You have a pitcher who regularly hits 98-100 MPH on the radar gun. What do you do? Do you put him in the rotation, or do you make him your closer? Is he more valuable to your team winning 15 games, or saving 40 games? How do teams determine whether or not a pitcher should be a starter or a reliever? That...is the question.

In my opinion, a guy who has a 98MPH arm should be a starter. My reasoning:

1) I believe a 98MPH starting pitcher is a rare find...not to mention difficult to beat.
2) Hard throwing starters have a pretty good history of being successful...and injury-free.
3) Closers are not difficult to find. (Of course, that is subject to debate)
4) Closers find their way onto the DL more than starters.
5) Most pitchers are groomed and/or prefer to be starters.
6) Why have the best arm on your team throw 50 innings instead of 200?

Most 98MPH pitchers are successful starting pitchers, and Kerry Wood aside, usually stay relatively healthy. Pitchers like Bob Gibson, Roger Clemens, Nolan Ryan, et al... had no major health concerns. I am aware that my comment about it being easy to find a closer may ruffle some feathers, but I believe it to be true. Trevor Hoffman has 533 saves, and he does not have a killer fastball. Guys like Todd Jones, Jason Isringhausen, and David Weathers have had many saves in their careers, and believe me when I say that every team could find a pitcher who has similar stuff to those three pitchers. Now I can understand that being a reliever requires a certain mental make-up, but a hard throwing pitcher will not have a proper mental make-up required to close if his heart isn't in to closing. Many believe Aaron Heilman is struggling because his heart is not in the bullpen. Heilman has always wanted to be a starter, and Heilman has lobbied to be a starter for years. The results may just speak for themselves in Heilman's case. And why would most pitchers want to be starters as opposed to relievers?

Money talks! Starting pitchers command higher salaries than relief pitchers. Let's face it, a number three starter will make more money than a bullpen arm (In many cases...even the closer). The other factor is the fame and fortune that follows a player after retirement. Every rookie who first comes up to the big league club has aspirations of being in the Hall of Fame one day. The fact is...starters make it to the Hall of Fame much more frequent than a reliever does. Many still feel that Trevor Hoffman is not a Hall of Famer. I happen to believe he is, but it is debatable. Lee Smith was as dominant a closer as there was, but he is unlikely to be voted in. Look at some of the top closers of today. Pitchers like Billy Wagner, Bobby Jenks, Joe Nathan, and Greg Gagne will never see the Hall of Fame, despite having many dominating seasons. Think how differently their careers could have been had they been starters. Could they have been top starters? We (and they) will never know.

And perhaps more to the dime-a-dozen closer argument I presented, is that there is no real longevity for the majority of relievers/closers. Just ask former closers like Corpas, Weathers, Cordero, Borowski, Gordon, (Mike) Gonzales, Turnbow, Looper, Bemitez, Graves, Kolb, Chacon, Foulke, Baez, Dotel, Julio, Ryan, and Hermanson. All lost their closer's job due to injury or ineffectiveness. That is why I believe that it is not difficult to find a successful closer for a year or two. Mariano Rivera is the only sure bet to make the Hall of Fame, and one of the few who has found success in the closers role. Therefore, I maintain my stance that a 98 MPH fastball belongs in the rotation, and not in the bullpen.

Of course, this is a timely debate, as the Yankees are about to move Joba Chamberlain into the rotation. There's been similar speculation about the career path of Jonathan Papelbon, and more recently, Max Scherzer. Papelbon's situation may be a bit different, in that he pitches for a potential World Series winning team every year. He's following in the footsteps of Mariano Rivera. But talented young pitchers like Scherzer and Chamberlain should be in the rotation. Imagine what we could have missed had Bob Gibson, Juan Marichal, Vida Blue, Catfish Hunter, and Nolan Ryan been closers instead of the great starting pitchers that they were. Now, we can only wonder what would have happened if Billy Wagner, Joe Nathan, and Jonathan Papelbon had been starters instead of closers. What if.....



Court Adjourned!