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The 100 Greatest Relievers of all time, presented with no commentary:

Names Years Best Rank First Last First Last Year Points 1 Mariano Rivera 1996 2013 2005 1801 2 Rollie Fingers 1968 1985 1981 1111 3 Trevor Hoffman 1993 2010 1998 1057 4 Goose Gossage 1972 1994 1977 1039 5 Billy Wagner 1995 2010 2010 1027 6 Joe Nathan 2002 2016 2006 1000 7 Hoyt Wilhelm 1952 1972 1964 981 8 Francisco Rodriguez 2002 2017 2008 850 9 Lee Smith 1980 1997 1991 805 10 Jonathan Papelbon 2005 2016 2006 804 11 Dennis Eckersley 1987 1998 1992 802 12 John Franco 1984 2005 1988 784 13 Sparky Lyle 1967 1982 1972 776 14 Craig Kimbrel 2010 2017 2013 769 15 Robb Nen 1993 2002 2000 745 16 Dan Quisenberry 1979 1990 1983 727 17 Bruce Sutter 1976 1988 1979 694 18 Mike Marshall 1967 1981 1974 684 19 Doug Jones 1982 2000 1997 675 20 Kent Tekulve 1974 1989 1978 658 21 Tom Henke 1982 1995 1989 652 22 John Wetteland 1989 2000 1993 650 23 Lindy McDaniel 1956 1975 1960 617 24 Kenley Jansen 2010 2017 2017 595 25 Roy Face 1953 1969 1959 581 26 Tug McGraw 1965 1984 1972 570 27 Clay Carroll 1964 1978 1972 561 28 Armando Benitez 1994 2008 2004 544 29 Francisco Cordero 1999 2012 2004 540 30 John Hiller 1965 1980 1973 538 31 Ron Perranoski 1961 1973 1963 538 32 Jeff Reardon 1979 1994 1982 536 33 Roberto Hernandez 1991 2007 1996 531 34 Stu Miller 1954 1968 1965 530 35 Randy Myers 1985 1998 1997 526 36 Huston Street 2005 2017 2014 520 37 Aroldis Chapman 2010 2017 2012 508 38 Keith Foulke 1997 2008 2003 504 39 Eric Gagne 2002 2008 2003 503 40 Jeff Montgomery 1987 1999 1993 484 41 Todd Worrell 1985 1997 1986 484 42 Willie Hernandez 1977 1989 1984 464 43 Jose Mesa 1994 2007 1995 463 44 Dick Radatz 1962 1969 1964 455 45 Rick Aguilera 1988 2000 1991 454 46 Rod Beck 1991 2004 1993 445 47 Gene Garber 1970 1988 1978 439 48 Mark Melancon 2009 2017 2015 437 49 Gregg Olson 1988 2001 1989 435 50 Jason Isringhausen 1999 2012 2007 429 51 Dave Righetti 1984 1994 1986 424 52 Ted Abernathy 1955 1972 1967 423 53 Jesse Orosco 1979 2003 1983 419 54 Mike Henneman 1987 1996 1988 417 55 Steve Bedrosian 1981 1995 1987 415 56 Bill Campbell 1973 1987 1976 412 57 J.J. Putz 2003 2014 2007 408 58 Troy Percival 1995 2009 2002 404 59 Gary Lavelle 1974 1987 1977 401 60 Zach Britton 2014 2017 2016 398 61 Dave Giusti 1962 1977 1973 395 62 Jose Valverde 2003 2014 2011 393 63 Eddie Fisher 1959 1972 1965 391 64 Brad Lidge 2002 2012 2008 387 65 Firpo Marberry 1923 1936 1926 386 66 Rafael Soriano 2003 2015 2010 385 67 Joakim Soria 2007 2017 2008 384 68 Jeff Brantley 1988 2001 1996 384 69 Aurelio Lopez 1974 1987 1979 373 70 Don McMahon 1957 1974 1970 372 71 Greg Holland 2010 2017 2014 370 72 Jeff Shaw 1991 2001 1997 370 73 Jim Brewer 1961 1976 1971 369 74 Heath Bell 2004 2014 2010 359 75 Phil Regan 1960 1972 1966 354 76 Pedro Borbon 1969 1980 1973 342 77 Ellis Kinder 1946 1957 1953 341 78 Jay Howell 1980 1994 1985 339 79 Bob Wickman 1994 2007 2001 339 80 Tim Burke 1985 1992 1987 337 81 Dave Smith 1980 1992 1985 335 82 Bob Stanley 1977 1989 1978 334 83 Fernando Rodney 2002 2017 2012 324 84 Ugueth Urbina 1997 2005 1998 324 85 Bob Locker 1965 1975 1967 321 86 Duane Ward 1986 1995 1993 321 87 Mark Davis 1985 1997 1989 316 88 Tom Gordon 1988 2009 1998 316 89 Bryan Harvey 1987 1995 1991 314 90 Todd Jones 1993 2008 2005 312 91 Wade Davis 2012 2017 2015 308 92 Frank Linzy 1963 1974 1965 307 93 Jeff Russell 1986 1996 1989 305 94 David Robertson 2008 2017 2017 303 95 Clem Labine 1950 1962 1955 301 96 Greg Minton 1976 1990 1982 300 97 Steve Farr 1985 1994 1990 300 98 Johnny Murphy 1932 1947 1941 298 99 Al McBean 1961 1970 1964 297 100 Danny Graves 1996 2006 2000 295

OK, minimal commentary.

1) It’s a purely numbers-based ranking, with no subjective adjustments after the fact (although, of course, subjective judgment is always used, by all analysts, in determining what goes into the numbers.

2) There are five "rules" for awarding points, four of which are derived in one manner or another from Season Scores; it’s really a system of looking at the Season Scores this way, and then looking at them that way, and then a third way, and then a fourth way.

3) The only points that aren’t awarded in that way are bonuses for winning the Cy Young Award and the MVP. Without the Cy Young/MVP points, Rollie Fingers would rank fifth, behind Hoffman, Gossage and Wagner.

4) I don’t intend to explain the points, because that’s a four-page explanation and I’m interested in the rankings, not the method; the points are really just displayed here to show how absurdly far ahead of everyone else Mariano is.

5) I started the system with one idea of how I would rank players, but that didn’t really work, so I added a second element and adjusted the points and re-ranked them, added a third element, etc., etc.; it went through about 15 iterations before I was ready to go with it. The only consistent thing was that Mariano was always absurdly far ahead of everybody else, no matter how I did the rankings. And none of this even considers post-season play.

6) There are no actual ties; there are un-displayed decimals which would make it all but impossible to have a tie.

7) The guy who always gets screwed in these discussions is Joe Nathan; it was actually just in the last iteration of the system that he dropped to sixth. Until then he was third or fourth. People talk about Billy Wagner as a Hall of Fame candidate and K-Rod and Lee Smith and Franco and Quisenberry; Sutter and Wilhelm are actually in the Hall of Fame. But Nathan had a LOT more impressive seasons than K-Rod did or most of those other pitchers, really more high-impact seasons as a reliever than almost anyone other than Rivera, but somehow he always gets left out of those discussions.

8) Active relievers (2017) who are on the list: Francisco Rodriguez (8th), Craig Kimbrel (14th), Kenley Jansen (24th), Huston Street (36th), Aroldis Chapman (37th), Mark Melancon (48th), Zach Britton (60th), Joakim Soria (67th), Greg Holland (71st), Fernando Rodney (83rd), Wade Davis (91st), and David Robertson (94th).

9) Number of pitchers on this list active by decade: 1920s, 1; 1930s, 2; 1940s, 2; 1950s, 9; 1960s, 23; 1970s, 32; 1980s, 43; 1990s, 46; 2000s, 39; this decade, 24. Highest number is 46, in the 1990s.

10) Number of pitchers per decade by their best seasons: 1920s, 1; 1930s, none; 1940s, 1; 1950s, 3; 1960s, 11; 1970s, 17; 1980s, 18; 1990s, 18; 2000s, 17; this decade, 14.

11) Pitchers who usually get overlooked in this discussion: Joe Nathan, Doug Jones, Clay Carroll, Francisco Cordero, John Hiller, Jeff Montgomery, Gregg Olson, Mike Henneman, Gary Lavelle, Don McMahon, Bob Wickman, Todd Jones, Frank Linzy, Greg Minton, Al McBean, Danny Graves. Pitchers who maybe get overrated in this discussion: K-Rod, Sutter, Tekulve, Roy Face, Eric Gagne, Mark Davis, Bryan Harvey, Jim Konstanty (101), Al Hrabosky (103), Joe Page (108), Rob Dibble (148).