Dustin Pedroia wins AL MVP

Awesome.

"Back in my day we measured a player by the Triple Crown categories! Batting average, home runs, RBI! And it was RBI, not RBIs! It's not runs batted ins! And we walked uphill both ways in the snow to see doubleheaders for a nickel per game! And hot dogs were a dime! And we were home by 5 pm! And we liked it!"

 

Brilliant!

 

Explain to me, then, how VORP is a contrived formula with no basis in reality. How is the idea of establishing a baseline level of expectation from a player equal to the increased fiscal cost of his inclusion on the roster compared to the typical minor league free agent not beneficial at various times?

If you are so ardently opposed to VORP, tell me why. I don't have my BP or Bill James books with me right now, but consider this summary of the VORP equation for hitters, per wikipedia:

"Therefore, to calculate VORP one must multiply the league's average runs per out by the player's total outs; this provides the number of runs an average player would have produced given that certain number of outs to work with.

"Now multiply that number (of runs) by .8, or whatever percentage of average the replacement level is designated to be; the result is the number of runs you could expect a "replacement player" to put up with that number of outs.

"Simply subtract the replacement's runs created from the player's actual runs created, and the result is VORP. This is not the final adjustment, however: while the replacement's run total will be park-neutral (by definition, because replacement numbers are derived from league averages), the player's raw numbers won't be.

"Before calculating the VORP, the individual player stats must be normalized via park factors to eliminate the distortions that can be created by each ballpark, especially extreme parks like Coors Field in Denver (where the thin high-altitude air allows baseballs to travel farther than at sea level, although the humidor has significantly decreased the runs scored in Coors Field, to the extent that Denver is no longer considered a pure hitter's haven) and Petco Park in San Diego (where the heavier sea air couples with distant fences to suppress run-scoring).

"After the final adjustment, the resultant VORP may be used to estimate how 'valuable' the player in question is by providing a good picture of that player's marginal utility."

How the hell is that not based in reality? Can you just admit that you're totally resistant to any change in baseball, regardless of the obvious and proven benefits of a multi-faceted approach to player evaluation? How is your fierce objection to this measuring tool based in reality?

UZR stands for Ultimate Zone Rating, a statistic that has been heralded by Mitchel Lichtman---a former consultant for the Cardinals---for many years now.

And who would you consider a better baseball scribe than Neyer? I think he's the best they have at ESPN.com. So who's the best baseball writer going today? I bet I'm going to laugh hysterically when I hear your opinion on that.

 

Joe Morgan.
You expect Dinosaurs to evolve?

 

Honestly...who has had a better year than Nate Silver?

 

Barack Obama. After that, it's a short list.

 

That was the only name I could think of.

 

Ryan Howard?

 

Not after he started hooking up with Kelly again. Bitch crazy.

 

How many arbitrary numbers are thrown into that 1,000-word explanation of what VORP is?
And then there is this conclusion: "the resultant VORP may be used to estimate how 'valuable' the player in question is."


As for baseball writers, I'll start wuth Buster Olney, who is a million times better than Neyer could ever dream of being.

 

I consider about 60 writers to be better than Neyer. I can start naming them if you wish. We converse with a couple of them every day on here, in fact.

 

But can they explain VORP and URZ?