[BirdWatcher]

So, having looked for comparable MLB players to Bobby Erbakan, the best match I have found yet is Felipe Alou, with a Similarity Score of 901.

(To back up a bit, I'm not sure how well the Similarity Scores I am developing compare with those in OOTP as I can't be sure we are using the exact same methodology. Plus, as these are not meant to be precise measures, I do use some judgement in terms of the positional difference points in the system, not just plugging in the positional number for the players dominant position, but when the player had significant time at different positions- as Bobby did at first base and second base- I try to split the difference, roughly, not with precision. But I think these are good enough to get us well into the right ballpark in terms of MLB comps.)

Let's look at the top 10 scores in terms of comparable MLB players to Bobby Erbakan:

1- Felipe Alou, 901
2- Cesar Cedeno, 883
2- Kirby Puckett, 883
4- Jeff Conine, 869
5- Wally Joyner, 868
6- Travis Fryman, 866
7- Gus Bell, 858
8- Don Mattingly, 848
9- Richie Hebner, 843
10- Buddy Bell, 842
10- Tony Oliva, 842


It is interesting that the top 4 comps for Bobby in MLB history (that I have identified thus far), and 6 of the top 12, were primarily outfielders. Then again, Bobby was originally drafted as an outfielder even though he has spent the vast majority of his big league career in the infield (he did play 15 games in left field and even 7 in center field).
The same trend of course was also present in his top WPK comparables list, and without having run the numbers my eye test tells me that players like Alou, Cedeno, Puckett, Gus Bell, and Oliva are pretty similar to WPK players like Danny Sanchez, Jason Janes (very Puckett-like), Ricky Salinas, Jose Gutierrez, and Antonio Sosa.

Also interesting that two members of the Bell family are on the list. And I would say that Buddy Bell is a pretty good comp for Trevor Leach, who had a Similarity Score with Bobby that is nearly the same as Bell's. (Travis Fryman maybe a slightly lesser version of this type, as is perhaps Richie Hebner.)

In some ways, Wally Joyner feels like the most natural comp here for Bobby. Although Joyner did not win the Gold Gloves at first base that Erbakan did he does feel like a mostly similar type first baseman. He wasn't the base stealer Bobby has been but their home run and RBI totals are nearly identical (actually, at this stage, Bobby is just 1 RBI behind Joyner) and their career batting averages are also nearly identical. Joyner walked more and struck out more than Bobby, but some of that can certainly be accounted for by the difference in league statistical environment (Joyner's MLB career started in 1986, so there may end up being just a slight overlap in terms of the years that they played).
Don Mattingly is a pretty comp too, and his differences are at least in some measure because he had a shorter career than Bobby. He does, however, match up well in terms of the Gold Glove first base play. Mattingly had the higher batting average and a handful more homers (in slightly more than a 1,000 fewer plate appearances!), and far fewer stolen bases than Bobby.

As for Alou, he played nearly the same number of games as Bobby and was very close in terms of at-bats and hits (2,101 to Bobby's 2,166). They have nearly identical home run totals (206 for Alou, 209 for Bobby), are very close in strikeouts (706, Alou, 754, Bobby), and batting average (.286 for Alou, .293 for Bobby- and Alou spent more of his career in statistical environments that favored pitchers than Bobby did). Bobby did score a significant higher amount of runs (1,047 to Alou's 985) and drove in quite a few more runs (1,105 to Alou's 852), but again the offensive environments they played in have quite a bit to do with this. Alou finished his career with 42.2 WAR and Bobby is sitting on 58.8, so it could be argued that Bobby has been the considerably better player of the two.

A small handful of other somewhat comparable MLB players:
Ray Durham, 822
Mike Lowell, 812
Shin-Soo Choo, 809
Evan Longoria, 807
Brady Anderson, 805
Bobby Grich, 802
Jay Bell, 801 (another Bell, but this time an unrelated one)
Al Oliver, 795