Joe Smith appeared in a whopping 866 Games in the Majors, all of which from the bullpen, with most in middle relief.
A 15-year veteran, Smith played for eight different teams, but his best success with Cleveland, the team he played six years for and had nearly half of his career bWAR (6.4 of 12.9) and had three consecutive seasons of a sub-3 ERA (2011-13). With that said, Smith’s best season was right after when he joined the Los Angeles Angels when he went 7-2 with 15 Saves and a 1.81 ERA.
Smith also pitched for New York (NL), Chicago (NL), Toronto, Houston, Seattle and Minnesota, with an overall record of 59 and 34, 30 Saves and 176 Games Finished.
Jed Lowrie is a 14-year MLB veteran infielder who started his career with the Boston Red Sox. However, his most successful stint was with the Oakland Athletics. After playing for the Red Sox for four years (from 2008 to 2011), he was traded to Houston, who then dealt him to Oakland after a year. Despite never having played over 400 plate appearances in a season, Lowrie became Oakland's full-time shortstop and managed to hit 175 times with a batting average of .290. The next year, he recorded 125 hits with a .249 batting average. After becoming a free agent, Lowrie returned to the Astros but was soon shifted from shortstop to third base in favor of Carlos Correa, who won the Rookie of the Year. He was then traded back to Oakland, where he had his best season, being selected as an All-Star and achieving career-highs in home runs (23), runs batted in (99), and OPS+ (121).
Lowrie then signed a two-year contract with the New York Mets, but knee problems limited him to only nine games, and he missed the entire 2020 season. Later, he rejoined Oakland for two more seasons, finishing his career with 1,185 hits and 121 home runs.
Greg Holland was one of the best relief pitchers in the 2010s and played a crucial role in the success of the Kansas City Royals during that time.
Holland was drafted by the Royals in 2007 and made his debut for the team in 2010. The following year, he proved himself with an impressive performance, posting a 1.80 ERA and a WHIP of less than one (0.933) over 60 innings. After another strong season in 2012 (2.96 ERA), Holland became the Royals' ninth-inning specialist.
From 2013 to 2014, Holland was one of the top closers in the league, finishing ninth in Cy Young voting both years with ERAs under 1.5 and WHIPs under one. He was named the 2013 American League Pitcher of the Year by the Sporting News, and in 2014, he helped the Royals reach the World Series. During the playoffs, Holland had seven saves and allowed only one run in ten innings.
Though not as dominant in 2015, Holland remained effective until he suffered a torn UCL injury. Despite his absence, the Royals went on to win the World Series that year. Holland missed the entire 2016 season to recover from his injury. When he was ready to return, he became a free agent and signed with the Colorado Rockies, where he won the AL Comeback Player of the Year award and his first Saves Title (41). He was also selected to the All-Star team for the third time.
However, Holland was unable to recapture his earlier success and spent the next five years moving from team to team, playing for St. Louis, Washington, Arizona, a second stint with the Royals, and Texas. In total, he amassed 220 saves.
Dee Strange-Gordon was at one point one of the top speedsters in Major League Baseball at a time when he was at his best as a Marlin.
Gordon was a competent player for the Los Angeles Dodgers, where he was an All-Star in 2014, but his best year was when he was traded to the Marlins, where Gordon won the Silver Slugger, the Gold Glove, and was the 2015 National League leader in Batting Average (.333) and Hits (205). Gordon was also a one-time leader in Triples, three-time leader in Stolen Bases and two-time leader in Singles. The 2015 was incredible for the speedster, but he never equated that and will be lucky to make the Hall of Fame ballot.