There has never been a better time to be a relief pitcher in Major League Baseball. After Andrew Miller, Cody Allen, Kenley Jansen and Aroldis Chapman lorded over the late innings in October, teams paid big money for relievers of all types this offseason. Mark Melancon got the biggest deal ever for a reliever on Dec. 5, and within two weeks that record was obliterated by both Chapman and Jansen. Brett Cecil got $30 million and a full no-trade clause from the Cardinals. Brad Ziegler got $16 million from the Marlins. Mike Dunn got $19 million from the Rockies.
Relievers are being counted on more than ever, as teams increasingly focus on putting the best guys in the moments of highest leverage -- and become willing to invest heavily in that skill.
In the second of our positional rankings, these are the game’s top 10 relievers, based on the input and opinions of MLB evaluators and players.
1. Zach Britton, Baltimore Orioles
Matt Wieters told my favorite story about the unique nature of Britton’s sinker: When the Orioles played the Seattle Mariners, Dae-Ho Lee, a slugger playing his first season in the big leagues, stepped into the batter’s box to hit Britton. Lee is a product of Korea, and his English is limited, but he uttered a universal response the first time he saw Britton’s sinker: “Woooaaaaahhh.”
Britton’s sinker was as unhittable as any pitch ever, and if that seems like an overstatement, consider that opposing batters generated an OPS of .430 against the Orioles’ closer. During Mariano Rivera’s career, the legendary closer had just one season that good -- in 2008, when opposing hitters had an OPS of .423.
Britton had 74 strikeouts in 67 innings, with only one home run allowed, and he surrendered one earned run in the final five months of the regular season. That's one earned run in 58 appearances. Britton had a ground ball rate of 80 percent, easily the highest in the majors.
Woooaaaaahhh.
2. Andrew Miller, Cleveland Indians
After Miller joined the Indians, he faced 176 batters in the regular season and the postseason combined, and among those, he struck out 76 and walked seven. His total domination of the Red Sox and the Blue Jays in the first two rounds of the playoffs seems to set the bar even higher for how relievers might be used and how much they can affect any game. Part of Miller's greatness is that he overwhelms hitters of any type: left-handed hitters, right-handed hitters, sluggers, middle-of-the-order guys. During the 2016 regular season, No. 3 and No. 4 hitters in opposing lineups -- the best of the best, typically -- went 8-for-61, with one double, one homer and 29 strikeouts against Miller.
In the bidding for Miller, the Indians were the only truly small-market team involved, and they structured an offer beyond what the Cubs or Nationals or Dodgers or Rangers were willing to pay or what the Giants could pay. That move first paid off as Cleveland advanced to the World Series, and now it will pay $9 million annually over the next two years, well below the rate at which elite relievers are now compensated.
3. Kenley Jansen, Los Angeles Dodgers
Much as Miller did, Jansen seemed to rise in preeminence during the postseason, through his ability to pitch multiple innings and in any inning. Facing the Cubs in the National League Championship Series, Jansen allowed only one hit in 6 1/3 innings, with 10 strikeouts and no walks. He said repeatedly during the season that he was more than willing to do more than merely contribute three-out saves, and when he got the chance, Jansen delivered. Now that the Dodgers have committed $80 million to Jansen over the next five years, it’s probably a safe bet that they’ll be calling on him a lot -- and not just in the ninth inning.
Mostly through the use of his cut fastball, Jansen struck out 104 batters in 68 2/3 innings, with only 11 walks and four homers permitted. No subset of hitters were as helpless as right-handed batters against Jansen: They batted .109 in 119 at-bats, with a .202 slugging percentage. When there were runners in scoring position against Jansen, batters mustered a robust .149 average, with 31 strikeouts in 67 at-bats. “Anything he throws above the waist is untouchable,” one evaluator said.
The former catcher is 29 years old.
4. Aroldis Chapman, New York Yankees
Chapman’s standing as the highest-paid reliever ever, at $85 million for five years, might continue for the next couple of years, perhaps until Britton reaches free agency. There is nothing subtle about what Chapman does -- yet. Some rival evaluators believe that as Chapman’s velocity inevitably declines, he will become more adept at commanding his stuff, including his slider, rather than simply throwing the ball past hitters. The Yankees certainly believe so and hope so.
But for now, Chapman can overpower hitters with the best fastball in the history of baseball. In 2016, he averaged more than 100 mph with his fastball, easily the best of any pitcher in an era in which pitchers are throwing harder than ever. Chapman has faced 1,494 batters in the regular season in his career, and of those, he has struck out 43 percent and allowed hits to only 13 percent.
5. The only reason he dropped on this list is because of the concerns about his elbow that developed last year, when he had a stint on the disabled list. Beyond that, Wade Davis was his same ol’ eliminator.
The past three years, Davis has allowed 104 hits in 182 2/3 innings, with 234 strikeouts, just 59 walks, only three homers and a 1.18 ERA. No wonder the Cubs moved aggressively to land him.
6. Mark Melancon, San Francisco Giants
He doesn’t have Britton’s sinker or Chapman’s velocity, but Melancon has been a model of effectiveness with his subtly vicious cut fastball. He has had tremendous success the past three seasons, for which the Giants rewarded him handsomely: From 2013 through 2016, Melancon posted a 1.80 ERA, with only 45 walks in 290 innings and 10 homers allowed.
7. Dellin Betances, New York Yankees
He served as the closer after Chapman and Miller were traded, and he had his struggles, particularly in throwing to bases, an issue that will undoubtedly be a topic of conversation in spring training. This year, he will return to the setup role, in which he has thrived: The past three seasons, Betances has 392 strikeouts in 247 innings. A heavy workload might have been a contributing factor in his late-season struggles: In 2014, Betances made 15 appearances when pitching on consecutive days. Last year, he made 24 appearances on zero days of rest.
8. Edwin Diaz, Seattle Mariners
He made his major league debut June 6 and made an immediate impression on evaluators and opposing hitters. Diaz faced 217 hitters last season, and of those, he struck out 88, with a fastball that averaged 97.3 mph and a wipeout slider.
9. Seung Hwan Oh, St. Louis Cardinals
He might have been the best value-to-dollar acquisition in the majors in 2016. The Cardinals signed the reliever a year ago, when he was 33 years old, to a $2.5 million contract, and he was worth a whole lot more than that. Bearing an extremely heavy workload -- only six relievers threw more innings than his 79 2/3 -- Oh struck out 103 and walked 18. He was used in a setup role initially, but as Trevor Rosenthal struggled with his command, Oh eventually ascended into the role of closer, accumulating 19 saves. He posted one of the highest swing-and-miss rates in baseball last season, at 18 percent, as hitters struggled to cope with his slider.
10. Cody Allen, Cleveland Indians
Miller was the Indians’ headliner bullpen act during the postseason, but Cody Allen’s performance was just as good. He didn’t allow a run in 13 2/3 innings, walked five and struck out 24. Against the best hitters in the most important time of the year, one evaluator said, “He showed he could handle the pressure and miss bats.”
Honorable mentions
Craig Kimbrel, Boston Red Sox: The first real cracks in his performance developed last season in a year in which he had knee trouble, and evaluators wonder how much that affected his performance.
Jeurys Familia, New York Mets: Since developing his heavy sinker, he has become a huge problem for opposing hitters. Familia faces a likely suspension for domestic violence at the outset of the 2017 season.
Roberto Osuna, Toronto Blue Jays: He has 56 big league saves, and he is only 21. “He’s got great stuff, and he’s probably going to get better,” one evaluator said.
Kelvin Herrera, Kansas City Royals: He becomes the Royals closer after three dominant seasons. From 2014 to 2016, Herrera had 209 strikeouts in 211 2/3 innings.
Matt Bush, Texas Rangers: After reaching the big leagues with the Rangers last season at age 30, he was outstanding.