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Brad K · 09-14-2020, 10:02 PM

Not a long time in the future
In a baseball galaxy nearby

FanGraphs, a sports statistics site, announced today it would be no longer provide baseball WAR on its website. FanGraphs is the last sports stat site to drop the statistic; Baseball Reference dropped it last year while Baseball Prospectus dropped it in 2039.

The Baseball Prospectus decision six years ago was controversial. The action of Baseball Reference in 2044 to drop the stat re-ignited the controversy. Some fans argued that there was still a need for a stat to adjust offense for defensive obligations even with DHs occupying four spots in an NL lineup and five in the AL. However with the 2045 rule change providing for completely separate offensive and defensive lineups, WAR is truly moot.

WAR always had its detractors. Some said the position adjustments were pure guesswork, pointing to the preponderance of outfielders in lists of top WAR producers as proof. Others said it over rated old time stars due to differences in talent distribution. A non baseball fan mathematician laughed at the idea of a proportional value system when one of the values - the defensive value of a DH - was zero.

So WAR is dead, never having fulfilled its potential, killed not by its detractors but by unlimited universal substitution. In a few years it will join the best part of baseball: the fondly mis-remembered good old days.

09-14-2020, 10:02 PM	#1
Brad K Hall Of Famer Join Date: May 2016 Location: St Petersburg Florida USA Posts: 6,656 Infractions: 0/2 (3)	The demise of WAR Not a long time in the future In a baseball galaxy nearby FanGraphs, a sports statistics site, announced today it would be no longer provide baseball WAR on its website. FanGraphs is the last sports stat site to drop the statistic; Baseball Reference dropped it last year while Baseball Prospectus dropped it in 2039. The Baseball Prospectus decision six years ago was controversial. The action of Baseball Reference in 2044 to drop the stat re-ignited the controversy. Some fans argued that there was still a need for a stat to adjust offense for defensive obligations even with DHs occupying four spots in an NL lineup and five in the AL. However with the 2045 rule change providing for completely separate offensive and defensive lineups, WAR is truly moot. WAR always had its detractors. Some said the position adjustments were pure guesswork, pointing to the preponderance of outfielders in lists of top WAR producers as proof. Others said it over rated old time stars due to differences in talent distribution. A non baseball fan mathematician laughed at the idea of a proportional value system when one of the values - the defensive value of a DH - was zero. So WAR is dead, never having fulfilled its potential, killed not by its detractors but by unlimited universal substitution. In a few years it will join the best part of baseball: the fondly mis-remembered good old days.