John Franco: 424 Saves
Following Lee Smith on this list, is John Franco with 424 career saves.
John Franco began his career in 1984 at the age of 23 with the Cincinnati Reds. His first season with the Reds would prove to be the foundation of a great career for Franco. In his inaugural season, Franco appeared in 54 games and finished 30 of them with just four saves. It would not be until 1986 that Franco would get substantial time to pitch in late game situations with a three run lead or less. In that same season, Franco would also go to his first All-Star Game of four.
Following three All-Star appearances with the Reds and a league leading 39 saves in 1988 along with league leading games finished in back to back years, Franco signed with the Mets in the winter going into the 1990 season. His time with the Mets would be the years of his career that would lead him into the history books as the fourth most successful reliever in the game of baseball.
Although he would only lead the league in saves twice as a Met, Franco holds the franchise record with 276 saves over a 14 season period. Following his appearance in the World Series with the Mets, Franco began cooling off and never regained his status as an elite closer again. Over his final six seasons, Franco secured only eight saves with an ERA of 4.14.
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