Sports
Nailed it! One position all 30 MLB teams have gotten right — and what it means for 2023
Last month, we took a look at persistent organizational holes — those sore spots on different teams that just never quite seem to heal.
This is a companion examination to that exercise, in which we look at the flip side: What are the strongest positions for each team on a year-in, year-out basis?
To answer that question, we tabulated “stability scores” for every position on every club (our methodology is explained here). For some teams, the answer is obvious. (See: Mr. Trout and the Angels.) For others, the biggest source of stability might not be what you think.
In addition, we’re putting these scores in a historical context by looking at how the tenure of the current regular at each team’s most stable position compares to the longest tenure at that spot in franchise history.
Finally, we’ll look how and if the picture changed in 2022 — and how it might evolve in the season to come.
Position: Relief pitchers
Stability points: 105.1 (last red in 1993)
Current tenure: 1 season (Clay Holmes, 2022 to present)
Longest tenure: 17 seasons (Mariano Rivera, 1997 to 2013)