CHICAGO -- A few years back, Major League Baseball created two new awards in honor of arguably the two greatest closers in baseball history. The top reliever in the NL moving forward was to be the winner of the Trevor Hoffman National League Reliever of the Year award while the AL version is the Mariano Rivera American League Reliever of the Year award.
This year's recipients: Kenley Jansen of the Dodgers and Zach Britton of the Orioles.
Britton comes as no surprise whatsoever. He was the best reliever in the world this year. A perfect 47 for 47 in save chances, Britton posted a ridiculous 0.54 ERA and 0.84 WHIP along with 74 strikeouts in 67 innings.
On the NL side, Jansen was 47 of 53 in save chances with a 1.83 ERA and 0.67 WHIP (hoo boy). He struck out 104 while walking only 11 (two were intentional, too) in 68 2/3 innings. It's worth mention that Jansen is a free agent this coming winter, so he's about to be paid handsomely to ply his trade.
As has been the case the past few years, both Hoffman and Rivera were on hand to honor the winners, though Jansen was not on hand, due to "unforeseen travel issues."
