Origins of Top 2008 Major League Relievers
Origins of Top Major League Relief Pitchers, 2008
This is a list of major league relievers with 10 or more Win Shares in 2008. Again, I apologize for the bad formatting.
Mariano Rivera,RHP, Yankees 17 WS Free Agent, 1990, Panama
Joakim Soria, RHP, Royals 15 WS Free Agent, 2001, Mexico
Brad Lidge, RHP, Phillies 13 WS 1st round, 1998, Notre Dame
Joe Nathan, RHP, Twins 13 WS 6th round, 1995, Stony Brook
Jonathan Papelbon, RHP, Red Sox 13 WS 4th round, 2003, Mississippi State
Francisco Rodriguez, RHP, Angels 12 WS Free Agent, 1998, Venezuela
Jose Arredondo, RHP, Angels 12 WS Free Agent, 2002, Dominican
Brian Fuentes, LHP, Rockies 11 WS 25th round, 1995, Merced JC
Bobby Jenks,RHP, White Sox 11 WS 5th round, 2000, Washington HS
J.P. Howell, LHP, Rays 11 WS 1st round, 2004, University of Texas
Jose Valverde,RHP, Astros 11 WS Free Agent, 2001, Dominican
Brad Ziegler, RHP, Athletics 10 WS 20th round, 2003, SW Missouri ST
Carlos Marmol, RHP, Cubs 10 WS Free Agent, 1999, Dominican
Chad Qualls, RHP, D-backs 10 WS 2nd round, 2000, University of Nevada
Francisco Cordero, RHP, Reds 10 WS Free Agent,1994, Dominican
Grant Balfour, RHP, Rays 10 WS Free Agent, 1997, Australia
Hong-chih Kuo, LHP, Dodgers 10 WS Free Agent, 1999, Taiwan
Joba Chamberlain, RHP, Yankees 10 WS 1st round, 2006, Uni of Nebraska
Kevin Gregg, RHP, Marlins 10 WS 15th round, 1996, Oregon HS
Kerry Wood, RHP, Cubs 10 WS 1st round, 1995, Texas HS
Scott Downs,LHP, Blue Jays 10 WS 3rd round, 1997, University of Kentucky
21 pitchers
4 1st round Picks 19%
1 2nd round Pick 5%
3 3rd- 5th round Picks 14%
1 6th -10th round Pick 5%
3 11th round+ Picks 11%
9 Free Agents 44%
3 High School Picks 14%
1 Junior College Pick 5%
8 Four-Year College Picks 38%
7 Latin Free Agents 33%
1 Taiwan Free Agent 5%
1 Australian Free Agent 5%
High School Origins: Oregon, Texas, and Washington state 1 each.
Very different ratios than the starters, granted the sample size is smaller. We will pull all this together tomorrow.
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Interesting...
I find it interesting that so many of them are international signings. I wonder if any of that has to do with the fact that we don’t develop HS relievers in this country. The only guys who wind up in that role (usually) are failed starters, and anyone with a lick of talent is trying to be a starter.
by ADLC on
May 24, 2025 1:15 PM EDT
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Odd
One thing I found (randomly) is out of the entire list of pitchers you provided, only 3 of them were drafted in rounds 10-19 (Jamie Shields 16th and Andy Sonnastine 13th, Kevin Gregg 15th), while the amount of players drafted in rounds 20-29 is much larger, 8 (Roy Oswalt 23rd, Jesse Listch 24th, Kyle Lohse 29th, Ted Lilly 23rd, Andy Pettite 22nd, Nick Blackburn 29th, Brian Fuentes 25th, and Brad Ziegler 20th). Any reasons for this do you think? Only thing that I could come up with is if teams liked taking risky hitters in 10-19 and then took more pitchers from there on.
Adoptive parent of Kyle Nicholson
by gore51 on
May 24, 2025 1:40 PM EDT
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Draft-and-follow
Most if not all of the players in rounds 20-29 were JUCO guys who were presumably draft-and-follows. Those players generally didn’t go until the later rounds.
by Tom (RFTN) on
May 24, 2025 10:11 PM EDT
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curious
sickels or anyone, of the 21 listed were any of them strictly relievers or were they all starters turned relievers?
by krgrecw on
May 24, 2025 4:39 PM EDT
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Broxton
I guess he missed the cutoff. 2nd rounder from Burke County High, Ga. He started at first.
by wobatus on
May 24, 2025 5:15 PM EDT
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