FBC Community Top 25 RP - Vote #4: Mariano Rivera

[AquaMan2342]

isnt rivera coming off a surgery? i don't think he's 100% yet.

Wait. I am confused. Was his right arm removed by force? Did it disappear?

[raiders_umpire]

I like Valverde here...

Guy has converted 91 of 105 (87%) SVO in the L2 years and has whiffed 161 in 136.1 innings

He will also turn 30 this month.

MO Rivera is 69 of 74 for a little better percentage but clearly not enough opps for me to like...then throw in the fact he's about 60. You can take it to the bank that I will not be the guy that grabs him when father time finally catches up to him.

Lidge had a fantastic yr but I expect him to come down to earth and who knows, revert to 07 form where he was average at best...one monster yr isn't enough to sway me. IN 05 his ERA was 5.28 ...and that's for a closer.

[Omaha Red Sox]

So Lidge has one great year, while Rivera has had about 29878374928798734982349 of them. I'll take the 29878374928798734982349.

Holy crap, that's like Will remembering all of his brother's names.

[WaCougMBS]

I'm going to wait for about 10-15 more votes on this one, so chip in guys!

[smoovethug]

Soria slightly over Lidge.

[Inukchuk]

I like Valverde here...

Guy has converted 91 of 105 (87%) SVO in the L2 years and has whiffed 161 in 136.1 innings

He will also turn 30 this month.

MO Rivera is 69 of 74 for a little better percentage but clearly not enough opps for me to like...then throw in the fact he's about 60. You can take it to the bank that I will not be the guy that grabs him when father time finally catches up to him.

Lidge had a fantastic yr but I expect him to come down to earth and who knows, revert to 07 form where he was average at best...one monster yr isn't enough to sway me. He had two pretty POOPTASTIC years in a row before last seasons breakout. IN 05 his ERA was 5.28 ...and that's for a closer.

I respect your opinion...

...but you're out of your mind.

[bigh0rt]

Lidge had a fantastic yr but I expect him to come down to earth and who knows, revert to 07 form where he was average at best...

You know Lidge had a few elite years prior to '07 right? Last year wasn't exactly his coming out party...

[High and Inside]

I like Valverde here...

Guy has converted 91 of 105 (87%) SVO in the L2 years and has whiffed 161 in 136.1 innings

He will also turn 30 this month.

MO Rivera is 69 of 74 for a little better percentage but clearly not enough opps for me to like...then throw in the fact he's about 60. You can take it to the bank that I will not be the guy that grabs him when father time finally catches up to him.

Lidge had a fantastic yr but I expect him to come down to earth and who knows, revert to 07 form where he was average at best...one monster yr isn't enough to sway me. He had two pretty POOPTASTIC years in a row before last seasons breakout. IN 05 his ERA was 5.28 ...and that's for a closer.

I respect your opinion...

...but you're out of your mind.

OK...so I'm out of my mind...been told that m any a times over the years but who is your guy here???

Please don't say MO....all you guys that have him picked here are out of your freaken minds. I'd put money down that Valverde saves more games than Rivera this year.

Valverde has saved 44 & 47 respectively over the L2 yrs ...you'd have to go back to 2004 when Mo saved 53 to match that output. YOu guys are drafting/living on a name, plain and simple.

Let's take a further look at MO over his last 3 years, which have been anything but fantastic.
194 GP, 103 -111 SVO (93%), 217 IP, 2.12 ERA and 206 K's which equates to 8.5Ks/9IP

Valverde L2 seasons when he took on a FT closer role...
139 GP, 91-105 (87%), 136.1 IP, 3.03 ERA and 161 K's which equates to 10.6Ks/9IP

This is an absolute no-brainer here but the minions that love the Yanks and still think Rivera is a God are just that...minions

I could see Lidge >>> Valverde or Valverde >>> Lidge but not Mo ...

[High and Inside]

Lidge had a fantastic yr but I expect him to come down to earth and who knows, revert to 07 form where he was average at best...

You know Lidge had a few elite years prior to '07 right? Last year wasn't exactly his coming out party...

YOu do know that his last good years prior to last season were 2004 and 2005, we are in 2009 bud. It would mean something if he has been consistently good since then but 06 & 07 were terrible by closers means. Didn't he single-handedly cost Houston in 06 during there playoff run, my memory isn't the best but I seem to recall that the Houston fans/media were calling for his head.

Prior to last year he spent the previous 2 seasons racking up these stellar numbers
51-65 (78%) , with a whopping 4.37 ERA ....he's very fortunate to have landed a gig where he closed last yr after those two disastrous years.

And call me crazy, but last year WAS his coming out party

[High and Inside]

Mo Rivera easily. He's done it before and he'll do it again. The only other person I considered here was soria...

What have you done for me lately???

The guy hasn't broke 40 saves since 2005...come on, I realize he's consistent and he does play for the Yanks but why hasn't he hit 40 saves in over 3 years....40 saves is a benchmark for a dominant closer.

I'll take guys like Valverde, Lidge and possibly Soria ove rhim anyday of the week for nothing other than they have huge upside while Mo is/will break down one of these days.....fock, the guy is almost 40.