I often find myself having a hard time evaluating relief pitchers, whose production can significantly vary from year to year. They’re not like starters, who you can get 150-plus innings of data from, or hitters who can give you 600-plus plate appearances. Instead, GM’s and managers often have just 60 innings to base offseason/roster decisions on when it comes to relievers, and these decisions can easily backfire due to small sample sizes. It’s tough to find relievers you can completely trust.
Enter Joakim Soria, the most consistent reliever on the free agent market. Soria’s been dominant since 2007, racking up 223 saves while pitching to the tune of a 3.