Gagne Ewedscray Ybay Odgersday (Igpay Atinlay)

The Dodgers re-signed Eric Gagne to a $550K contract today, APreported.

They further offer that Gagne is "Coming off one of the best seasons for a reliever in the big-league history." Gagne did save 52 (out of 56 chances) last year with a 1.97 ERA in 82.1 innings. Those 52 saves are the fifth highest all-time, though only good enough for second place last year (behind John Smoltz' 55 saves).

Anyway, aside from the high save totals, was his season really that impressive, I wondered. Opponents batted .189 against him, he has a .89 WHIP (walks plus hits per innings pitched), and he had 16 and 114 strikeouts, which translate into a 7-1/8 strikeout-to-walk ratio and 12.5 strikeouts per nine innings. All very worthy numbers, but are they among the best "for a reliever in the big-league history"?

Well, I have a table of team closers from my reliever history study. It contains all of the team save leaders from the dawn of time. Since what constitutes a closer has changed over time, this, probably the definition, is what I use. Anyway, there are 210 such "closers" with ERAs under 2.00.

If you want to limit this definition to something more closely matching the definition of a closer from the late-Seventies until today, we can limit this group to just those pitchers who recorded 20 saves in the season discussed. That gets us down to 83. Here they are in ascending ERA order:

Name              Year SV  IP    BB  SO  ERA K:BB K/9 IP WHIP
Dennis Eckersley  1990 48  73.33  4  73 0.61 18.25  8.96 0.61
Rollie Fingers    1981 28  78.00 13  61 1.04  4.69  7.04 0.87
Jose Mesa         1995 46  64.00 17  58 1.13  3.41  8.16 1.03
Ted Abernathy     1967 28 106.33 41  88 1.27  2.15  7.45 0.98
Ugueth Urbina     1998 34  69.33 33  94 1.30  2.85 12.20 1.01
Bruce Sutter      1977 31 107.33 23 129 1.34  5.61 10.82 0.86
Ken Tatum         1969 22  86.33 39  65 1.36  1.67  6.78 1.04
John Wetteland    1993 43  85.33 28 113 1.37  4.04 11.92 1.01
Frank Linzy       1965 21  81.67 23  35 1.43  1.52  3.86 1.21
John Hiller       1973 38 125.33 39 124 1.44  3.18  8.90 1.02
Trevor Hoffman    1998 53  73.00 21  86 1.48  4.10 10.60 0.85
Robb Nen          2000 41  66.00 19  92 1.50  4.84 12.55 0.85
Randy Myers       1997 45  59.67 22  56 1.51  2.55  8.45 1.16
Robb Nen          1998 40  88.67 25 110 1.52  4.40 11.17 0.95
Bruce Sutter      1984 45 122.67 23  77 1.54  3.35  5.65 1.08
Mike Jackson      1998 40  64.00 13  55 1.55  4.23  7.73 0.88
Steve Farr        1992 30  52.00 19  37 1.56  1.95  6.40 1.02
Dennis Eckersley  1989 33  57.67  3  55 1.56 18.33  8.58 0.61
Billy Wagner      1999 39  74.67 23 124 1.57  5.39 14.95 0.78
John Franco       1988 39  86.00 27  46 1.57  1.70  4.81 1.01
Jim Kern          1979 29 143.00 62 136 1.57  2.19  8.56 1.13
Jay Howell        1989 28  79.67 22  55 1.58  2.50  6.21 1.03
Gregg Olson       1993 29  45.00 18  44 1.60  2.44  8.80 1.22
Bryan Harvey      1991 46  78.67 17 101 1.60  5.94 11.56 0.86
Phil Regan        1966 21 116.67 24  88 1.62  3.67  6.79 0.93
Rich Gossage      1977 26 133.00 49 151 1.62  3.08 10.22 0.95
Dave Smith        1987 24  60.00 21  73 1.65  3.48 10.95 1.00
Lee Smith         1983 29 103.33 41  91 1.65  2.22  7.93 1.07
Al Hrabosky       1975 22  97.33 33  82 1.66  2.48  7.58 1.08
Bill Landrum      1989 26  81.00 28  51 1.67  1.82  5.67 1.09
Ron Perranoski    1963 21 129.00 43  75 1.67  1.74  5.23 1.20
Gregg Olson       1989 27  85.00 46  90 1.69  1.96  9.53 1.21
Bryan Harvey      1993 45  69.00 13  73 1.70  5.62  9.52 0.84
Tug McGraw        1972 27 106.00 40  92 1.70  2.30  7.81 1.05
Randy Myers       1988 26  68.00 17  69 1.72  4.06  9.13 0.91
Joe Sambito       1979 22  91.33 23  83 1.77  3.61  8.18 1.13
Jeff Shaw         1998 23  49.67 12  29 1.81  2.42  5.26 1.05
Tom Henke         1995 36  54.33 18  48 1.82  2.67  7.95 1.10
Rich Gossage      1985 26  79.00 17  52 1.82  3.06  5.92 1.03
Mudcat Grant      1970 24 123.33 30  54 1.82  1.80  3.94 1.09
Mariano Rivera    1999 45  69.00 18  52 1.83  2.89  6.78 0.88
Bobby Thigpen     1990 57  88.67 32  70 1.83  2.19  7.11 1.04
Greg Minton       1982 30 123.00 42  58 1.83  1.38  4.24 1.22
John Franco       1996 28  54.00 21  48 1.83  2.29  8.00 1.39
Rich Gossage      1975 26 141.67 70 130 1.84  1.86  8.26 1.19
Mark Davis        1989 44  92.67 31  92 1.85  2.97  8.94 1.05
Armando Benitez   1999 22  78.00 41 128 1.85  3.12 14.77 1.04
Ellis Kinder      1953 27 107.00 38  39 1.85  1.03  3.28 1.14
Doug Jones        1992 36 111.67 17  93 1.85  5.47  7.50 1.01
Mike Henneman     1988 22  91.33 24  58 1.87  2.42  5.72 1.05
Roy Face          1962 28  91.00 18  45 1.88  2.50  4.45 1.01
Jim Brewer        1971 22  81.33 24  66 1.88  2.75  7.30 0.97
Mariano Rivera    1997 43  71.67 20  68 1.88  3.40  8.54 1.19
Stu Miller        1965 24 119.33 32 104 1.89  3.25  7.84 1.00
Jeff Russell      1992 28  56.67 22  43 1.91  1.95  6.83 1.29
Al McBean         1964 22  89.67 17  41 1.91  2.41  4.12 1.04
Mariano Rivera    1998 36  61.33 17  36 1.91  2.12  5.28 1.06
Rick Camp         1980 22 108.33 29  33 1.91  1.14  2.74 1.12
Dennis Eckersley  1992 51  80.00 11  93 1.91  8.45 10.46 0.91
Roberto Hernandez 1996 38  84.67 38  85 1.91  2.24  9.04 1.22
Ken Sanders       1971 31 136.33 34  80 1.91  2.35  5.28 1.06
Troy Percival     2002 40  56.33 25  68 1.92  2.72 10.86 1.12
Rollie Fingers    1973 22 126.67 39 110 1.92  2.82  7.82 1.15
Bob Lee           1965 23 131.33 42  89 1.92  2.12  6.10 1.04
Donnie Moore      1985 31 103.00 21  72 1.92  3.43  6.29 1.09
Sparky Lyle       1972 35 107.67 29  75 1.92  2.59  6.27 1.05
Willie Hernandez  1984 32 140.33 36 112 1.92  3.11  7.18 0.94
Dave Giusti       1972 22  74.67 20  54 1.93  2.70  6.51 1.06
Terry Forster     1978 22  65.33 23  46 1.93  2.00  6.34 1.21
John Wetteland    1997 31  65.00 21  63 1.94  3.00  8.72 0.98
Dan Quisenberry   1983 45 139.00 11  48 1.94  4.36  3.11 0.93
Robb Nen          1996 35  83.00 21  92 1.95  4.38  9.98 1.06
Rollie Fingers    1984 23  46.00 13  40 1.96  3.08  7.83 1.11
Eric Gagne        2002 52  82.33 16 114 1.97  7.13 12.46 0.86
Dick Radatz       1963 25 132.33 51 162 1.97  3.18 11.02 1.10
Doug Bair         1978 28 100.33 38  91 1.97  2.39  8.16 1.25
Doug Corbett      1980 23 136.33 42  89 1.98  2.12  5.88 1.06
Jeff Russell      1989 38  72.67 24  77 1.98  3.21  9.54 0.95
Jorge Julio       2002 25  68.00 27  55 1.99  2.04  7.28 1.21
Hoyt Wilhelm      1964 27 131.33 30  95 1.99  3.17  6.51 0.94
Bill Dailey       1963 21 108.67 19  72 1.99  3.79  5.96 0.91
Jack Aker         1966 32 113.00 28  68 1.99  2.43  5.42 0.96
Tom Burgmeier     1980 24  99.00 20  54 2.00  2.70  4.91 1.08

The things about Gagne's 2002 campaign that impress me more than the saves are the strikeout-to-walk ratio and the strikeouts per nine innings. I thought, how rare is it to have a closer with at least five times as many strikeouts as walks, at least 10 strikeouts per nine innings, a WHIP under .90 and an ERA under 2.00.

Of the list above, nine besides Gagne exceed five strikeouts per walk with Dennis Eckersley twice exceeding ten (18.33 and 18.25).

14 besides Gagne top 10 strikeouts per nine innings (and Rob Nenn barely misses at 9.98) with Billy Wagner (14.95) and Armando Benitez (14.77) leading the list.

Eleven besides Gagne have a WHIP under .90, with Dennis Eckersley twice leading the pack (with .61 in 1989 and '90, he's the only person under .78).

Finally, there are just three other men who meet all three criteria (BB:K, K/9 IP, and WHIP). They are Bruce Sutter in 1977, Billy Wagner in 1999, and Bryan Harvey in 1991. Harvey just missed (9.52 K/9 IP) in 1993, and Dennis Eckerlsey was even closer (.91 WHIP) in 1992.

That's a pretty unique set of circumstances. However, I do not know if that means that he had one of the greatest seasons by a reliever all-time. For my money the Eckersley 1989-'90 seasons, and even his 1992, blow away Gagne's 2002 year. Gagne's numbers are not that much better than Troy Percival's and even Jorge Julio's last season (and Byung-Hyun Kim wasn't far behind). But that you can make an argument for Gagne's 2002 being among the best still cannot be ignored.

That said, the Dodgers get off easy with Gagne's salary in 2003. One has to wonder if the strategy is penny-wise and pound-foolish. We'll have to see when Gagne becomes arbitration-eligible next year (Rotowire reports he was just 18 days shy of qualifying this year) and a free agent to follow.