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Since
Keith and Richard have gotten into a little dispute
over all-star picks, I decided to pick my own team. Richard uses: BA, OBP, SLG,
AVG. w/ RISP, HR, and RBI. I’m more of a “stat geek” and will be taking a
different approach. For batters, I will compare: OBP, SLG, OPS, HR, RBI, R, and
WARP3. (Wins above average replacement player)
For defense, I’ll compare FRAA (Fielding runs above average)
|
OBP |
SLG |
OPS |
HR |
R |
RBI |
WARP3 |
FRAA |
CERA |
CS% |
Posada |
.400 |
.474 |
.874 |
10 |
30 |
42 |
7.0 |
4 |
4.21 |
27 |
Mauer |
.458 |
.538 |
.996 |
5 |
43 |
37 |
10.0 |
4 |
4.25 |
42 |
|
.364 |
.462 |
.826 |
10 |
39 |
50 |
4.8 |
-8 |
5.00 |
15 |
Hernandez |
.351 |
.524 |
.875 |
15 |
32 |
59 |
7.3 |
3 |
5.26 |
53 |
Mauer does deserve to start the game, but it wasn’t as obvious as I thought. Mauer has the highest WARP by a healthy margin. His OPS is EXCELLENT considering he’s a catcher. Mauer also leads the pack in runs scored. Ramon Hernandez is having an excellent year, and he’s doing it quietly. He has the most HR and RBI. He also has a superb CS%
Starter- Mauer
NL Catchers
|
OBP |
SLG |
OPS |
HR |
R |
RBI |
WARP3 |
FRAA |
CERA |
CS% |
Martin |
.363 |
.444 |
.807 |
4 |
23 |
33 |
5.0 |
7 |
3.86 |
31 |
McCann |
.416 |
.512 |
.928 |
5 |
22 |
23 |
5.9 |
3 |
4.66 |
36 |
Barrett |
.370 |
.508 |
.878 |
8 |
26 |
30 |
2.8 |
-11 |
4.56 |
20 |
Estrada |
.326 |
.458 |
.784 |
6 |
25 |
41 |
3.7 |
0 |
4.32 |
30 |
This is really tough. It really comes down to either Martin or McCann. McCann’s OBP, SLG, and OPS really blows Martin’s out of the water. However, Martin has produced more runs and is a little bit better defensively. I’m going to give to McCann because of his higher WARP3.
Starter- McCann
AL First Baseman
|
OBP |
SLG |
OPS |
HR |
R |
RBI |
WARP3 |
Thome |
.413 |
.603 |
1.019 |
24 |
60 |
63 |
6.8 |
Giambi |
.428 |
.620 |
1.048 |
23 |
49 |
62 |
6.1 |
Hafner |
.453 |
.620 |
1.073 |
21 |
60 |
62 |
8.8 |
Ortiz |
.375 |
.542 |
.920 |
22 |
52 |
69 |
5.5 |
As you can tell, I left Konerko off the list. Why? Because both Thome
and Konerko play for the same team, and Thome has been better. Thome is a
DH, but Konerko has been mediocre at best in the
field anyway. Hafner
easily wins the starting role. He leads in 5 out of 7 categories. The second string choice is much tougher. It
comes down to either Giambi or Thome.
Giambi leads in the first 3 categories, but Thome leads the last three. Thome’s
WARP3 is a tiny bit better than Giambi’s.
Starter- Hafner
NL First Basemen
|
OBP |
SLG |
OPS |
HR |
R |
RBI |
WARP3 |
FRAA |
Garciaparra |
.424 |
.590 |
1.014 |
10 |
46 |
47 |
6.0 |
-3 |
Howard |
.350 |
.618 |
.968 |
27 |
42 |
68 |
4.5 |
-8 |
Berkman |
.414 |
.562 |
.976 |
22 |
41 |
70 |
8.4 |
5 |
Pujols |
.436 |
.712 |
1.148 |
26 |
55 |
67 |
10 |
10 |
This really isn’t close. Not only has Pujols been terrific in the batters box; he’s also played an exceptionally well first base. I must say, two things surprised me while I made this chart. A) How well Nomar has played. B) I thought Howard was playing much better than what these numbers show. Garciparra has a pretty impressive OPS. However, he hasn’t produced as much runs as you want out of your first baseman. He also has played a weak first base. Berkman, on the other hand, has played well all around. He leads the majors in RBI and has a nice OPS to go along with those RBI. He has also played well at first.
Starter- Pujols
AL Second Basemen
|
OBP |
SLG |
OPS |
HR |
R |
RBI |
WARP3 |
FRAA |
Cano |
.353 |
.439 |
.792 |
4 |
34 |
27 |
7.0 |
10 |
Loretta |
.365 |
.407 |
.772 |
2 |
37 |
32 |
8.1 |
1 |
Iguchi |
.349 |
.430 |
.779 |
8 |
55 |
37 |
4.1 |
-3 |
Roberts |
.383 |
.415 |
.798 |
1 |
36 |
30 |
4.6 |
-4 |
This is probably the closet race of all the
Starter- Cano
NL Second Basemen
|
OBP |
SLG |
OPS |
HR |
R |
RBI |
WARP3 |
FRAA |
Uggla |
.365 |
.530 |
.895 |
13 |
49 |
43 |
8.9 |
9 |
Utley |
.362 |
.503 |
.865 |
15 |
63 |
45 |
8.6 |
-7 |
Phillips |
.356 |
.456 |
.812 |
7 |
36 |
44 |
4.5 |
-4 |
Carroll |
.402 |
.441 |
843 |
3 |
39 |
13 |
6.4 |
12 |
This comes down to Uggla and Utley. Uggla is surprising everyone and is probably going to have a career year. He has a robust OPS and leads all the candidates in SLG. He also edges Utley in WARP3. Utley, however, has the most HR, R, and RBI, but his defense hurts him here.
Starter-Uggla
AL Third Basemen
|
OBP |
SLG |
OPS |
HR |
R |
RBI |
WARP3 |
FRAA |
A-Rod |
.390 |
.496 |
.886 |
15 |
56 |
55 |
5.8 |
-6 |
|
.362 |
.507 |
.869 |
9 |
39 |
40 |
7.6 |
8 |
Crede |
.335 |
.519 |
.854 |
14 |
44 |
54 |
7.0 |
11 |
Blalock |
.359 |
.450 |
.809 |
11 |
46 |
54 |
3.5 |
-9 |
Another close race. To me, it comes down to Crede and A-Rod. Crede has played a much better third base, but has he been better offensively? No. A-Rod, on a down year, still produces more runs than Crede. A-Rod leads by a healthy margin in OPS. Crede’s inability to take a walk really hurts him here.
Starter- A-Rod
NL Third Basemen
|
OBP |
SLG |
OPS |
HR |
R |
RBI |
WARP3 |
FRAA |
Rolen |
.409 |
.568 |
.977 |
10 |
49 |
50 |
9.4 |
12 |
Cabrera |
.442 |
.573 |
1.015 |
12 |
57 |
52 |
9.8 |
0 |
Wright |
.394 |
.587 |
.981 |
18 |
50 |
64 |
7.3 |
-9 |
Sanchez |
.397 |
.527 |
.924 |
5 |
45 |
41 |
7.5 |
7 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
In a perfect world, all of these players
would make the team. Unforutantley, we don’t live in a perfect world. Sanchez
is having a great year. If you asked average fans who Sanchez is, they probably
wouldn’t know. However, as good of a year as he’s having, it’s not good enough
to start. Most people are going to pick Wright because A) he plays in
Starter- Cabrera
AL Shortstop
|
OBP |
SLG |
OPS |
HR |
R |
RBI |
WARP3 |
FRAA |
Jeter |
.424 |
.458 |
.882 |
5 |
51 |
46 |
7.9 |
-2 |
Young |
.369 |
.448 |
.817 |
5 |
45 |
50 |
9.3 |
14 |
Tejada |
.370 |
.519 |
.889 |
15 |
57 |
57 |
8.4 |
1 |
Cabrera |
.364 |
.436 |
.800 |
5 |
54 |
44 |
6.2 |
-3 |
Despite Cabrera reaching base in
57 games, he still has a low OBP. His inability to walk and field his position
hurts him here. Young also has a
mediocre OBP, which hurts his OPS. However, he has fielded his position very
well, but not well enough to start, in my opinion. I’m going to give the spot
to Tejada. He has produced the most runs, and has the
highest OPS to go along with his steady play in the field.
Starter- Tejada
NL Shortstop
|
OBP |
SLG |
OPS |
HR |
R |
RBI |
WARP3 |
FRAA |
Renteria |
.380 |
.439 |
.819 |
8 |
44 |
30 |
6.5 |
3 |
Vizquel |
.388 |
.403 |
.791 |
3 |
47 |
24 |
6.1 |
2 |
Reyes |
.351 |
.479 |
.830 |
8 |
67 |
36 |
7.7 |
2 |
Hall |
.323 |
.567 |
.890 |
15 |
46 |
39 |
5.5 |
-2 |
Very close. I’m going to take
Reyes. He leads the pack in runs by a wide margin. He also has the second most
RBI, while having the highest WARP3.
Starter- Reyes
|
OBP |
SLG |
OPS |
HR |
R |
RBI |
WARP3 |
FRAA |
Sizemore |
.381 |
.552 |
.933 |
16 |
65 |
39 |
9.7 |
1 |
Ramirez |
.435 |
.597 |
1.032 |
20 |
47 |
53 |
7.3 |
-7 |
Ichiro |
.404 |
.440 |
.844 |
4 |
61 |
27 |
7.1 |
-3 |
Wells |
.383 |
.607 |
.990 |
20 |
45 |
62 |
7.0 |
-10 |
Dye |
.396 |
.615 |
1.011 |
20 |
45 |
55 |
7.7 |
2 |
Swisher |
.387 |
.587 |
.974 |
19 |
58 |
49 |
7.2 |
1 |
Ibanez |
.357 |
.535 |
.892 |
17 |
51 |
63 |
6.8 |
0 |
Rios |
.383 |
.585 |
.968 |
15 |
46 |
53 |
7.5 |
2 |
Ordonez |
.364 |
.521 |
.885 |
15 |
43 |
57 |
5.0 |
-5 |
Surprisingly, none of these
outfielders have played an exceptionally good outfield. Jermaine
Dye has the most fielding runs above average out of the pack, and he only has
2. A lot of these outfielders are having very good years with the stick, and
I’m going to have to nit-pick to only choose 3. My first pick is going to be
Sizemore. He has the highest WARP3 by a pretty good margin. He leads the pack
with runs scored, and has produced the second most runs. The first guy I’m
going to knock off is Ichiro. I know he’s not a power hitter, but 27 RBI just
isn’t going to cut it. He also owns the lowest OPS. Next guy that is going to
get cut is Ordonez. He has the second lowest OPS, the lowest WARP3, and has -5
fielding runs. Sorry, Mags. The next player that is
going start will be Man-Ram. He has a gaudy OPS and is
tied with the most HR. He also has the highest OBP and third highest SLG. This
is where it REALLY gets hard. The third spot is really up in the air. My choice
is going to be Dye. He has the second highest OPS, and WARP3, while having the
highest SLG and FRAA.
Starting 3- Manny, Dye, Sizemore
NL Outfielders
|
OBP |
SLG |
OPS |
HR |
R |
RBI |
WARP3 |
FRAA |
Abreu |
.446 |
.475 |
.921 |
8 |
52 |
53 |
6.7 |
-4 |
Bay |
.401 |
.549 |
.950 |
20 |
49 |
57 |
8.2 |
4 |
A. Jones |
.350 |
.517 |
.867 |
18 |
47 |
65 |
6.6 |
1 |
Beltran |
.403 |
.625 |
1.028 |
22 |
58 |
62 |
10.0 |
8 |
Lee |
.347 |
.583 |
.930 |
25 |
52 |
64 |
5.0 |
-11 |
Soriano |
.336 |
.542 |
.878 |
24 |
56 |
61 |
6.1 |
-2 |
Hawpe |
.392 |
.553 |
.945 |
14 |
33 |
45 |
6.6 |
5 |
Holliday |
.396 |
.614 |
1.010 |
15 |
56 |
54 |
6.7 |
-4 |
Carlos Beltran is having an
absolute MONSTER year. He leads the pack in OPS and is fifth in the majors. He
has the highest WARP3 in the majors and is tops in FRAA for NL center fielders.
The only player that has a higher SLG is Pujols. He
definitely gets the start. The next two choices aren’t as obvious as the first
one. It’s really a tight race. My next
starter will be Holliday. He has the second highest OPS, and SLG. He has also
produced 95 runs. The last starter is going to be Bay. He has a very high WARP3
and has played a good LF. He also has the third highest OPS.
Three Starters- Beltran, Holliday, Bay
N.L Bench A.L Bench
C- McCann C- Martin C-Mauer C-
Hernandez
1B- Pujols 1B- Berkman 1B- Pronk 1B-
Thome
2B- Uggla 2B- Utley 2B- Cano 2B- Iguchi
3B- Cabrera 3B- Wright 3B-
A-Rod 3B- Crede
SS- Reyes 1B- Howard SS-
Tejada SS-
Young
OF-Beltran OF- Abreu OF- Sizemore OF- Ibanez
OF- Bay OF- Soriano OF- Dye OF- Swisher
OF- Holliday UTL- Sanchez OF- Man-Ram UTL- Jeter
Stay tuned as I pick my pitchers
on Tuesday.
Disagree with something? Got something to add? Wanna bring up something totally new? Tony Aubry lives in Queens, New York, and can be reached at tony@baseballevolution.com.