One of the chief tenants of Moneyball is to buy low and sell high on late-inning relievers, a strategy that much of the rest of the league is beginning to follow suit on.
The Boston Red Sox, after winning the world series last season, decided to let Craig Kimbrel – who is already 14th all-time with 333 saves in less than 10 seasons and whose 1.91 ERA would be the fourth-best in MLB history – walk, electing not to pay him big.
Since 2000, five different Oakland Athletics relievers – Jason Isringhausen, Huston Street, Andrew Bailey, Grant Balfour and Blake Treinen – have logged at least 50 saves.