2008 Woodie Awards
Baseball stats I really want to see
Corey Kempf
Issue date: 3/1/07 Section: Sports
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Every year in baseball, it seems as if some new stathead releases the best new statistic for analyzing the players of Major League Baseball. This year, it's VORP, or Value Over Replacement Player, introduced in 2001 by Baseball Prospectus author Keith Woolner.
According to Woolner and Baseball Prospectus, VORP is "the number of runs contributed beyond what a replacement-level player at the same position would contribute if given the same percentage of team plate appearances." What that doesn't tell you is that to calculate VORP you need a formula that includes about two or three other formulas devised by Woolner's stathead predecessors.
Those silly sabermetricians.
This year, I'm introducing some of my own statistical categories. The objective: simplify, educate, and familiarize. Here they are:
First is the GJE or Geoff Jenkins Equivalent. It measures a player's value based on the comparison of home runs and runs batted in to strikeouts. Take the sum of homers and RBIs divided by strikeouts, and if the resulting number is less than .75, you're in trouble. (Jenkins sets the bar high at .60.)
(Note: The pitching counterpart of this is the Kerry Wood Equivalent. To find this, take the sum of innings pitched and strikeouts divided by days spent on the disabled list.)
Next, I tried to find a way to correctly determine whether or not a player's salary is accurate. However, since there is not really any particular statistic that measures a player's full offensive and defensive value, this statistic was quite hard to devise. In other words, there's no way to successfully compare Alex Rodriguez's offensive numbers in 2006 to how many dollars the Yankees wound up watching bounce off his glove and roll into left field.
I began to create a ratings scale based on each stat category to find my Salary Efficiency Rating (SER). Elite numbers such as 35 home runs, 100 runs batted in, 175 hits, or a 1.000 OPS all get a rating of ten. I didn't count batting average because I don't want to be castrated by Billy Beane, Bill James, and/or anyone who read "Moneyball," which makes for an awkward situation if you consider I've read it.
According to Woolner and Baseball Prospectus, VORP is "the number of runs contributed beyond what a replacement-level player at the same position would contribute if given the same percentage of team plate appearances." What that doesn't tell you is that to calculate VORP you need a formula that includes about two or three other formulas devised by Woolner's stathead predecessors.
Those silly sabermetricians.
This year, I'm introducing some of my own statistical categories. The objective: simplify, educate, and familiarize. Here they are:
First is the GJE or Geoff Jenkins Equivalent. It measures a player's value based on the comparison of home runs and runs batted in to strikeouts. Take the sum of homers and RBIs divided by strikeouts, and if the resulting number is less than .75, you're in trouble. (Jenkins sets the bar high at .60.)
(Note: The pitching counterpart of this is the Kerry Wood Equivalent. To find this, take the sum of innings pitched and strikeouts divided by days spent on the disabled list.)
Next, I tried to find a way to correctly determine whether or not a player's salary is accurate. However, since there is not really any particular statistic that measures a player's full offensive and defensive value, this statistic was quite hard to devise. In other words, there's no way to successfully compare Alex Rodriguez's offensive numbers in 2006 to how many dollars the Yankees wound up watching bounce off his glove and roll into left field.
I began to create a ratings scale based on each stat category to find my Salary Efficiency Rating (SER). Elite numbers such as 35 home runs, 100 runs batted in, 175 hits, or a 1.000 OPS all get a rating of ten. I didn't count batting average because I don't want to be castrated by Billy Beane, Bill James, and/or anyone who read "Moneyball," which makes for an awkward situation if you consider I've read it.
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