this is interesting

[stitchface]

somehow, this kind of analysis is far more appealing than just EQrs and VORPs

 

 

29) Team- and situation-specific player valuation.

 

As noted by many people in the performance analysis community, the process of assigning a single number value to players has been virtually exhausted. People still sometimes fight over that last little bit of accuracy, but for the most part, whether it's MLV, EqR, VORP, WARP or any of the multitude of metrics publicly available, virtually all of them are going to value most players very closely. That said, each player brings something different to the game and matching that skill set to usage is something that teams often fail at and performance analysts sometimes overlook.

 

Because all players are paid in dollars and are up for the same awards, it's very handy to have a single number that contains their total value. But when constructing a roster properly--question #21--being able to deploy players of equal value in different situations increases the overall value of the team.

 

Additionally, most metrics involving player valuation use average run values of different events or the change in run scoring by putting a player in an otherwise average lineup. However, inserting different players into different lineups may generate vastly different run outputs. How much does a speedster add to the plodding Boston Red Sox of 2003-04 (other than Dave Roberts and his famous steal)? Would the same player be worth more or less to a team like the 2005 White Sox or 1985 Cardinals? We have the data to determine if the Red Sox would be getting diminishing returns by signing another high-OBP, low-AVG player in 2003, and how that same player would add more to a different team. While it's easy and often highly informative to slap a single number on a player and call it his value, it's possible to quantify the value a player has specifically to his team.