Give Hoffman a Break!

First off, let me get this out of the way: Trevor Hoffman cost the Padres a playoff birth when he blew two saves in the span of three days. He totally blew it. Had he been able to retire Tony Gwynn Jr. on Saturday or one of the Rockies on Monday, the Pads would be playing Game One of the NLDS in Philly today. No ifs, ands or buts about it.

I wasn’t going to weigh in on this because broke up with the 2007 Padres in late August and Monday was the first time I watched them play in six weeks but all those people on the message boards and talk shows vilifying Hoffman and calling for the Padres trade him or buy out his contract are just driving me nuts. I mean, I was at Nicky Rotten’s for lunch today and I heard some doofus say that they should move Hoffman to the setup role because you can’t have a closer who throws in the mid-80s. I mean, did this jerk even see any one of Hoffman’s 524 saves? Did it look like he could close out a game throwing in the mid-80s? Listen, you don’t get rid of a great closer after he blows a save ok? I don’t care how important the game was. Did the Oakland A’s get rid of Dennis Eckersly after he gave up the homerun to Kirk Gibson in the 1988 World Series? Did the Yankees cut Mariano Rivera after he blew Game 7 of the 2001 World Series? To get rid of Hoffman this off-season would not only be a total knee-jerk reaction, it would be completely ludicrous shoot-yourself-in-the-foot move.

People say “Hoffman isn’t a ‘money closer’ like Rivera.” Yeah, but who is? I take a look around the major leagues and I can’t even name half the closers out there right now. Let’s take a roll call of the five best closers outside of Hoffman and let’s see who we have:

Mariano Rivera: REC 3-4 SV 30 ERA 3.15

John Papelbon: REC 1-3 SV 37 ERA 1.85

Billy Wagner: REC 2-2 SV 34 ERA 2.63

Francisco Rodriguez: REC 5-2 SV 40 ERA 2.81

Jose Valverde: REC 1-4 SV 47 ERA 2.66

Rivera struggled at the beginning of the year and even the most ardent Yankee fan will admit their confidence level in Rivera is not as high as it used to be and Paplebon struggled to end the season — the second straight year he’s struggled in September. After that you have Billy Wagner, K-Rod, and Jose Valverde– who looks like he’s either going to be a great closer or go kill someone within the next few years.

What’s my point? My point is that there aren’t any great, lights-out, closers out there right now. They’ve either gotten hurt (Eric Gagne), have gotten old (Rivera, Hoffman) or haven’t arrived yet (Paplebon, Valverde, Joel Zumaya). I mean if you look at that list up there, there are two (TWO!!) proven closers in their prime in all of major league baseball. TWO! So to suggest that the Padres get rid of Trevor Hoffman is just plain absurd.

Does Trevor Hoffman have a penchant for blowing big games? Heck yes he does. There was a hint of it in 1998 when he was one save away from the consecutive save record and blew it by giving up a homerun to Moises Alou. Later that year he took the loss in Game Two of the World Series. And of course, he blew the save in last years All-Star Game (even though I wouldn’t really consider the All-Star Game a “big game”).

Obviously games like those — and there are many more, are indefensible. But think about this: Unlike Mariano Rivera who pitches for the Yankees where every game is life or death, Hoffman wasn’t really battle tested earlier in his career. Rivera, who was a set-up man for John Wetteland on the 1996 World Series team, has been in the postseason every single year of his career but one. Hoffman didn’t make it to the playoffs until 1996 (his fourth year in the league), was there again in 1998 and didn’t make it back until 2005 and 2006. I mean going from pitching in relative obscurity at Qualcom Stadium and PetCo Park to the postseason is a pretty big leap. It would be like grilling for your family and friends one day and then getting thrown into Hell’s Kitchen the next. I mean it’s really not the same right? I’m not making excuses for Hoffman but maybe if the Padres were a little more competitive earlier in his he would be able to handle these pressure situations a little better.

Whatever the case may be, the Padres are a better team with Trevor Hoffman. I mean, outside of Peavy and Hoffman what does this team really got? Hoffman’s one of the few somebodys in a team full of nobodys. Remember in 2003 when Hoffman missed most of the year and we were subjected to the catastrophe known as Brandon Villafuerte? Most Hoffman critics probably won’t because it was the pre-PetCo days and they probably weren’t Padre fans yet, but Villafuerte was billed as a guy who could handle the closers role for a year while Hoffman was out and he totally, completely, and utterly bombed. That guy gave it up so many times he would have put Paris Hilton to shame. Go see Villafuerte working at the local L&L and he’ll probably tell you that closing isn’t easy.

And who are the Padres going to go with if they get rid of Hoffman anyways? As we talked about above there aren’t too many options out there. Think about it this way: In 2008 they’ll have Heath Bell in the 8th, Hoffman in the 9th and Clay Meridith, Doug Brocail, Joe Thatcher and some transient Towers picks up in the Pilipino League and the Pads will still have one of the best bullpens in baseball.

Trevor Hoffman cost the Padres a playoff birth when he blew two saves in the span of three days.

Let’s not make this a bigger thing than it has to be.