Wednesday, May 25, 2011

Advanced Baseball Statistics: WAR


WAR (Wins Above Replacement):
Purpose: Identify how valuable a player (position player or pitcher) is to his team. It calculates approximately how many wins he is responsible for over the course of the season, assuming his replacement was a slightly below average utility-type player.
Introduced: ?
Explained: WAR attempts to combine every aspect of a player's game into one concrete number. By this number, pitchers and position players can be compared. It also takes into account a player's position, and the performance of the league around here. It essentially ends the argument of who is more valuable to his team, Joe Mauer, Miguel Cabrera, or Cliff Lee; all can be compared through this one statistic. The equation for calculating it is incredibly complex, and I will not even try to attempt it, but if more information is needed, refer to Fangraphs.