Free Agent Batters, listed by WAR (as of 12/21/2009)

by sj10689 on Dec 22, 2009 3:40 AM EST Comment 35 comments

Source: http://mlb.mlb.com/mlb/news/hot_stove/y2009/free_agent_tracker.jsp

Series on Free Agent Players, listed by WAR:

Free Agent Pitchers | Free Agent Batters

Total: 269 MLB Free Agents Remaining

(the 130 MLB Free Agent Batters are shown)

BATTERS
		Batting	Fielding	Replacement	Positional	WAR
Matt Holliday	OF	36.0	5.7	22.3	-7.2	5.7
Felipe Lopez	2B	13.1	7.8	22.7	2.2	4.6
Jason Bay	OF	33.7	-13.0	21.3	-7.1	3.5
Johnny Damon	OF	25.3	-9.2	20.9	-6.9	3.0
Orlando Hudson	2B	9.0	-3.3	21.0	2.3	2.9
Juan Uribe	3B	7.9	3.4	14.4	3.1	2.9
Russell Branyan	1B	18.3	1.8	16.8	-9.0	2.8
Miguel Tejada	SS	9.9	-13.9	22.5	7.3	2.6
Nick Johnson	1B	20.8	-5.6	19.1	-10.3	2.4
Adam LaRoche	1B	15.5	-0.5	21.0	-11.6	2.4
Marlon Byrd	OF	6.2	-2.3	20.0	-0.3	2.4
Adrian Beltre	3B	-7.9	14.3	15.9	1.6	2.4
Miguel Olivo	C	1.0		13.9	6.9	2.2
Joe Crede	3B	-6.6	12.5	12.2	0.9	1.9
Bengie Molina	C	-9.3		17.3	10.0	1.8
Adam Kennedy	2B	5.9	-10.3	19.6	1.8	1.7
Scott Podsednik	OF	2.4	-1.4	19.6	-4.0	1.7
Mark DeRosa	3B	0.8	-2.7	19.2	-0.6	1.7
Randy Winn	OF	-13.4	16.5	19.9	-5.8	1.7
Jim Thome	1B	12.3		14.5	-11.6	1.5
Fernando Tatis	OF	3.5	3.7	12.6	-4.6	1.5
Ronnie Belliard	2B	2.6	1.1	9.6	-0.1	1.3
Coco Crisp	OF	-0.5	4.5	7.2	0.8	1.2
Jack Cust	OF	8.8	-5.9	20.4	-12.9	1.0
Ryan Church	OF	-3.3	3.2	13.3	-3.7	1.0
Kenji Johjima	C	-4.2		8.6	5.5	1.0
Jerry Hairston, Jr.	3B	-7.4	2.2	14.4	1.2	1.0
Endy Chavez	OF	-2.6	7.8	6.1	-2.3	0.9
Melvin Mora	3B	-11.3	1.8	16.5	1.9	0.9
Carlos Delgado	1B	6.3	-0.2	3.7	-2.0	0.8
Vladimir Guerrero	DH	5.0	-0.2	13.6	-10.7	0.8
Ryan Garko	1B	3.7	0.2	13.3	-9.1	0.8
Eric Hinske	OF	3.1	1.2	7.5	-4.2	0.8
Yorvit Torrealba	C	-4.8		8.1	4.9	0.8
Gabe Gross	OF	-5.6	8.2	10.9	-5.8	0.8
Rod Barajas	C	-17.4		15.3	9.6	0.8
Kelly Johnson	2B	-6.1	-0.1	11.5	1.6	0.7
Josh Bard	C	-10.5		10.0	6.9	0.7
Jonny Gomes	OF	10.2	-9.1	10.5	-5.2	0.6
Brad Ausmus	C	-0.3		3.6	2.8	0.6
Ramon Castro	C	-3.6		5.7	4.2	0.6
Orlando Cabrera	SS	-9.3	-15.3	23.6	7.4	0.6
Chad Moeller	C	-0.5		3.3	2.3	0.5
Paul Phillips	C	0.8		1.8	1.3	0.4
Reed Johnson	OF	-1.1	-1.2	6.2	-0.2	0.4
Bobby Scales	OF	-2.4	2.2	4.6	-0.9	0.4
Mike Rivera	C	-3.4		4.4	3.2	0.4
Nick Green	IF	-11.0	1.4	10.3	3.7	0.4
Jason LaRue	C	-4.2		3.7	3.6	0.3
Mike Sweeney	DH	2.5	-1.2	8.9	-7.8	0.2
Jeff Bailey	OF	-0.2	1.5	3.0	-1.9	0.2
Miguel Cairo	SS	-1.1	1.1	1.6	0.7	0.2
Paul Bako	C	-5.5		4.3	3.4	0.2
Gary Sheffield	OF	8.5	-12.7	10.4	-5.2	0.1
Jonathan Van Every	OF	1.5	-0.3	0.4	-0.2	0.1
Cory Sullivan	OF	-0.2	-1.5	5.2	-2.4	0.1
Kyle Phillips	C	-0.3		0.6	0.4	0.1
Rocco Baldelli	OF	-1.0	-0.8	5.5	-2.6	0.1
Darnell McDonald	OF	-2.0	0.6	3.7	-1.6	0.1
Mike Redmond	C	-7.0		4.9	3.5	0.1
Brian Anderson	CF	-7.3	0.1	7.7	0.0	0.1
Jose Molina	C	-8.7	0.9	5.2	3.3	0.1
Rick Ankiel	OF	-12.2	0.8	13.5	-1.4	0.1
Andy Green	IF	0.0	-0.2	0.2	0.1	0.0
Eric Munson	C	-0.3		0.0	0.0	0.0
Robinson Cancel	C	-0.3		0.0	0.0	0.0
Emil Brown	OF	-0.3	-0.2	0.2	-0.1	0.0
Matt Stairs	OF	-0.5	1.5	4.3	-5.3	0.0
Guillermo Rodriguez	C	-0.7		0.2	0.4	0.0
Shawn Riggans	C	-1.4		0.5	0.5	0.0
Frank Catalanotto	OF	-1.6	-1.0	5.4	-3.2	0.0
Kevin Cash	C	-1.9		0.9	0.8	0.0
Luke Carlin	C	-1.9		0.7	0.8	0.0
Austin Kearns	OF	-5.5	1.9	7.0	-3.4	0.0
Hank Blalock	1B	-8.1	2.2	16.5	-11.0	0.0
Doug Mientkiewicz	1B	0.5	-0.3	0.7	-1.5	-0.1
So Taguchi	OF	-0.2	-0.8	0.4	-0.3	-0.1
Xavier Nady	OF	-0.2	-1.4	1.0	-0.4	-0.1
Marcus Thames	OF	-0.2	-2.6	9.8	-7.9	-0.1
Danny Richar	3B	-0.4	-1.0	0.3	0.1	-0.1
Chris Denorfia	OF	-0.5	-0.2	0.1	-0.1	-0.1
Freddy Guzman	OF	-0.8	0.1	0.2	-0.5	-0.1
Marlon Anderson	OF	-1.1		0.1	0.0	-0.1
Tony Clark	1B	-1.5	1.0	2.6	-2.8	-0.1
Jeff Fiorentino	OF	-1.5	-2.0	2.5	-0.2	-0.1
Michael Barrett	C	-1.8		0.6	0.5	-0.1
Andy Gonzalez	IF	-2.0	0.2	0.4	0.5	-0.1
Alfredo Amezaga	UT	-6.5	2.7	2.5	0.3	-0.1
Corky Miller	C	-7.2		3.7	2.5	-0.1
Jason Giambi	1B	0.2	-5.5	12.0	-8.6	-0.2
Kevin Barker	1B	-1.0	0.3	1.2	-2.2	-0.2
Shelley Duncan	OF	-1.8	-0.5	0.5	-0.6	-0.2
Russ Adams	OF	-2.2	0.2	0.7	-0.5	-0.2
Joey Gathright	OF	-2.2	-0.6	1.1	-0.3	-0.2
Argenis Reyes	IF	-2.6	-0.2	0.6	0.2	-0.2
Troy Glaus	3B	-2.6	-0.3	1.1	0.0	-0.2
Chris Burke	SS	-3.8	-2.6	3.0	1.4	-0.2
Mark Loretta	3B	-10.1	4.1	6.8	-3.2	-0.2
Jermaine Dye	OF	5.1	-20.0	19.1	-7.0	-0.3
Nomar Garciaparra	1B	-2.3	-1.3	5.6	-5.1	-0.3
Cliff Floyd	OF	-2.4		0.6	-1.1	-0.3
Aaron Boone	3B	-3.2	0.3	0.5	-0.5	-0.3
Craig Monroe	OF	-3.3	-0.6	2.9	-1.9	-0.3
Josh Anderson	CF	-14.6	5.5	9.9	-3.8	-0.3
Reid Gorecki	OF	-2.8	-0.5	0.9	-1.1	-0.4
Jorge Padilla	OF	-4.3	0.7	0.9	-1.2	-0.4
Edgar Gonzalez	IF	-4.9	-3.8	5.6	-1.4	-0.4
Alex Cintron	IF	-5.0	-1.1	0.9	0.6	-0.4
Brad Nelson	1B	-5.1	0.0	0.8	-0.9	-0.5
Josh Whitesell	1B	-5.3	-0.7	4.4	-3.5	-0.5
Ramon Martinez	SS	-5.3	-2.1	1.5	0.5	-0.5
Rich Aurilia	1B	-10.3	3.3	4.4	-2.7	-0.5
Eliezer Alfonzo	C	-11.3		3.9	2.9	-0.5
David Dellucci	OF	-5.6	-0.7	2.5	-1.9	-0.6
Kevin Millar	1B	-6.0	-2.7	9.4	-6.4	-0.6
Ryan Freel	OF	-7.3	-1.9	3.4	-0.7	-0.6
Chad Tracy	1B	-9.6	0.5	9.6	-6.6	-0.6
Angel Berroa	SS	-6.9	-2.8	1.8	0.6	-0.7
Jeremy Reed	OF	-9.4	1.7	5.9	-4.8	-0.7
Mike Jacobs	1B	-10.3	0.4	15.9	-13.3	-0.7
Khalil Greene	3B	-8.4	-8.7	6.4	2.7	-0.8
Greg Norton	1B	-5.3	0.3	3.2	-7.3	-0.9
Robb Quinlan	OF	-5.8	-4.2	4.0	-2.7	-0.9
Darin Erstad	OF	-9.5	1.4	5.0	-5.9	-0.9
Garret Anderson	OF	-9.7	-11.8	17.8	-6.3	-1.0
Eric Bruntlett	IF	-11.6	-2.9	3.9	0.3	-1.0
Aubrey Huff	1B	-15.9	-2.3	19.9	-13.3	-1.2
Brian Giles	OF	-13.7	-7.8	8.5	-2.8	-1.6
Matthew Brown	1B	DNP	DNP	DNP	DNP	DNP
Dmitri Young	1B	DNP	DNP	DNP	DNP	DNP

Recently signed: Mike Cameron, OF (4.3), Hideki Matsui, DH (2.4), Jamey Carroll, 2B (1.5), Laynce Nix, OF (1.0), John Buck, C (0.9), Ryan Langerhans, OF (0.5), Brian Barden, SS (0.4), Joe Thurston, IF (0.2), Matt Treanor, C (-0.2), Jason Michaels, OF (-0.3), Garrett Atkins, 3B ( -0.4), Cody Ransom, 3B (-0.6)

For Minor league free agents, click here.

Series on Free Agent Players, listed by WAR:

Free Agent Pitchers | Free Agent Batters

1 recs | Comment 35 comments

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Comments

This should probably be a FanShot.

"He's definitely mixing it into his repertoire. That's French for 'repertoire' " - Keith Hernandez

by Catsmeat Potter-Pirbright on Dec 15, 2009 7:35 AM EST reply actions 0 recs

Omar better be on the horn with Darin Erstad right now. Make sure no one else gobbles him up

by HotChipWillBreakYourLegs on Dec 15, 2009 9:42 AM EST reply actions 0 recs

Would be great to see a list like this

with WAR totals next to them

by saberkeith on Dec 15, 2009 10:41 AM EST reply actions 0 recs

I could actually do that rather quickly!

Just a little time is needed. Microsoft Excel, what would I do without you!?

"The picture looked like I was in the dugout, but they got it all wrong. I absolutely was never in the dugout."

- Mr. B.V. Incognito

by sj10689 on Dec 15, 2009 11:15 AM EST up reply actions 0 recs

WAR idea is not a bad one

Not to rain on the parade but ESPN has a nice Free Agent Tracker.

by James Kannengieser on Dec 15, 2009 1:15 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

I did it!

But, I had to separate it into two parts.

This WAR-based free agent tracker is pretty good, in that it’s suited to the “average” AA reader, as well as readers from other areas of SB Nation.

"The picture looked like I was in the dugout, but they got it all wrong. I absolutely was never in the dugout."

- Mr. B.V. Incognito

by sj10689 on Dec 15, 2009 3:18 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

Cool, good stuff

by James Kannengieser on Dec 15, 2009 3:20 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

Thanks!

:-D

"The picture looked like I was in the dugout, but they got it all wrong. I absolutely was never in the dugout."

- Mr. B.V. Incognito

by sj10689 on Dec 15, 2009 3:21 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

Help

I can’t insert tables! Suggestions?

"The picture looked like I was in the dugout, but they got it all wrong. I absolutely was never in the dugout."

- Mr. B.V. Incognito

by sj10689 on Dec 15, 2009 2:02 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

Also you are missing all players who didn't play last year due to injury

Sheets. Lowry

by Delgado on Dec 15, 2009 11:01 AM EST reply actions 0 recs

This was according to the source listed above

I might consider getting a more refined list from a different source, like MLB.com

"The picture looked like I was in the dugout, but they got it all wrong. I absolutely was never in the dugout."

- Mr. B.V. Incognito

by sj10689 on Dec 15, 2009 11:16 AM EST up reply actions 0 recs

Brian Giles, our left fielder of the future!

"Blinding ignorance does mislead us. O! Wretched mortals, open your eyes!"
Gil Hodges IS a Hall of Famer.

by Brooklyn Dodgers Mets Fan on Dec 15, 2009 3:10 PM EST reply actions 0 recs

LOL

And Aubrey Huff at first! Daniel Murphy will have a friend to “share time” with.

"The picture looked like I was in the dugout, but they got it all wrong. I absolutely was never in the dugout."

- Mr. B.V. Incognito

by sj10689 on Dec 15, 2009 3:14 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

I hear there's a Betancourt we might be able to trade for...

"Blinding ignorance does mislead us. O! Wretched mortals, open your eyes!"
Gil Hodges IS a Hall of Famer.

by Brooklyn Dodgers Mets Fan on Dec 15, 2009 10:16 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

i didn't realize lopez was so high

i know he’s been pretty good, like at least 2.0 war which on the mets is gonna enough to become a franchise player, but has he been as high as that before this?

by Gina on Dec 15, 2009 4:35 PM EST reply actions 0 recs

also was 4.6 WAR in 2005, but in between was 1.6 WAR in 2006, 0.4 WAR in 2007, 0.8 WAR in 2008. His batting numbers are kinda all over the place (16.9 runs in 2005, -17.3 runs in 2007, 13.1 runs in 2009); perhaps notably, his big 4.6 WAR seasons have come when he’s had a good year in the field (0.6 fielding runs in 2005, 7.8 fielding runs in 2009; -17.5 fielding runs in 2006, -6.6 fielding runs in 2007, -7.7 fielding runs in 2008).

by JoshNY on Dec 15, 2009 4:49 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

Felipe Lopez: I actually had to double check!

And, I chose this one in particular, of all, to double check.

Yep, Lopez was that “good” last year, though I found out that he had a fluky Derek Jeter-like baBIP of .358. So, the WAR here doesn’t tell us the whole story. He simply got “lucky” when the balls hit for contact did not result in more outs.

He did have a .310 AVG, .383 OBP, and only 5 GIDPs! (The low GIDP rate is due to the fact that he was a leadoff hitter on teams whose bottom of the order was underwhelming) But, it is highly unlikely he will replicate those totals, and that equally ridiculous WAR.

Maybe I should’ve included baBIP? But nah, the table might collapse under the weight of another row of numbers.

If any, send me your suggestions.

"The picture looked like I was in the dugout, but they got it all wrong. I absolutely was never in the dugout."

- Mr. B.V. Incognito

by sj10689 on Dec 15, 2009 11:38 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

Yeah that's one of the things that bugs me about WAR

it attempts to correct for luck with pitchers by using FIP, but doesn’t do the same for hitters.

by Gina on Dec 15, 2009 11:42 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

For hitters, that may prove to be more difficult

Some hitters are naturally predisposed to varying baBIPs, with Derek Jeter on the high end, and players like Roy Thomas (PHI), Graig Nettles and Rod Barajas.

Interesting fact of note: Roger Maris had a .257 career baBIP – in the year that he hit 61* HRs, he also had a career-low baBIP for a season in his career of .212. Of course, baBIP excludes HRs as a factor, but think about the possibilities that could’ve emerged, had his baBIP been at .300! That would’ve been a Barry Bonds-like kind of season! He had a .269 AVG, but 94 BBs/67 Ks. Of course, if his baBIP had been at .300, he would have had a .339 AVG!

"The picture looked like I was in the dugout, but they got it all wrong. I absolutely was never in the dugout."

- Mr. B.V. Incognito

by sj10689 on Dec 16, 2009 12:00 AM EST up reply actions 0 recs

players like Roy Thomas (PHI), Graig Nettles and Rod Barajas on the low end, I mean

"The picture looked like I was in the dugout, but they got it all wrong. I absolutely was never in the dugout."

- Mr. B.V. Incognito

by sj10689 on Dec 16, 2009 12:00 AM EST up reply actions 0 recs

Oh yeah I understand that it's harder

But with things like xBABIP, the one tht developed not just adding .130 to ld%, I feel like it could at least be attempted.

by Gina on Dec 16, 2009 12:11 AM EST up reply actions 0 recs

Ah, but of course!

If there exists xFIP, then there is xbaBIP, to compensate for batters. (It’s like a statistical feng shui) More details on that here.

"The picture looked like I was in the dugout, but they got it all wrong. I absolutely was never in the dugout."

- Mr. B.V. Incognito

by sj10689 on Dec 16, 2009 1:35 AM EST up reply actions 0 recs

Oh yeah I know xBABIP exists

I’m saying I imagine that could attempt to incorporate it into WAR calculations for batters.

by Gina on Dec 16, 2009 1:38 AM EST up reply actions 0 recs

If the correlation is strong, then it can be readily done

+0.80 or higher (accounting for margin of error) would be a sufficient correlation. At that, it serves as a good predictor of future expectations, and can be used without the threat of skepticism.

I just provided the link to a site that has an actual xbaBIP calculator, so that might be of pertinent and extensive use. We still need an xUZR statistic, so that we can adequately develop some xWAR stat.

"The picture looked like I was in the dugout, but they got it all wrong. I absolutely was never in the dugout."

- Mr. B.V. Incognito

by sj10689 on Dec 16, 2009 1:47 AM EST up reply actions 0 recs

xUZR, not so much, because it is a skill stat, and failry luck independent

one way you could do is divide wOBA by (BABIP/xBABIPorAverageBABIP)

"We're investigating the investigative procedure of the investigation of Tony Bernazard"---Omar Minaya (he really didn't say it but he would"

by firejerrynow on Dec 16, 2009 2:13 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

actually the above might be a bad idea

but there is a way to compensate.

"We're investigating the investigative procedure of the investigation of Tony Bernazard"---Omar Minaya (he really didn't say it but he would"

by firejerrynow on Dec 16, 2009 2:13 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

never knew that about Maris

that’s crazy. I wonder if his .269 average was part of the reason he was never given full credit for breaking the record, considering that was part of the holy trinity of stats back then and .269 wasn’t all that good. Especially when you compare him to Mantle (.317 in ’61) and Ruth (.356 in ’27)

"[The Giants] beat us down. We were beat by a grown-man team, a team we want to be like one day. They came in here and took it to us. Out-manned us, out-gunned us. ... It wasn't even close." - Raheem Morris, 9/27/09

by cjmulrain on Dec 17, 2009 2:00 AM EST up reply actions 0 recs

Yeah, it's sad, in a way

I guess, back in those days, they thought “there could only be one winner!”, so they gave the recognition to Mantle. People back then were less apt to compromise, but I’m glad I brought this into focus.

If you were to tell someone back then that a player did bad because of “luck”, they’d say that you were nuts and that you were making excuses. Nowadays, given the presentation of facts, you’d actually gain credibility.

This probably sounds crazy today, but don’t be surprised if Bill James makes it into the hall of fame! Points of view can change drastically in 40-50 years.

"The picture looked like I was in the dugout, but they got it all wrong. I absolutely was never in the dugout."

- Mr. B.V. Incognito

by sj10689 on Dec 17, 2009 4:07 AM EST up reply actions 0 recs

Realistically, I see no reason why he shouldn't. Should sabermetrics and all that catch on more, he was at the forefront of all of that.

Does the HoF have non-player/manager/umpire/owner enshrinees? I don’t recall…

"Blinding ignorance does mislead us. O! Wretched mortals, open your eyes!"
Gil Hodges IS a Hall of Famer.

by Brooklyn Dodgers Mets Fan on Dec 17, 2009 6:51 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

He could be enshrined as a 'contributor'.

by BobbyV_Incognito on Dec 17, 2009 6:55 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

Wow, Bay -13 fielding

Guy is a DH in comparison to Holliday

Asking a General Manager to slim down his budget is like asking an alcoholic to blow up a distillery.

by scott from peekskill on Dec 15, 2009 7:34 PM EST reply actions 0 recs

He's a DH in comparison to anyone

the DH positional adjustment is only -17.5, between -13 fielding and the positional adjustment for left field he’d actually be worth like 2-3 more runs dhing.

by Gina on Dec 15, 2009 7:43 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs