Dave Robertson > Rafael Soriano

(Hey look!  It's the new closer!  Courtesy of Reuters)

The biggest non-Mo talking point since Mo went down with his ACL injury has been who should take his place as closer this season.  It was talked about immediately after the injury was confirmed, it was talked about after D-Rob handled the 9th inning in order in a non-save situation on Friday night, and it was talked about again after he did his normal tightrope walk routine to close out the win last night.  Obviously the only 2 real candidates are Dave Robertson and Rafael Soriano, but I still feel like I have to ask this.  Why is anybody even talking about this in the first plate?  Why is there even cause for a "Robertson or Soriano" discussion?  Did I get transplanted into an alternate reality where Rafael Soriano is a better pitcher than Dave Robertson?  That's the only thing that I can think of that would explain this situation.

It's real simple, people.  Dave Robertson should be the closer.  And the reason he should be the closer is that he's simply a better pitcher and a more effective reliever than Rafael Soriano.  For all the talk about how erratic D-Rob can be and how many walks he issues and how you don't want runners on base in the 9th inning, the fact remains that Robertson has showed a consistent ability over the last 2+ years to get big outs when he needs to get them in a variety of different high-leverage relief situations.  And if you want to talk about walks, let's talk about how before last night Robertson had issued just 3 walks in 12.0 IP this season, good for a 2.25 BB/9 value that was only slightly higher than Mo's 2.16.  Robertson has shown serious improvement in his command and ability to throw strikes and paint corners, and has done it without sacrificing any of the nastiness of his stuff that allows him to rack up his dominant strikeout totals.  If that doesn't work for you, try these nuggets of knowledge on for size.

Fact- Soriano has a higher BB/9 right now (6.55) than Robertson has ever had in any season in his professional career.

Fact- Soriano has allowed 20 total unintentional baseunners this year.  Robertson has allowed 13 and has done it in 2 more innings of work.

Fact- Soriano has thrown 39 high-leverage innings in the last 2+ seasons and has allowed 19 ER in those innings.  Robertson has thrown 39.1 high-leverage innings in the last 2+ seasons and has allowed 9 ER in his innings.

Fact- Bears beats "Battlestar Galactica."

Do you see the picture I'm painting here?  There isn't any scenario in which Soriano is better than Robertson and that should make the job Robertson's.  Is he perfect in the role he already has as setup man/emergency fireman?  Absolutely.  But that doesn't mean D-Rob isn't better-suited to handle the closer's role.  Ideally you want your closer to come in, sit the opponent down 1-2-3, and walk off the mound to a cheering crowd.  Robertson's combination of elite-level stuff and improved command makes him the better candidate to do just that, and the results he's generated on the mound in his appearances this season back that up.

Robertson earned the 8th-inning role with the work he did when Soriano got hurt last year, and he's more than earned the closer role in Mo's absence with what he's done this year.  By any measure, he is one of the best relief pitchers in baseball and clearly the best one on the Yankees.  If you're telling me that's not the guy you want filling Mariano Rivera's shoes, then I don't know what to tell you.  He's got better stuff, he's got better command right now, he's better at keeping runners off base, and he's better at limiting damage.  The job should be Robertson's until he either gets hurt or does start to perform poorly, otherwise it shouldn't even be up for debate.