Kuzul

This will be fairly quick.

One of the more bitter days this Milwaukee ball club has seen in a while just struck it’s inevitable peak.  

Brewers closer Trevor Hoffman has declined Milwaukee’s arbitration offer, which now positions the Crew to get a compensatory pick in next year’s MLB draft.

Hoffman earned more than $7 million during a disappointing 2010 season that saw the Brewers identify a number of younger, cheaper bullpen options that could indeed progress into future stars.

Turning 43 years of age in October also added a multitude of nagging concerns for Hoffman’s, the MLB’s all-time regular season saves holder with 601.

Hoffman notched 37 saves for the Brewers in 2009 while making the National League All-Star team.

Losing the closer role in May due to five critical blown saves was only the beginning of Hoffman’s downfall in 2010.

Hoffman somewhat rebounded in the second half of the regular season, and reached his 600th-save milestone on September 7 at Miller Park.  However, Hoffman did state later that month that he would test the free-agent market heading into next season.  It should also be noted that John Axford is the Brewers’ 2011 closer.

Hoffman became a free agent after the World Series when the Brewers declined his $7.5 million option for 2011, opting instead to pay a $750,000 buyout.

The talent and reason to believe that Hoffman brought to the city of Milwaukee will never be forgotten, and his historic 600th save will always be remembered as taking place in none other than Miller Park for decades to come.

His presence and pure talent will be certainly missed, and the famous “Trevor Time” will never be forgotten among the Brewers’ faithful.

Make sure to get your daily Brewers scoop at Brewers Daily

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Mariano Rivera is a 16-year Major League veteran, and at 40 years old he is still dominating hitters in their 20s, but the question is how long can this continue.

Take a look at Rivera’s career, and it’s easy to tell this is a future Hall of Famer on the mound. What he has been able to do while seemingly only throwing one pitch has been incredible. Rivera has a career ERA of 2.23 which accompanies his 559 career saves. 

Rivera has been the rare player who seemingly has gotten better the more he has aged. Take the last three seasons for instance in which he competed at the advanced ages of 38, 39, and 40 years old. In those seasons, he pitched to a 1.40, 1.76, and 1.80 ERA respectively.

Those seasons rank among the best he has pitched in his entire big league career. The reason why is simple: He does not rely on velocity in order to get hitters out. Rivera specializes in making hitters get themselves out because of the movement on his trademark cutter. 

The pitch has such late movement that a hitter knows what is coming but is still helpless in trying to hit against him. Rivera has been especially unhittable in postseason play where he has cemented his Hall of Fame resume.

Rivera has pitched in 90 postseason games, recording 41 saves in 135.2 innings while pitching to a 0.73 ERA. That’s right, Rivera’s postseason ERA is more than two times better than his ERA in the regular season. Against tougher competition, Rivera raises his game to the next level which makes him one of if not the most indispensable Yankees.

However, this season is the last on Rivera’s contract, and the question the Yankees must ask themselves is how long Rivera can keep pitching on the level he has his entire career. There are two comparable players for a pitcher such as Rivera, and they are Greg Maddux and Trevor Hoffman.

Maddux like Rivera did not rely on velocity and instead relied on precision and movement on his pitches. Rivera has pinpoint accuracy and can place the ball anywhere he wants within the zone. If Rivera continues to place the ball wherever he wants without losing movement on his fastball then he can pitch as long as he desires.

The lack in velocity has not seemed to effect him this season as he still broke the same amount of bats he has throughout his career. However, Hoffman is a case where the aging process has obviously taken its toll. 

His fastball has lost so much velocity that there is minimal difference between the fastball and change-up rendering his pitching ineffective. Rivera is a proud man, and he would not want to go out a shade of his former self. 

The decision is all his. As long as Rivera wants to pitch and has his trademark cutter, he will continue his assault at the saves record in a Yankee uniform before delivering his Hall of Fame introduction speech in Cooperstown.

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Trevor Hoffman earned his 600th career save on Tuesday night, making him the first player in Major League Baseball history to accomplish that feat.  

Here’s a look back at Hoffman’s long road from minor league shortstop to the most prolific closer of all time.

Trevor Hoffman’s 600 Saves Timeline

April 29th, 1993 – 1st Career Save – Florida Marlins def. Atlanta Braves

April 13th, 1997 – 100th Career Save – San Diego Padres def. Philadelphia Phillies

June 23rd, 1997 – 114th Career Save – San Diego Padres def. San Francisco Giants – Hoffman’s 109th Save as a Padre surpasses Rollie Fingers to become San Diego’s all time saves leader.

June 10th, 1999 – 200th Career Save – San Diego Padres def. Oakland A’s

August 15th 2001 – 300th Career Save – San Diego Padres def. New York Mets

May 6th, 2005 – 400th Career Save – San Diego Padres def. St. Louis Cardinals

September 24th, 2006 – 479 Career Saves – San Diego Padres def. Pittsburgh Pirates – Hoffman passes Lee Smith, establishing new Major League Baseball all-time saves record

June 6th, 2007 – 500th Career Save – San Diego Padres def. Los Angeles Dodgers

September 7th, 2010 – 600th Career Save – Milwaukee Brewers def. St. Louis Cardinals

Trevor Hoffman Facts and Statistics

– Trevor Hoffman has pitched against all 30 current major league teams.

– Most Faced Team: Los Angeles Dodgers (100 times)
– Least Faced Team: Baltimore Orioles, Detroit Tigers, Tampa Bay Rays (one time each)

– Most Saves vs. Opponent: 68 (Los Angeles Dodgers)
– Fewest Saves vs. Opponent: 0 (Chicago White Sox, Detroit Tigers, New York Yankees)

– Lowest Career ERA vs. Opponent: 0.00 (Baltimore, Detroit, KC, Tampa, Toronto)
– Highest Career ERA vs. Opponent: 13.50 (Chicago White Sox)

– Most Career Wins vs. Opponent: 9 (Cincinnati Reds)
– Most Career Losses vs. Opponent: 8 (Colorado Rockies/Los Angeles Dodgers)

– Most Strikeouts vs. Opponent: 105 (Los Angeles Dodgers)
– Fewest Strikeouts vs. Opponent: 0 (Detroit Tigers—the only team against which he’s never struck out a batter)

– Most Total Walks Allowed vs. Opponent: 30 (San Francisco Giants, Los Angeles Dodgers)
– Fewest Total Walks Allowed vs. Opponent: 0  (Red Sox, Tampa, Tigers, Toronto)

– Most Home Runs Allowed Lifetime vs. Opponent: 13 (Colorado Rockies)
– Fewest Home Runs Allowed Lifetime vs. Opponent: 7 Teams Tied at 0

– Most Innings Pitched vs. Opponent: 103.2 (San Francisco Giants)
– Fewest Innings Pitched vs. Opponent: 1.0 (Baltimore/Detroit/Tampa)

Miscellaneous Stats:

– Trevor Hoffman has only hit nine batters in his career (3 Dodgers, 2 Rockies, 2 Giants, 1 Astros, 1 Phillies).

– At the plate, Trevor Hoffman’s lifetime batting average is 0.118 (4 for 34).

– As a hitter, Trevor Hoffman has zero career home runs and 5 total RBIs.

– Trevor Hoffman’s career fielding percentage is .974.

– Trevor Hoffman has only committed four fielding errors in his career.

– Trevor Hoffman has thrown 49 career wild pitches.

Summary

For his career, Trevor Hoffman owns a 61-75 record (.449) with a 2.87 ERA.  He’s struck out 1,132 batters and walked 307 in 1,086.1 innings pitched.  He’s converted 600 of 676 save opportunities for a career save percentage of .887.

What does this all mean?  For Hoffman, one day, a trip to Cooperstown and baseball immortality.

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It took a little over three years, but Trevor Hoffman reached yet another plateau in his already Hall of Fame career on Tuesday: his 600th career save.

On June 6, 2007, Hoffman recorded his 500th career save as the San Diego Padres defeated the Los Angeles Dodgers. That save put Hoffman into uncharted territory. Never before had any man recorded 500 saves.

Though many believe that Mariano Rivera is the best closer of all time, Hoffman will always be the man who got to 500 before anyone else.

Well, after Tuesday, he will also be known as the man who got to 600 saves before anyone as well. Hoffman, now closing games (albeit part-time) with the Milwaukee Brewers, recorded his 600th career save against the St. Louis Cardinals.

Arguments have been made that the save is an “overrated stat.” Granted, the save is a relatively new statistic to the game of baseball—it was introduced to the game during the late ’60s.

To put it into perspective, Lee Smith ended his career with 478 saves, good for third all-time. But in 18 seasons, which is how long Hoffman’s career has been, Smith threw roughly 200 more innings than Hoffman.

In 1991, Smith led all of baseball with 47 saves. In that season, he logged 73 innings pitched. In 1998, Hoffman led all of baseball with 53 saves, and he too pitched 73 innings.

But regardless of how “meaningless” the stat may be, Hoffman has reached a milestone; a benchmark that no one in the long and glorious history of baseball has ever reached. That feat alone should already cause Cooperstown to begin clearing room for his plaque.

Of his now 600 saves, the majority came while he was a member of the Padres. While playing in San Diego, Hoffman closed out 552 games. He began his career as a Florida Marlin and saved two games for them. Hoffman has saved 46 games since joining the Brew Crew prior to the 2009 season.

Now that he is almost 43-years old, Hoffman has seen his productivity decline and is now sharing the closing duties with the up-and-coming John Axford. 

Hoffman is the all-time leader in saves. He has cleared hurdle after hurdle and has built himself quite a career. Of course, he is still missing that mystical World Series ring.

So will this be his last season? Is recording 600 saves enough for the right-hander? Or does he have the hunger to keep going?

Either way, rest assured that Hoffman will soon be joining Rollie Fingers, Dennis Eckersley, Goose Gossage, and Bruce Sutter as closers enshrined in the Hall of Fame.

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Trevor Hoffman has come a long way.

Who would have guessed back in 1989 that the skinny shortstop and third baseman taken in the 11th round of the amateur draft by the Cincinnati Reds would someday make history, becoming Major League Baseball’s all-time saves leader?

Probably not even Jim Lett, Hoffman’s manager in Single-A Charleston, who encouraged Trevor to try switching to pitcher in 1991. And switch he did.

Now, nearly 20 years and three teams after that fateful conversion, the legendary Marlins, Padres, and Brewers closer made history again.

Clad in a Milwaukee Brewers uniform, Trevor Hoffman entered the game in the ninth inning to AC/DC’s “Hells Bells” (his signature calling card) and closed the door on the St. Louis Cardinals, preserving a 4-2 Brewers victory. The save was Hoffman’s ninth on the season and, more importantly, his 600th save in a long, illustrious career.

As baseball fans worldwide celebrate the historic achievement, here’s a look back at Trevor Hoffman’s career closing milestones.

Trevor Hoffman Saves Timeline

April 29th, 1993: First Career Save—Florida Marlins def. Atlanta Braves

April 13th, 1997: 100th Career Save—San Diego Padres def. Philadelphia Phillies

June 23rd, 1997: 114th Career Save—San Diego Padres def. San Francisco Giants; Hoffman’s 109th save as a Padre surpasses Rollie Fingers as he becomes San Diego’s all-time saves leader.

June 10th, 1999: 200th Career Save—San Diego Padres def. Oakland A’s

August 15th, 2001: 300th Career Save—San Diego Padres def. New York Mets

May 6th, 2005: 400th Career Save—San Diego Padres def. St. Louis Cardinals

September 24th, 2006: 479th Career Save—San Diego Padres def. Pittsburgh Pirates; Hoffman passes Lee Smith, establishing new Major League Baseball all-time saves record.

June 6th, 2007: 500th Career Save—San Diego Padres def. Los Angeles Dodgers

September 7th, 2010: 600th Career Save—Milwaukee Brewers def. St. Louis Cardinals

So what’s next for the future Hall of Famer? Hoffman’s not saying. He’s elected to wait until the end of the season to decide on his future.

The Brewers and Hoffman have a mutual contract option for $7 million for 2011. If the option is not exercised, a $500,000 buyout clause kicks in.

Regardless of what his future holds, Hoffman will savor today. Congratulations, Trevor Hoffman, on your 600th career save!

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Through history, many players have entered baseball’s most hallowed hall. The list of players is numerous: 54 starting pitchers, 16 catchers, 18 first basemen, 17 second basemen, 10 third basemen, 21 shortstops, and 60 outfielders have plaques in the Hall of Fame. Even nine umpires have gained entrance to Cooperstown.

Some claim third base, or even catcher, is the most underrepresented position in the Hall of Fame.

However, only five relief pitchers have ever been elected: Hoyt Wilhelm, Rollie Fingers, Bruce Sutter, Dennis Eckersley, and Goose Gossage.

With reliance on the bullpen growing in modern times, that number appears set to rise in the next 15 years.

But by how much? And who is deserving of mention among the all-time greats?

After all, there’s a reason only four such players have been elected.

IN

Mariano Rivera

The first reliever who deserves mention is the only one who seems to be an absolute lock for Cooperstown.

Since becoming the full-time closer in 1996, the Panamanian righty has dominated hitters consistently. His 206 ERA+ is the all-time record, and his 2.21 ERA and 1.002 WHIP are tops among active pitchers. Mariano is an 11-time All-Star, five-time World Series champ, and has placed in the top three of Cy Young Award voting three times.

By throwing his cutter almost exclusively, Mariano has blown away hitters to the tune of 553 saves, good for second all time.

In conclusion, Mariano Rivera has all the qualifications for a Hall of Fame reliever: a devastating pitch, an extended period of dominance, and solid playoff performance.

He has a very strong case for greatest reliever of all time, and he has a spot in Cooperstown already waiting for him.

Trevor Hoffman

The other relief pitcher who has a good chance at the hall is Trevor Hoffman. Being the all-time leader in saves and games finished helps.

However, Hoffman isn’t the lock for Cooperstown that Mariano is. Despite sitting on the precipice of 600 saves, Hoffman has Rivera breathing down his neck. By the time he is eligible for Cooperstown, Hoffman could have very well fallen to second on the all-time list.

Unlike Rivera, Hoffman does not have a career long record of dominance – rather, he has two shorter stretches, from 1994-02, and from 2004-09. And Hoffman has never been as dominant as Rivera. He’s only posted an ERA under 2.00 once, while Rivera is on his way to his tenth such season. Hoffman has also only posted a WHIP under 1.000 six times, while Rivera is on his way to an eighth.

I’m not saying Hoffman will be kept out of the Hall, but Lee Smith, known for having been the all-time saves leader before Hoffman, has been kept out.

Hoffman also doesn’t have the playoff success of Rivera. In 12 postseason games, Hoffman has an ERA of 3.46, and a WHIP of 1.231.

Billy Wagner

When talking about active closers, the conversation often ends at Rivera and Hoffman.

However, Billy Wagner, who may be the greatest left-handed reliever of all time, doesn’t get the credit he deserves.

Wagner has two of the three qualifications: a long dominant stretch, from 1999-05, and has a sizzling fastball that has reached 100 mph.

Perhaps the reason Wagner is so underrated is because he is so humble. Recently, after breaking Jesse Orosco’s record for strikeouts by a left-handed reliever, Wagner called the record “stupid”.

“I said ‘We’re getting our (butts) kicked, it’s raining, let’s go,’ ” Wagner said . “It’s stupid. Who in their right mind makes a big deal out of doing something they’re supposed to do in the first place? I’m out there pitching in a (bad) game; we’re getting our butt kicked. It’s not worth it to make a big deal out of that. That’s embarrassing.”

Perhaps it’s his small stature. Despite being listed as 5’11”, Wagner still intimidates opposing hitters when he comes out to the tune of Metallica’s “Enter Sandman”.

During his most dominant stretch from 1999-05, Wagner had just one full season with a WHIP higher than 1.000, and he led the league in games finished twice. Over that span, he had an ERA+ of 196, culminating in a 293 ERA+ in 2005.

OUT (for now)

Joe Nathan

Just six months ago, I would have told you that Joe Nathan was paving his way to a spot in Cooperstown.

Since then, he’s gone down for the season, and has gone from possibly the best closer in baseball to someone who started too late. After starting his career as a starter for the Giants, Nathan came to Minnesota by trade and started his career as a closer at age 29, far later than any closer in Cooperstown.

Since then, Nathan has been a rock, being as lights out as anyone in the game. His 2008 season is one of the best ever, as evidenced by his 316 ERA+, and WHIP of .901. If he had enough innings to qualify, Nathan would be second in ERA, ERA+, and third in WHIP, behind only Rivera and Hoffman.

However, after his season-ending injury, we have to wonder if Nathan will get those innings, or if he will come back as good as before. At his best, Nathan is one of the top closers of the last 15 years. If he can come back from injury like Trevor Hoffman did in 2004, his outlook looks good.

Jonathan Papelbon

At the young age of 29, Jonathan Papelbon has put together what may be one of the greatest five year stretches in baseball history.

It started with what may be the most underrated rookie season ever. In 2006, Papelbon blew away hitters, to the tune of a 0.92 ERA and .776 WHIP, giving him a simply unreal 517 ERA+. He gave up 0.4 HR/9. Despite this, he finished second in AL Rookie of the Year voting, behind Justin Verlander.

The next year, although his ERA doubled to 1.85, Papelbon managed to lower his WHIP, to 0.771. Since then, Papelbon has been lights out. In 2010, he’s posting his highest ERA, at just 2.91, but that doesn’t diminish a career WHIP under 1.000, an ERA of 2.01, and an ERA+ higher than Mariano Rivera’s.

Francisco Rodriguez

Despite being known mainly for breaking the single-season saves record in 2008, Francisco Rodriguez is also one of baseball’s premier closers. 

Although he is just shy of dominant, Rodriguez is very consistent. From 2004-08, his ERA fluctuated around 2.20, and his WHIP hovered near 1.100. Although some people see Rodriguez as overrated for his 2008 season, he should be looked at as a strong, solid closer, who has an outside shot at Cooperstown, especially if he experiences further playoff success. 

Keep An Eye On: Heath Bell, Brian Wilson, Huston Street, Carlos Marmol, Jonathan Broxton

Too Early to Tell: Joakim Soria, Andrew Bailey, Neftali Feliz

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With Trevor Hoffman finally closing in (pun intended) on career save No. 600, I wanted to definitely to highlight the forthcoming achievement in some way.

I thought about a career retrospective but decided that would be best left for once his career is actually complete.

I considered a chronicle of his year-plus spent in a Brewers uniform, but that too isn’t a chapter that is finished being written.

A listing of accolades for Hoffman could write itself and easily eclipse 1,000 words without even trying, and a thoughtful piece about what it must mean for Hoffman to have fallen so hard and fast off what appeared to be the edge of the Chasm of Old Age only to right his ship, so to speak, and once again be considered as a reliable option just seems like it might be a bit premature.

In other words, that seems like it ought to wait until 600 has actually been reached as opposed to only being somewhere off on the seemingly distant horizon.

So instead, I offer this tried and true format of placing Hoffman in a list of his game-ending brethren because quite frankly, whether he never records another save or notches his 600th on Saturday (two games from now since he’s still only at 598), it won’t affect my feelings as to where he places in said list.

Read it, debate it in the comments, call me names, dispute my opinions, offer me new-school statistics to support your points and refute mine…or simply agree with me.

Either way, let’s have some fun with this, okay?

Begin Slideshow

Greetings fantasy baseballers, and welcome to another edition of the Wire.

Hopefully you heeded the past weeks’ advice and picked up Pat Burrell, Mike Minor, Daniel Hudson and others, before it was too late. This week is sort of a special edition with a look at a trio of closers—mostly of the present, and mostly with no future. Regardless, they have one thing in common—they will receive the lion’s share of save opportunities for their respective teams.

That translates to the potential to rack up some fantasy points all over the land. And the first contestant is…

Hisanori Takahashi, RP, NYM: Owned in 18 percent of CBS leagues

Mr. Takahashi has been somewhat of an enigma for the Metropolitans this season. He had success as a reliever early on, often times bailing out the starters by providing two or three innings of solid relief. 

In fact, in his first 15 relief appearances for the Mets, he went two-plus innings seven times. Before being moved into the rotation on May 21, Takahashi put up three wins with a 3.12 ERA in 24.2 IP and a 33:14 K:BB ratio—not too shabby. 

At that point, the Mets rotation started to fall apart and he was summoned to the rotation. In 12 starts, he did not fare nearly as well, posting a 4-4 record with a 5.01 ERA while surrendering 73 hits in 64.2 innings. In addition, opposing hitters batted a robust .291 against him in those starts. 

Manuel had seen enough of Takahashi the starter and summoned Takashi the reliever, replacing him with Pat Misch in the rotation. Now, with the Francisco Rodriguez meltdown and subsequent thumb injury, Manuel has named Takahashi his closer. He brings a year of closing experience from his tenure in the Japanese league.

In his sole save opportunity, he closed out the Astros in a hitless inning this week. 

You can ride Takahashi for as long as Manuel keeps him as the closer. Keep in mind that the Mets also have Bobby Parnell, who has pitched well as of late. Manual may throw some save chances his way to see how he performs in a late-inning role. 

Hong-Chih Kuo, RP, LA:Owned in 13 percent of CBS leagues

The main difference between Kuo and Takahashi is that Kuo has been in a late inning relief role for his team, the Dodgers, the entire season. Furthermore, he has posted great stats thus far and has been the bridge that every team searches for to get the ball to the closer.

Unfortunately for Jonathan Broxton, the now-deposed closer, Kuo has pitched so well that he’s replacing Broxton, for the time being at least.  If the Dodgers have any chance of making the playoffs, they cannot afford any more meltdowns by the usually-dominating Broxton. This was the main impetus behind Joe Torre’s decision to switch their roles in the pen. 

Including Kuo’s first two save opportunities, he has put up an ERA of 1.48 on the season, which was inflated by more than half a run after his implosion against Atlanta. Torre summoned Kuo in the eighth inning, much like he used to with Mariano in his Yankee days. Kuo ran into trouble in the ninth and blew the save.  
   
In 42.3 innings pitched this season, Kuo has a tremendous 52:14 K:BB ratio with a minuscule 0.85 WHIP along with three wins and four saves. Kuo has been nothing short of dominant this season and now stands to gain a boat-load of value in fantasy leagues. One would have to believe that as long as he’s successful in the closer’s role, Torre will leave him there.

The Dodgers also have Octavio Dotel to vulture a few saves, but for now Kuo is the closer in LA. He’s a must-add to fantasy rosters as CBS owners have demonstrated, making him the most added player in CBS fantasy leagues. His ownership will jump to 47 percent next week, which is still rather low. Grab him while you can. 

Trevor Hoffman, RP, MIL:Owned in 27 percent of CBS leagues

Mr. Hoffman has had a rocky 2010 thus far. In the first half of the season, he was tagged for four losses and blew five of his 10 save opportunities.

He had an ERA of 8.33 heading into the All-Star break. In 27 innings, he gave up 25 runs on 34 hits along with an unimpressive 17:13 K:BB ratio. These are hardly the numbers expected from Hoffman, or any closer in the league for that matter. 

Since the All-Star break, Hoffman has had a bit of a resurgence. In 12 appearances, his ERA is a more respectable 3.09 along with a 10:4 K:BB ratio. Opposing batters are hitting only .227 against him versus .306 before the break. 

With Milwaukee out of the playoff race and not much else to play for, manager Ken Macha has decided to give Hoffman save opportunities once again. The Brewers would love for Hoffman to reach the 600 save mark and give them something to cheer about in the closing weeks of the season. 

John Axford will presumably continue to get his chances as well, which makes Hoffman far from a sure thing to score significant points for your team. Regardless, Macha will give him every chance to add to his save total.

If you have the stomach for it, pick up Hoffman sooner rather than later and hope for the best, especially if you need to bolster your Save category. 

Honorable Mention

Omar Infante, 2B, ATL: Owned in 34 percent of CBS leagues

Filled in admirably for Martin Prado at 2B and will get regular AB’s with Chipper out for the season.  Hits righties and lefties well. Batting .361 since the break with a .862 OPS and has hit over .300 every month except for one this season.

Jose Guillen, OF, SF: Owned in 45 percent of CBS leagues

Guillen will get a decent amount of AB’s in SF. While he won’t hit for average, he surely has some pop left in his bat. Hitting .375 for the Giants since the trade and has 17 HRs on the season. 

Chris Denorfia, CF, SD: Owned in four percent of CBS leagues

Denorfia is batting .321 since the break with a 1.039 OPS.  He has six homers and 16 RBI plus four SBs in the second half. Solid pick up for deeper leagues. 

Written by Rosti Satanovsky exclusively for TheFantasyFix.com .  You can follow him on Facebook or Twitter @TheSportsFariah

Follow us on Twitter for more updates @TheFantasyFix.

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Here are some more articles that will smack some sense into you…

Fantasy Baseball

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It’s been awhile since the last article in this series. I’ve been busy lately, but I’m dead set on finishing it up, and I only have this and one more to go.

One thing that seemed to spark some confusion was the subject of the last article. I had a few people asking why I didn’t include certain players.

Well, throughout each of my articles, I’ve been trying to cover any player who might have a chance at the Hall of Fame by position; with pitchers, though, there were too many to compress into one article.

I needed to split it up, and, when I divided it into three articles, based on division, it worked out fairly well. The first article was comprised of pitchers in the AL and NL East; this one is the AL and NL Central; the last will be the AL and NL West. 

And so, the Hall candidates from the Central Divisions.

Begin Slideshow

Milwaukee Brewer Trevor Hoffman isn’t available at this year’s trade deadline, but that didn’t stop Red Sox General Manager Theo Epstein from asking after the closer he first met while working for the San Diego Padres, according to Fox Sports’ Ken Rosenthal.

Not remotely effective this season, Hoffman owns a 6.82 ERA over 33 innings and joins a nearly all-inclusive group of relievers that the Red Sox are pursuing in the final days leading up to the non-waiver trade deadline this Saturday.

Today, the Boston Globe’s Nick Cafardo reviewed all the relievers the Red Sox have reportedly sought over the past month. The list includes Matt Capps, Scott Downs, Kyle Farnsworth, Mike Gonzalez, Sean Marshall, Will Ohman, Rafael Perez, Kerry Wood, Michael Wuertz, and former Red Sox David Aardsma and Craig Breslow.

True to his word, Epstein has been scouring rosters for available bullpen help. Despite injuries to outfielders, catchers, infielders and starters alike, the Red Sox might would be closer than seven games back in the American League East if they had an effective bullpen.

The 2010 Red Sox pen’s weaker components have blown 14 saves and allowed a Major League-worst 43 homers en route to a 4.42 ERA. This is frighteningly close to the Orioles’ 4.47 mark. Journeyman Scott Atchison (4.05 ERA), trade-candidate Ramon Ramirez (4.57 ERA), flame-thrower Manny Delcarmen (4.86 ERA), and southpaw Hideki Okajima (5.81 ERA) are the primary underperformers.

The Red Sox must make at least one move for a reliever before the deadline if they are to compete through August and into September. The next 48 hours could decide Boston’s 2010 fate.

If you’d like to kno w as soon as Peter’s Red Sox articles have posted, you can follow him on Twitter at BoSoxUpdate.

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