Fangraphs Reinforces Just How Bad It's Been

by James Kannengieser on Oct 1, 2009 11:00 PM EDT

R.J. Anderson at Fangraphs recently concluded his "How Are The Stars Being Acquired" series, looking at the top players in baseball by position and noting how they were acquired by their current team. The top 30 starting pitchers were ranked by xFIP, the top 15 relief pitchers by FIP and the top 10 at each position by WAR (minimum 300 plate appearances). Note that only 10 corner outfielders were ranked, as opposed to 10 each from LF and RF.

Of these 115 players, not 1 is a Met. Furthermore, every other team in baseball has at least 1 representative, if we count Nyjer Morgan as a Pirate. Obviously this doesn't mean David Wright and Carlos Beltran aren't "stars" because they don't appear on a list, but it's just another way of reinforcing the suck that is the 2009 Mets. As my boy Jerry Manuel would say: "Ohhhh it's badddd!"

A recap of the series:

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GAH

IT BURNZ

"I dunno. I never smoked any Astroturf"
-Tug McGraw

by squid92 on Oct 1, 2009 11:19 PM EDT reply actions

This was a crap series by Fangraphs

RJ Anderson sorted WAR by position — which is incredibly easy to do on the site — and stated how each player was acquired by their current team (about 15-30 seconds of research per player). It’s misleading because it’s only based on 2009, and as great as WAR is, it can be skewed in any single season by fluky UZR , BABiP and HR/FB marks. Basically, I don’t need someone to tell me how Casey Blake was acquired because he is NOT a star. He’s just having a better-than-average Casey Blake year at the plate with a stellar +7.2 UZR at 3B (career UZR/150 is -1.1). Oh, and that ~8 run difference is about the same difference between the WAR’s of David Wright and Casey Blake this season.

www.twitter.com/willDavidian

by All Shook Down on Oct 1, 2009 11:20 PM EDT reply actions

yeah, I kinda agree.

Not my favorite FanGraphs series.

"I dunno. I never smoked any Astroturf"
-Tug McGraw

by squid92 on Oct 1, 2009 11:24 PM EDT up reply actions

The series had its limitations

but I think the best players in baseball are, generally, accounted for. There’s only 750 players in baseball and 115 are included in the series. Maybe it would’ve been better to call it the ‘How are the top 15% being acquired’ or something.

Also ya boy Blake was 12th in Fangraphs WAR last year – STAR.

by James Kannengieser on Oct 1, 2009 11:29 PM EDT up reply actions