ERA, 8.0 K/9, 3.8 BB/9, and 0.74 HR/9.  NL teams invested only $48MM in relievers, as compared to $204MM for the AL.  The 16 NL signees have totaled 306 1/3 innings, or about 19 each.  Chad Qualls has been the workhorse at 35 innings, while Takashi Saito has registered only two frames.  As a whole the group has a 3.64 ERA, 7.8 K/9, 3.3 BB/9, and 0.85 HR/9, also pretty close to league average.  With almost everyone in the group costing $5.5MM or less in total, there are plenty of bargains such as Qualls, Randy Choate, Todd Coffey, George Sherrill, and Buchholz (though he's currently injured).

My apologies for the lack of a groundbreaking conclusion here.  The 2010-11 free agent relief class has performed around league average.  The American League's heavy spending (36% of which came from the Yankees) has not paid off when compared to the National League bargain shopping.

Share 0 Retweet 12 Send via email0

Uncategorized

If The Marlins Become Sellers
Main
Baseball Blogs Weigh In: Phillies, Cuban, Kazmir
View Comments (0)

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Please login to leave a reply.
Log in Register

ad: 300x250_1_MLB

    Top Stories

    Mets To Promote Top Prospect Brett Baty

    Carlos Carrasco Diagnosed With Low-Grade Oblique Strain

    A’s Promote Shea Langeliers, Release Stephen Piscotty

    Rangers Fire Manager Chris Woodward

    Walker Buehler To Undergo Season-Ending Elbow Surgery

    Orioles Promote DL Hall

    Fernando Tatis Jr. Suspended 80 Games For Performance-Enhancing Drug Violation

    Tarik Skubal Visiting Specialist With Elbow Issue; Expected To Miss Remainder Of Season

    Mariners Designate Ken Giles For Assignment

    Michael Brantley Undergoes Season-Ending Shoulder Surgery

    Tigers Fire General Manager Al Avila

    Matt Carpenter Expected To Miss 6-8 Weeks With Foot Fracture

    Braves Select Top Prospect Vaughn Grissom, Activate Kirby Yates

    2022-23 MLB Free Agent Power Rankings: August Edition

    Tim Anderson Out 4-6 Weeks Due To Torn Ligament In Hand

    Blue Jays Sign Jackie Bradley Jr., Designate Matt Peacock

    Chris Sale Fractures Wrist, Will Miss Remainder Of Season

    Cubs To Release Jason Heyward At End Of Season

    Cubs Claim Franmil Reyes From Guardians

    Fernando Tatis Jr. To Begin Rehab Assignment

    Recent

    Red Sox Designate Yolmer Sanchez For Assignment

    Mets To Promote Top Prospect Brett Baty

    Rangers Designate Elier Hernandez For Assignment

    Rangers Sign Wilson Ramos To Minor League Deal

    Marlins Designate Parker Bugg For Assignment

    Carlos Carrasco Diagnosed With Low-Grade Oblique Strain

    Braves Claim Rylan Bannon, Designate Travis Demeritte

    MLBTR Chat Transcript

    Braves Recall Freddy Tarnok, Select Ryan Goins

    A’s Promote Shea Langeliers, Release Stephen Piscotty

    MLBTR Newsletter - Hot stove highlights in your inbox, five days a week

    Latest Rumors & News

    Latest Rumors & News

    • Cubs Decline To Trade Contreras, Happ
    • Giants Keep Rodon, Pederson
    Trade Rumors App for iOS and Android

    MLBTR Features

    MLBTR Features

    • Go Ad-Free
    • MLB Player Chats
    • 2021-22 MLB Free Agent Tracker
    • 2021-22 MLB Free Agent List
    • Top 50 Free Agents
    • 2022-23 MLB Free Agent List
    • Projected Arbitration Salaries For 2022
    • Transaction Tracker
    • Extension Tracker
    • Agency Database
    • MLBTR On Twitter
    • MLBTR On Facebook
    • Team Facebook Pages
    • How To Set Up Notifications For Breaking News
    • Hoops Rumors
    • Pro Football Rumors
    • Pro Hockey Rumors

    Rumors By Team

    • Angels Rumors
    • Astros Rumors
    • Athletics Rumors
    • Blue Jays Rumors
    • Braves Rumors
    • Brewers Rumors
    • Cardinals Rumors
    • Cubs Rumors
    • Diamondbacks Rumors
    • Dodgers Rumors
    • Giants Rumors
    • Guardians Rumors
    • Mariners Rumors
    • Marlins Rumors
    • Mets Rumors
    • Nationals Rumors
    • Orioles Rumors
    • Padres Rumors
    • Phillies Rumors
    • Pirates Rumors
    • Rangers Rumors
    • Rays Rumors
    • Red Sox Rumors
    • Reds Rumors
    • Rockies Rumors
    • Royals Rumors
    • Tigers Rumors
    • Twins Rumors
    • White Sox Rumors
    • Yankees Rumors

    ad: 160x600_MLB

    Navigation

    • Sitemap
    • Archives
    • Feeds by Team

    MLBTR INFO

    • Advertise
    • About
    • Commenting Policy
    • Privacy Policy

    Connect

    • Contact Us
    • Twitter
    • Facebook
    • RSS Feed

    MLB Trade Rumors is not affiliated with Major League Baseball, MLB or MLB.com

    hide arrowsFOX Sports Engage Network scroll to top
    Close

    Desktop Version | Switch To Mobile Version