110 Greatest Baseball Players

96.  RHP Jose Mesa, Cleveland Indians

Mesa got to the Majors with Baltimore in 1987.  He got traded to the Indians in 1992.  Mesa was suspended for three games for participating in a brawl in 1993.  In 1995, he won a Player-of-the-Week Award, played in the All-Star Game and led the American League in saves.  He played in the All-Star Game in 1996.  He got traded to San Francisco in 1998.  He went to Seattle in 1999.  He moved on to Philadelphia in 2001, where he won a Player-of-the-Week Award.  He went to Pittsburgh in 2004.  He recorded his 300th career save in 2005.  He went to Colorado in 2006, where he was suspended for four games for intentionally throwing at Omar Vizquel after an ongoing feud between the two players reached its peak and he was suspended for three games for intentionally hitting Mark Sweeney with a pitch.  He had cups of coffee with Detroit and Philadelphia in 2007 where he was suspended for two games for intentionally throwing at a hitter before retiring.  It's hard to judge a player like Mesa.  When you take a look at his career stat line you see, in essence, a terrible relief pitcher.  He lost way too many games, allowed way too many base runners, was way too hittable, and allowed way too many runs to score given the amount of innings he pitched.  It would look like a guy who got a lot of chances to pitch in the big leagues and had a long minor league career, but never really made it at the high level.  But that's not the case for Mesa, as most of us remember him as a seemingly ageless wonder who pitched forever.  In fact, his longevity is miraculous.  He lasted as a relief pitcher in the Majors for 19 seasons and he pitched in 1,022 games and recorded 1,549 innings pitched.  Not only did he forge a long Major League career, but he was also the anchor of the bullpen on most of the teams that he pitched, far from a mop-up man.  How did this happen for so many years?  I don't really know, especially considering that he actually pitched on some pretty decent teams and had a lot of important save opportunities.  But it did.  All in all, there isn't a single player who could be compared to Mesa legitimately.  I guess I would compare him to a slugger who hit somewhere around 530 homers and had a ton of runs batted in but who struck out all the time and had a career batting average somewhere around .225.  The problem with that comparison is that such a player doesn't exist.  So how do we evaluate Mesa objectively?  We look at how his peers treated him.  If he was treated as an elite closer and top setup man throughout his career by teams he played for and against, then we should probably treat him the same way.  After all, you don't get 321 saves in your sleep.  Nor do you pitch in over 1,000 games without having a good amount of skill.  So LeRoy doesn't forget his place here.  He will be eligible for the Hall of Fame in 2012, if the world doesn't end first.

Honorable Mention:

RF Jermaine Dye, Chicago White Sox

Dye first gained note in 1995 as one of the top prospects in the Minor Leagues while in the Atlanta organization.  He was treated the same way in 1996 as he cracked the Majors with Atlanta, as he hit a home run in his first at-bat and was named to the Topps All-Rookie Team.  He went to Kansas City in 1997.  He won a Player-of-the-Week Award in 1999.  In 2000, he won a Player-of-the-Week Award, a Player-of-the-Month Award, played in the All-Star Game and won a Gold Glove Award.  He was traded to Oakland in 2001 and won a Player-of-the-Month Award after the deal.  He went to the White Sox in 2005, where he won a World Series and was named the World Series MVP.  In 2006, he won a Player-of-the-Week Award, participated in the Home Run Derby, played in the All-Star Game, finished the season with 44 home runs and won a Silver Slugger Award.  He won a Player-of-the-Week Award in 2008.  He won a Player-of-the-Week Award in 2009 before retiring.  Dye finished his career with 325 home runs and 1,072 runs batted in.  He will be eligible for the Hall of Fame in 2014.