Musing about the Brewers Closers and their Problematic History

I apologize again for taking forever to write a blog post, over a week. Fortunately, the time away was well spent: I was planning and eventually hosting WJMF's Held Hostage radiothon/fundraiser. It's our 36 hour fundraiser for charity: we raised it for Colleges Against Cancer and Bryant University's Relay for Life. We raised nearly $3000 - very proud of our station and the 4 of us. I had a blast and ended up with a shaved head, but overall, one of the best experiences I've had at college. But, on to sports.

The Milwaukee Brewers have had bullpen problems lately, to say the least. With closer John Axford's recent demotion (presumably), and set-up man Jim Henderson's promotion (likely), problems have been deterring the Brewers start of the season. Before I move on, here's a fun fact: John Axford is already second to Dan Plesac in all-time saves for the Brewers. But, the Brewers luck with closers has been pretty poor, and with the switch to Jim Henderson, I believe that more is coming. So, let's examine from the mid-2000s on:

The Brewers closers, outside of a year plus of Francisco Cordero, have followed a pretty disturbing trend: a roundabout or journeyman veteran gets converted to a reliever, or gets called up in their mid-late 20s, and after a year of setting up or in the majors as a prominent set-up man, move into the closer role. After a year, of solid closing, they crash and burn. Here's my proof:

1. Dan Kolb: Set-up/partially closed 2003 - 2004 Stats: 2.98 ERA/39 Saves - 2005 Stats: 5.93 ERA/11 Saves. Out of the league after 2007.
2. Derrick Turnbow: set-up in 2004/2005 Stats: 1.74 ERA/39 Saves - 2006 Stats: 6.87 ERA/24 Saves.  Out of the league after 2008.
3. Cordero replaces Turnbow through 2007.
4. Eric Gagne: reclamation project in 2008. 2007's minor disaster:  3.81 ERA/16 Saves (6.75 ERA in Boston and a horrible David Murphy trade). 2008: 5.44 ERA/10 Saves. Out of the league after '08.
5. Solomon Torres: journeyman replaced Gagne. 2007's Stats: 5.47 ERA/12 Saves - 2008 Stats: 3.49 ERA/28 Saves. Retired after 2008.
6. Trevor Hoffman: Looked like Hoff in 09: 1.83 ERA/37 Saves - 2010 Stats: 5.89 ERA/10 Saves. Retired after 2010.
7. John Axford: 2010: 2.48 ERA/24 Saves. 2011: 1.95 ERA/46 Saves. 2012's downturn: 4.67 ERA/35 Saves. 2013: 20.25 ERA.....yikes.
8. Jim Henderson: called up to MLB at age 29....we'll see

All I can say is good luck to Jim Henderson. Seriously. Any thoughts?

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