Show Me the Money
In his book, The Mind of Bill James, the Godfather of Sabermetrics wrote, “Dollars and cents are an incarnation of our values. Economic realities represent not what we should believe, not what we like to saw we believe, not what we might choose to believe in a more perfect world, but what our beliefs really are.”
With this in mind, we can look at how owners valued the pitchers in this discussion during their playing careers. How much was Hoffman valued, based on the money he earned, compared to the aforementioned starting pitchers? This can be a proxy for how their careers were valued and can be used as another consideration for the Hall of Fame.
There are different ways to look at this because of the overlapping careers involved and the fact that player salaries go up over time. A big picture look shows that Johan Santana earned roughly $162 million in his career, which is the most of this group of pitchers. The following total earnings come from each pitcher’s Baseball-Reference page:
- $162M—Johan Santana (2000-2014)
- $144M—Mike Mussina (1991-2008)
- $114M—Curt Schilling (1990-2008)
- $99M—Chris Carpenter (1997-2013)
- $93M—Billy Wagner (1995-2010)
- $84M—Jamie Moyer (1986-2012)
- $80M—Trevor Hoffman (1993-2010)
- $169M—Mariano Rivera (1995-2013)—not yet on the ballot
Santana has an advantage here because his career lasted at least four years beyond the end of many of the pitchers on the above list and he was handsomely compensated for those four years. So how about a snapshot of the three-year stretch from 2006 to 2008? This includes the final three years for both Mussina and Schilling when they were in their late 30s. Hoffman is also in his late 30s during this time, while Wagner is in his mid-30s and Moyer is in his mid-40s.
Total earnings from 2008 to 2010:
- $41.1M—Mike Mussina (ages 37 to 39)
- $38.7M—Johan Santana (ages 27 to 29)
- $34.0M—Curt Schilling (ages 39 to 41)
- $31.5M—Billy Wagner (ages 34 to 36)
- $24.0M—Chris Carpenter (ages 31 to 33)
- $19.0M—Trevor Hoffman (ages 38 to 40)
- $18.0M—Jamie Moyer (ages 43 to 45)
- $36.0M—Mariano Rivera (ages 36 to 38)—not yet on the ballot
Hoffman was still a good closer during this stretch. He led the NL in saves in 2006, with 46. He had 42 saves in 2007, then dropped to 30 saves in 2008. He even made the All-Star team twice. But his salary was comparable to Jamie Moyer, who was in his mid-40s. Hoffman didn’t come close to the salary of Mussina or Schilling, who were both roughly the same age as Hoffman. Fellow closer Billy Wagner also made significantly more than Hoffman, although he was four years younger.
Next: Trevor Hoffman: San Diego Padres’ most hidden gem
When he played, Hoffman wasn’t valued by his team as much as other pitchers on the current Baseball Hall of Fame ballot were valued. If his team paid Hoffman $23 million less than Mussina and $15 million less than Schilling over this three-year period, how can the voters think he’s more deserving of the Hall of Fame? Shouldn’t a Hall of Fame pitcher be paid more than a starting pitcher in his mid-40s?