The title of this article should make you think of how your parents told you that babies were made, except the subject of this is how playoff closers are made, and I’m not going to use hand puppets. It’s not a secret that closers usually don’t come into the professional baseball world fully formed -- the number of college closers drafted in the first round who picked up more than 50 saves in the majors can be counted on one hand, even if you’re Mordecai Brown. So where did the closers for this year’s postseason class come from? A couple of different categories:
Where Do Playoff Closers Come From?
They were bought
This is the route of convenience -- a team version of paying delivery fees for Safeway.com instead of just going to the grocery store. Also, the delivery fees are several million dollars spread out over a couple of years.
The Diamondbacks didn't really have a choice. The 2010 Diamondbacks had one of the worst bullpens in modern history, so spending $10 million on two years of J.J. Putz was a move that had as much to do with public relations as winning close games. It would be pretty hard to hold open auditions for the closer's role a year after that debacle, and Putz was a good fit as a guy who wasn't going to require premium money.
The Tigers had Fernando Rodney closing for them in 2009, and he pitched like Fernando Rodney, so they were looking for a change. They signed Jose Valverde away for a two-year, $13,886,052 contract. There's a good reason for the strange amount of the contract, and that's because Jose Valverde is strange. The Angels signed Rodney for a two-year, $11 million contract, which gives you a pretty good idea why Tony Reagins is on Monster.com, keeping his options open.
They were bought at Goodwill
Kyle Farnsworth was the sixth-highest paid Ray this season, which says as more about the Rays as it does about Farnsworth, who signed for a $3.3 million one-year deal with a $3.3 million option that will probably be picked up. Yankees, Tigers, and Braves fans probably giggled themselves to sleep when they first heard that Farnsworth was going to be the Rays' closer, but he did a fantastic job for about $31 million less than Rafael Soriano.
Also of note: Farnsworth still made more this season than Evan Longoria.
They were starting pitching prospects who were converted to relief when they reached the majors
Ryan Madson and Mariano Rivera were both considered okay-not-great prospects -- neither made Baseball America's top-100 list, for example. Madson started in 123 out of 134 minor-league appearances, while Rivera started 68 out of 103 minor-league appearances. Both had more complete-game shutouts in the minors than saves.
Neftali Feliz, though, was a top prospect who was shifted to the bullpen to get his feet wet in the majors, and stayed there because he was successful. Remember the he's-starting-he's-relieving-he's-starting-he's-relieving fun from spring training? He's still relieving, and he probably will be until he gets expensive. It's usually not a good idea to pretend first- and second-half splits mean too much, but Feliz looked more like the pitcher we're used to in the second half of 2011. The first couple of months, where his strikeouts dropped precipitously while his walk rate shot up, were pretty ominous.
They came out of absolutely nowhere
Jason Motte was a 19th-round pick in the 2003 draft out of Iona College, alma mater of Dennis Leonard, whom you might have heard of, and Mike Bertotti and Vito Valentinetti, whom you haven't heard of, even if you happen to be Mike Bertotti or Vito Valentinetti. Compared to other institutions in and around New Rochelle, New York -- like the Wykagyl Country Club, for example -- Iona College is a virtual pitching factory. Compared to other colleges and universities, though, it sits well below the scouting radar.
Motte was 24 when he started his professional career, and most certainly not a prospect. Five years later, he was in the majors throwing 96-mph fastballs. I love when that happens. It’s so danged baseball. Scouts might have heard whispers about Motte, and maybe a few cross-checkers paid a visit, but in the end, there were about 550 amateur players in 2003 who excited organizations more than a guy from Iona College with a 96-mph fastball. Though he might have been overlooked because he was born without eyes.
My absolute favorite closer story of the postseason, though, is John Axford, who went undrafted out of Notre Dame. Undrafted. There were 1,516 players drafted in 2006. Axford wasn't one if them. In that draft, the Blue Jays spent their 50th round pick on Baron Frost, who wasn't even a baseball player. He was a super-villain. But the Jays probably figured that if he ever developed some sort of knuckleball death ray, it'd be best if he did it in their organization. That's how little 50th-round picks are worth, and Axford couldn't even be one of those.
The Yankees signed him and shuttled him between three different A-ball teams, where he walked 6.4 hitters for every nine innings pitched. The Brewers signed him, this 25-year-old undrafted free agent, and kept him in high-A the next year, where he walked 73 hitters in 95 innings. Then something happened, and now he's a dominant closer in the major leagues. It reminds me of the famous cartoon ...
Poof! Axford!
A Brewers/Yankees World Series would be especially entertaining if you think about an undrafted free agent from 2006 having a direct effect on whether or not the Yankees actually win another championship.
A good or bad closer in the playoffs can make for a huge postseason story. When one of these names pops up in the headlines, as they most certainly will, don’t forget where they came from and how a lot of them shouldn’t even be here in the first place.
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