War stat

[bosunmate]

Hi guys this WAR stat is new for me i understand it has to do with the team's performance and the player's contribution...What would the average be and how high can it go. Thank's in advance helping this old guy understand these new type of ratings......

[JWay]

A lot of it depends on your league size and what not. According to FanGraphs.com using MLB for an example. 2.0 wins is an average player. The best of the best get close to 10 Wins Above Replacement (WAR). I would say 4-5 WAR would be your typical all-star, 6-7 considered for awards.

But I do know that Markus did not calculate WAR like Fangraphs does. So it may be different.

[nibiyabi]

It's also the only stat of which I am aware which gives you a "total package" rating of a player's contribution in one number. It combines his offensive, defensive, and pitching performance into one number, which represents how many wins your team will have if you slot that player into your lineup versus a "replacement player", i.e., any old Joe Schmoe that you can call up from AAA (WAR stands for Wins Above Replacement). This is usually referred to as "freely available talent". The reason players are compared to a replacement level instead of the average level is so that they will get credit for durability. If 2 WAR represents the average player, and you have a fringe guy who would only get you 1 WAR during the season, he's still better than a replacement player. If he is an iron man who plays 162 games then he will get you your 1 WAR. An average player who would be worth 2 WAR over a whole season but who is very fragile and prone to fatigue who only plays 81 games will only get you 1 WAR, and assuming that he is replaced by a ho-hum replacement player who is worth 0 WAR, the value of this player compared to the first player is the same.

In general, it's a pretty great stat to use for a simple "who is better" argument in terms of determining who your starters should be, but the other nuances of a player's skillset should help you determine other things (e.g., looking at OBP and SLG to determine your lineup order, looking at wOBA to figure out who your best hitters are regardless of defense, looking at UZR to determine your best defensive players (though UZR takes 2-3 years to stabilize unlike wOBA)).

The one weakpoint of UZR that leaks into WAR, since WAR is basically a composite of wOBA (actually wRAA which is just wOBA converted to runs, essentially) and UZR, is that catcher defense is still a difficult skill to measure. Their ability to throw out baserunners, prevent passed balls, and perhaps make the occasional snap throw to a bag can be measured, but calling a game, framing pitches, maintaining the psyche of the pitcher, and other certainly vital tasks cannot be easily quantified (yet).

[Zorro]

Originally Posted by bosunmate

Hi guys this WAR stat is new for me i understand it has to do with the team's performance and the player's contribution...What would the average be and how high can it go. Thank's in advance helping this old guy understand these new type of ratings......

Everybody seems to do it differently. Here is a explanation that I hope helps.


Wins Above Replacement, commonly known as WAR, is a non-standardized sabermetric baseball statistic that is used to show how many more wins a player would give a team as opposed to a "replacement level", or minor league/bench player at that position. While WAR values are scaled equally for pitchers and hitters, the result is calculated differently for pitchers versus position players: position players are evaluated using statistics for fielding and hitting, while pitchers are evaluated using statistics related to the opposing batters' hits, walks and strikeouts.
There is no clearly established formula for WAR. Sites that provide the statistic, such as Baseball Prospectus, Fangraphs, and Baseball Reference, all calculate it differently. However, all of these sites calculate the value of WAR using these principles, and each site publicly acknowledges how they calculate their individual WAR values........................................Z

[Carplos]

I am thoroughly disappointed in this forum.

I mean, we have both saber fans and non-saber fans, and yet no one has made the obvious joke. (Hint: What's it good for?)

*Sigh*

[daveawrit]

Absolutely everything.... duh.

Can't believe you even had to ask

[JWay]

Originally Posted by Carplos

I am thoroughly disappointed in this forum.

I mean, we have both saber fans and non-saber fans, and yet no one has made the obvious joke. (Hint: What's it good for?)

*Sigh*

I bet if you do a search of WAR in these forums, and you'd find that you're joke is old hat.

[Carplos]

Originally Posted by JWay

I bet if you do a search of WAR in these forums, and you'd find that you're joke is old hat.

Of course it is. I just figured since WAR is now in the game and there are a handful of posts about it somebody would've done it.

Didn't say it would be *good*.

[JWay]

I expect more from Idaho!

[Carplos]

Originally Posted by JWay

I expect more from Idaho!

Live here and you'll get passed that.

(Note: I grew up in the Napa Valley, so I'm not really Idahoan anyway!)

[Zorro]

Originally Posted by Carplos

Live here and you'll get passed that.

roflmao........................................Z