Saves leader Trevor Hoffman retires

[1998 Yankees]

I love that final career saves number: 601. It's like something I would stage in OOTPB: stretching one last (sub par) season to just barely stumble across a numeric milepost finish line.

From today's USA Today sports section:

Saves king Hoffman retires
By Jorge L. Ortiz USA TODAY

The pitcher with the Bugs Bunny changeup is finally ready to say, “That’s all folks.”

Trevor Hoffman, baseball’s all-time saves leader, told MLB.com   he is retiring after 18 seasons in the majors.

“It’s time to retire. It’s time to move on,” Hoffman said. “This is more of a self-evaluation. I expect to pitch at a certain level, and I had to be honest with myself that I wasn’t certain I could maintain that anymore.”

Hoffman, 43, went 2-7 with a 5.89 ERA and 10 saves with the Milwaukee Brewers last season, a year after making his seventh All-Star Game and logging 37 saves with a 1.83 ERA.

In his prime, from 1996 to 2007 with the San Diego Padres, Hoffman befuddled hitters with a darting changeup that looked just like a fastball coming out of his hand but plummeted suddenly upon reaching the plate.

The likely Hall of Famer twice led the National League in saves — including a career-high of 53 in 1998 — and converted at least 37 every season during that span, except for 2003, when he was limited to nine games because of an injury.

Hoffman left the Padres as a free agent during an acrimonious contract dispute after the 2008 season and signed with the Brewers but told MLB.com   he will return to San Diego in a front-office capacity.

In September, Hoffman was carried off the field on his teammates’ shoulders after becoming the first pitcher to record 600 career saves. He finished with 601 and a 2.87 career ERA.

The New York Yankees’ Mariano Rivera, who signed a two-year deal with the club this offseason, sits 42 saves behind Hoffman and will likely overtake him by the time he’s done.

Who will be the first to respond with "Saves are an overrated stat"?

[Terpripken]

Not me. I'll bet we can get a good HOF discussion? going too.

[reds1869]

AS a Reds fan I'd like to take credit for the saves record. If not for Hoffman's failure as a Reds infielder, he never would have become a pitcher.

[pstrickert]

Hoffman is a class act.

[actionjackson]

Originally Posted by 1998 Yankees

I love that final career saves number: 601. It's like something I would stage in OOTPB: stretching one last (sub par) season to just barely stumble across a numeric milepost finish line.

From today's USA Today sports section:


Who will be the first to respond with "Saves are an overrated stat"?

Saves are an overrated stat...However, even overrated stats have a breaking point. The man was a spectacular closer, who belongs in the HoF. What I'm impressed with more than the saves is the lifetime 141 ERA+, 1.06 WHIP, 7.0 H/9, 2.5 BB/9, 9.4 K/9, and 3.69 K/BB all done with one of the most baffling changeups the game has ever seen. Talk about a Bugs Bunny changeup - that thing was sick!!! In a word: dominant. Dominant without a dominating fastball. Pencil him in for the HoF Class of 2016, provided the limit on how many guys the writers can vote for is lifted and they can clean up the backlog a little bit. Even without that, he still might be a first ballot guy. Hopefully he won't get lost in the clutter because he deserves it. As pstrickert said: class act...As far as any of us can know, but I've never heard anything to the contrary.

As an example of how we overrate saves, I would take Billy Wagner before I would take Hoffman, Lee Smith, and John Franco, despite the fact that Wagner has the fewest saves of the quartet. Wagner was absolutely dominant and is incredibly underrated. Not saying I wouldn't take Hoffman, just saying yes to Wagner and Hoffman, no to Smith and Franco regardless of saves totals and I'd rank them: 1) Wagner 2) Hoffman 3) Smith 4) Franco with Mo Rivera in another galaxy from these four.

[1998 Yankees]

Originally Posted by actionjackson

Saves are an overrated stat...

Winner!

And good post.

[atomzero]

Overrated or not, saves are a part of baseball. The Hall of Fame is what it has been made, and not whatever we want it to be. If Goose Gossage, Bruce Sutter, and Rollie Fingers are Hall of Famers, then Trevor Hoffman is more than deserving. He is arguably the most dominant player ever at a position that most baseball fans feel is important to the game.

By the parameters set forth by Hall of Fame voters throughout the years, Trevor Hoffman is absolutely a Hall of Famer, and was a hell of a dominant pitcher and asset to his team for years, saves or no saves.

If you want to start your own Hall of Fame that ignores Gold Gloves, batting average, saves, and all that other junk, then do it. Hell, do it here. I'll be your first supporter. It won't change Cooperstown's standards.

Personally, I would have liked to see him play another year. 2010 was his first really terrible year, and just the year before, he was his usual, dominant self.

Dear Trevor Hoffman,
Please come back to baseball and play for the Cubs. I assure you, you cannot make our bullpen worse.
Love,
Cub fans