SB Nation - Bernie Williams

New York Yankees Team of the Decade

Ed Valentine — Sun, 13 Dec 2009 15:34:39 -0000

'Tis the season for teams of the decade. Fans around baseball, except maybe in Boston where you know they would put up a fight, have to concede that the New York Yankees are the team of the decade.

But, looking specifically at the Yankees themselves, what is THEIR Team of the Decade? Some positions, like shortstop, catcher and closer, are obvious. Others, less so.

Here is my stab at naming the New York Yankee Team of the Decade.

C -- Jorge Posada. Duh! Sorry, Francisco Cervelli fans. This one, of course, is easy.

1B -- Jason Giambi. This position presents a real conundrum. The first name that leaps to mind is Giambi, but in his seven seasons with the Yankees he played more than half the team's games at first base just twice. And, he played more than 100 games there only one. He averaged 76.8 games per season at first base as a Yankee. Tino Martinez played just three seasons, but was the full-time first baseman each of those years playing 147 games per season. Tino averaged 22 homers and 83 RBI in his three seasons. Giambi averaged 32 home runs and 94 RBI, splitting his time between first base and designated hitter. Honestly, I hate doing it, but In the end I have to go with Giambi, especially since his pair of 41-home run seasons as a Yankee came when he was the primary first baseman in 2002 and 2003.

2B -- Robinson Cano. A close call here over Alfonso Soriano, based largely on Cano having five seasons (yes, five, can you believe it?) as the starting second baseman. Soriano was terrific, averaging 32 homers, 89 RBI and 39.6 stolen bases, but was a Yankee for just three seasons before being dealt away. Cano has averaged 17 home runs, 79 RBI and has a career average of .306 in five seasons. He is also a better defender. Again, I think length of service gives this one to Cano.

SS -- Derek Jeter. Umm, who else? If I was naming one, Jeter would also be Yankee Player of the Decade. Gee, maybe I just did name one.

3B -- Alex Rodriguez. Again, a no-brainer. Gotta at least give Aaron Boone an honorable mention, though, for his 2003 home run that propelled the Yankees to the World Series.

LF -- Johnny Damon. This is, obviously, between Damon and Hideki Matsui. And, in my opinion, not a choice between which one belongs on the Team of the Decade. Rather, a choice between which one is the left fielder and which one is the designated hitter. In four New York seasons, Damon has been the primary left fielder for just two years. He has DH'ed just 29 times in those two years, however. Matsui has DH'ed 250 times in six productive New York seasons. So, he gets the left field nod.

CF -- Bernie Williams. Bern, baby, Bern! Was a fixture with the Yankees for seven of the decade's 10 seasons, and was an integral part of the lineup. Hit 136 of 287 career home runs this decade. I know many of you are still irritated by how the Yankees treated Bernie at the end, but that's done with. Let's just give him his due.

RF -- Bobby Abreu. This is another excruciatingly tough call. First, it was difficult to rule out fan favorite Paul O'Neill, whom I think with our hearts we would all probably like to give this spot to. O'Neill, though, played just two seasons this decade and in the second was a shell of himself. So, this choice is really between Abreu and Gary Sheffield. Sheffield had two dominant seasons (.290, 36, 121 and .291, 34, 123), but only played 39 games in his third season due to injury. Abreu had two excellent full seasons (.283, 16, 101, 25 steals and .296, 20, 100, 22 steals). I think Abreu gets the nod because of his impact in 2006, when he was traded to the Yankees to replace the injured Sheffield and hit .330 with 7 home runs and 42 RBI in 58 games, helping the Yankees reach the playoffs.

DH -- Hideki Matsui. The World Series MVP absolutely has to have a place on this team. In six Yankee seasons Matsui has been nothing but productive, hitting .292 and averaging 22 home runs and 99.5 RBI per season.

SP -- Andy Pettitte. Whew! Another really difficult call between Pettitte and Mike Mussina. I know 'wins' is not the only way to measure a pitcher, but for the purpose of this argument it shows how close these two are. Mussina won 123 regular-season games, including 20 at the age of 39, in seven Yankee seasons this decade. Pettitte won 111 regular-season games despite spending three wayward seasons in Houston. The real difference between Pettitte and Mussina is post-season success. 'Moose' was 5-7 in Yankee post-season career. Pettitte, this decade, is 11-5 with a World-Series clinching victory fresh in my mind. I could easily name them both, but if I had to take one it would still be Pettitte.

CL -- Mariano Rivera. The best of all time. Period.

Manager -- Joe Torre. What choice do you have here? Joe Girardi has a World Series title in his two seasons, and he will likely be around for a long time. Hopefully, one day his resume will match what Torre did in New York, but not yet. This decade may not have matched the 1990s for Torre in terms of World Series titles, but one championship, two AL pennants, and playoff appearances all eight seasons he managed the team is pretty darn impressive.

So, what do you guys think? Tell me where I'm right. And wrong. And tell me why.

2010 Yankees Center Field Showdown: Melky Cabrera vs. Brett Gardner vs... Cody Ross?

devil_fingers — Wed, 23 Sep 2009 15:12:29 -0000

More photos » by Julie Jacobson - AP

"Don't celebrate my departure too soon (at a baseball game), boys. I hear Goldman wants Ca$h to bring in Cody Ross. Yeah, you heard, me, Cody Freaking Ross. He has a fan club and everything."

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In a recent Pinstriped Bible blog posting, Steven Goldman argued that while Melky Cabrera might be adequate for the moment as the starting center fielder for the Yankees, that the club should look elsewhere for next season. Goldman's main point:

It would be unrealistic to expect even a team with the financial capabilities of the Yankees to field an All-Star or MVP candidate at every position, but that's not a reason to keep striving to get better wherever you can, however you can. It is axiomatic that a team that accepts that it is "good enough" at a position will not win consistently, or at all. Complacency will kill a nascent dynasty faster than hamstring pulls and cigarettes combined.

There is much to comment on in this blog posting (see the Think Factory discussion). For example, calling Nick Swisher, he of the 3.6 WAR (that's about the same as Jason Bay or J.D. Drew at this point in the season), "inconsistent" is Joe Morgan-esque. Ignoring the Yankees other significant holes for 2010 is also curious. Indeed, the whole post, with its discussions of league-average offense by position, vague references to defense without numbers, etc., strikes me as a very "pre-FanGraphs" sort of approach to internet player analysis.

However, I'm not going to be issuing a bunch of snark regarding a good writer's problematic blog posting. Rather, taking Goldman's post as a jumping-off point, I want to look at three options for the Yankee 2010 CF that he mentions: Cabrera, Brett Gardner, and the Marlins' Cody Ross (for whom Goldman suggests the Yankees trade.). I will compare them utilizing less vague and more helpful concept of WAR (Wins Above Replacement).

I've done a number of these "true talent" postings lately (on Jason Bartlett, Jamey Carroll, and Matt Murton, among others), so you can look around the blog to see how it works. I won't review all of the "methodology" here -- it's pretty simple weighted averages and regression to the mean, etc. using publicly available data. There are no big secrets. I just don't want to make this more boring than it has to be. Feel free to ask in the comments section. I'll go component by component for all three players. These are "true talent" estimates based on information as of last night. I'll go component-by-component for all players, just to mix things up.

Hitting

Melky Cabrera is the youngest player of the group, being only 24 at the beginning of the current season. His major-league wOBAs from 2006-2009 are .333, .317, .285, and .328. Regressing to the mean and applying a slight age adjustment, that projects to about a .327 wOBA for next season. Given this season's run environment, that means he projects as a minus 1 run (one run below average) hitter for 2010.

Cody Ross is 28 this season and the best hitter of the three. He will be 29 next season. From 2006-2009 his wOBAs are .310, .446, .345, and .342. He projects as a .344 wOBA (+9) hitter next season.

Brett Gardner (who is only briefly considered in Goldman's post) is 25 this season. Gardner hit terribly in the majors in 2008, posting a .282 wOBA. He's been very good relative to expectations this season, sporting a .349. But given the sample size and his performance in the minors, I decided that I needed more data. So I tried something new. I got his MLE from the minors from 2007 and 2008, converted them to wOBA, and incorporated them into my data. I'm not sure how great the method it, but the result I got -- a .318 projected wOBA (-6/700 PA) -- is close enough to his preseason projections from CHONE, etc. that I don't think it's distorted.

Fielding

For the fielding portion, I used UZR as implemented at FanGraphs as my primary stat not only because I suspect it's the best defensive stat out there, but because it's publicly and freely available. I heavily regress outfield projectoins. I regress UZR based on Speed Score, as has often been suggested for OFs. Defensive stats being what they are, I also incorporated the Tom Tango's Fans Scouting Report Converted to runs. I usually do a weighted average 75% regressed UZR + 25% FSR, but for Gardner, given the extremely low sample, I did 50% regressed UZR + 50% FSR (his defense would project even better without the FSR!).

The Milkman has been up-and-down, defensively. While he's been decent according to UZR his season (+3.1/150), in 2007, when he had the most playing time, he was dreadful (-10.7). The Fans Scouting Report is even less enthusiatic, having him at -4.8, -2.4, -2.7, and -8.0 (2006-2009) according to my "translations." So it's a mixed bad. Altogether, he projects as a -2/162 defender in CF for next season.

Cody Ross has been similarly up-and-down. He's -7.1 UZR/150 in CF this season comes after an excellent +18.3 in 2008. He was terrible in limited time in 2007, but good in 2006. The FSR hasn't been too impressed, with a -9 in 2006, a -9.5 in 2007, and a -3.5 2008. But Cody's fan club must have been working overtime this season, as he's all the way up to 0.2. PUtting it all together, and adjusting for age as Ross enters his late 20s, he projects as a -1 /162defender in CF in 2010.

Like Nyjer Morgan, Brett Gardner is the kind of player who would have been dismissed a Juan Pierre wanna-be prior to the wide public availability of defensive stats. And his numbers are so outstanding in brief playing time that they have to be taken with a grain of salt. Or, as grains of salt are expressed here -- with plenty of regression. UZR has Gardner was an insane +56.8/150 in the OF in 2008 (in only 39 games), and +14/150 in 2009. The Fans Scouting Report shows its value here by not forcing us into either taking these on face value nor dismissing them completely. The FSR has Gardner at +4.2 in 2008, and +5.8 in 2009. Putting it altogether (note his impressive speed scores), Gardner projects as a +9 defender in CF for 2010.

Baserunning

Don't worry, almost there. I used Baseball Prospectus' excellent EqBRR for this portion. Since FanGraphs' version of wOBA includes steals, I substracted that portion out. Briefly -- both Melky and Cody project as pretty much average ("0") baserunners, while Gardner, even after heavy regression due to low playing time, projects as very good at +2 (keep in mind that the "spread" is very small).

Putting It All Together

The difficult in the "old days" would have been how to weigh offense (and then how to weigh OBP and SLG relative to each other, etc.) vs. vague assertions about defense, positional value, etc. Baserunning would probably be totally ignored. But the beauty of WAR is that, while one can debate over whether the projections were done correctly, how replacement level is set, positional adjustments, etc., one can at least get it all out on the table. So here it is... in a table (ahem). Since all three players are being projected at CF, the positional adjustment is +2.5 runs per 162 games. To account for the difference in league difficutly, following Tom Tango I use 20 runs as replacement per 162 games for the NL (Ross) and 25 runs for the AL (Cabrera and Gardner). It's easy from there: I sum all those toger to get Runs Above Replacement (RAR). Then I convert to WAR by multplying RAR times 85% playing time, then simply dividing by 10 to convert runs to wins.

Player	Hit	Field	BsR	Pos	Replace	RAR	WAR
Melky Cabrera	-1	-2	0	+2.5	+25	24.5	2.1
Cody Ross	+9	-1	0	+2.5	+20	28	2.4
Brett Gardner	-6	+9	+2	+2.5	+25	30	2.6

Goldman writes that Gardner is only "fractionally" better than Melky, and given the nature of WAR, 0.5 isn't a huge deal. But he does look better. What is interesting is that Gardner also projects to be better than Cody Ross. If you don't but the league adjustment, well, I'll just ask you to compare the NL East's pitching staffs with those in the AL East. Despite recent comedic assertions that Brett Gardner should only be at the head of a list of terrible baseball players, he's seems to be above average here (2 is about MLB average), and the best candidate of the three to play center field for the Yankees. He's another potential Endy Chavez (another defensive standout player underappreciated in the pre-UZR era), and might actually have a shot at having a league-average bat. Gardner might not be 1998 Bernie Williams in 1998, but he might be 2009 Nyjer Morgan.

But this isn't all about Gardner. Melky is still almost as good as Ross. Don't get me wrong -- Ross is a decent player that could help a lot of teams. But why should the Yankees trade talent for a guy who, if he's better, is himself "fractionally" better than the alternatives (at best), older, and, yes, getting more expensive? Even the Yankees operate on a budget, and as we've seen, even they occasionally need to rely on some homegrown talent (e.g., Robinson Cano, Joba Chamberlain, Phil Hughes, etc.) rather than free agency. Even if the Yankees should panic (they shouldn't) over Austin Jackon only hitting four home runs this season, they have cost-controlled talent that should be more than adequate in place.

Finally, given that they have a massive holes opening up in left field and at DH with the free agency of the declining Johnny Damon and Hideki Matsui (not to mention their relatively shaky pitching), it seems to me that the Yankees considerable organizational resources would be better spent elsewhere, say, on Matt Holliday (easily the best free agent outfielder this season -- far superior to Jason Bay, but that's another post) for LF. If they must trade, make it for Adam Dunn as DH (although I'd suggest trying to sign Jim Thome or especially Russell Branyan for that position -- Branyan in particular can actually play the field a bit and will be cheaper).

These are much bigger issues than being "stuck " with a player who is "only" average or above-average at center field, a problem that wouldn't be solved by trading for an older player who isn't any better. On the other hand, if the Yankees really share Goldman's low appraisal of both Cabrera and Gardner, I know a team short a couple of outfielders...

Around the Yankee Universe: Comparing this team to '98 not fair

Ed Valentine — Fri, 18 Sep 2009 12:20:58 -0000

More photos » by Kathy Willens - AP

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Haven't been doing this regularly of late, but let's take a tour Around the Yankee Universe and see what is going on. After all, it is Friday and I know you guys are looking for un-productive ways to kill time while the boss isn't looking. So, here goes.

The Daily News compares this Yankee team to the amazing 114-win Yankee team of 1998, and finds the current team wanting.

The 2009 team may have more position-by-position talent, but it's a team game, and the 1998 Yankees were greater than the sum of their parts.

The Daily News wasted a lot of ink, and Internet bandwidth, on this comparison. Even without all that, I could have told you the '98 team would come out on top. It's one of the great teams in history. Besides, it's way too early to judge the 2009 team. You simply can't do that until we find out what happens in the playoffs.

Manager Joe Girardi knows exactly how much of a post-season weapon Brett Gardner can be for the Yankees.

"We lost 'Gardy' for, I don't know, what was it? Six weeks, it seemed like,'' Girardi said, referring to Gardner's stint on the DL with a broken thumb. "And that element that we were looking for, we didn't quite have it. Jerry Hairston did a great job for us, and he continues to do a great job for us, but he's not quite the same speed as Gardner. And we missed it. And there were times during that six weeks when I said to myself, 'Man, I wish we had "Gardy" right now.' ... He came back and he's played well since he's been back - and it does seem that we can do a lot of different things now.

"It's just another way that you know that you can win a game,'' Girardi said. "He can steal bases anytime, whether it's second or third - he has not tried (to steal) home yet, but I believe at some time in the future, it will be there. But it's just a great element to have as a manager, because in these close games, there's always a spot where you look for him to be able to do it. The guy might hit a double or a triple, and you might put (Gardner) on third base where he might score on a short sac fly.''

Gardner's speed and defense are so valuable late in games they are likely to keep him from starting many playoff games.

"Whatever they want me to do to help the team win,'' he said. "Obviously, I'm not going to be playing every day, nine innings every day. But if I'm not, I'm not - I'll come off the bench and pinch hit or play defense, or run, or do whatever they need me to do.''

Gardner also appreciated having Girardi's words relayed to him.

"It means a lot,'' he said. "Anytime the manager gives you a compliment like that, it makes you feel good about the things you've been doing and for me, I obviously just need to continue to do the things I've been doing and trying to find ways to help the team win.''

Buster Olney examines the pitching issues of the likely American League playoff teams.
It seems unlikely that Hideki Matsui will be a Yankee next season. Here, however, is one vote for keeping him.
Here is a look at the competition for the final few playoff roster spots.
Bernie Williams has earned a Grammy nomination.
Here is a very unique, and not complementary, look at Derek Jeter's ascension to the top of the Yankee all-time hits list. Only The Onion can pull off stuff like this.

Melky Cabrera Appreciation Thread

Travis G — Mon, 03 Aug 2009 22:04:49 -0000

More photos » by Nam Y Huh - AP

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After becoming just the 14th Yankee in history (and the last since 1995) to hit for the cycle, today seems apropos for appreciating the Melk-man.

When Brett Gardner went onto the DL with a broken finger, the full weight of centerfield fell onto Melky's shoulders, and he has carried the burden better than anyone could have expected. In the eight games since Gardner's injury, Melky has hit .357/.438/.750, improving his OPS+ to a career best 114, which is third best among AL centerfielders (ahead of guys like Grady Sizemore, B.J. Upton and Jacoby Ellsbury).

What looked to be one of the biggest weaknesses heading into the season actually turned into a strength.

It seems like Melky's been around forever, but he's still only 24!

It's not a fair comparison to make, but I'll do it anyway.

Bernie Williams through age 24: .262/.339/.388, 26 SB, 20 CS

Melky through age 24: .272/.334/.389, 39 SB, 14 CS

Very similar. Bernie was better at taking walks, Melky's better at stealing bases. I would call their defense pretty comparable, with Melky getting a slight edge due to his arm (he already has 38 assists - Bernie had 65 in 16 years).

It was in Bernie's fourth full season (age 25) that he took off (119 OPS+). Melky is currently in his fourth full season. Are we witnessing the 'break out' season of the Melk-man?

And even if Melky never hits as much as Bernie, his defense will make up some of the deficit; though Bernie was phenomenal in his prime years (.326/.411/.538, 146 OPS+) of 1997 to 2002. So here comes the poll:

Poll

Will Melky ever be as good (overall: offense, defense & baserunning) as Bernie?

Better!

87 votes

As good

268 votes

Never

396 votes

751 votes | Poll has closed

Saturday Morning Astros, etc Round Up

HighLeveragePerformer — Sat, 25 Jul 2009 11:00:12 -0000

More photos » by Gene J. Puskar - AP

Neh.

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Jerome Solomon tells us that how the back end of the rotation performs in the second half will be key if the Astros are to stay in the hunt for a playoff birth. Maybe if Mike Hampton just pitches against the Pirates...

Richard Justice has a trade deadline sneak peak: expect the Astros to add either a pitcher and/or a third baseman. What's more, the Astros will most likely be able to get them after the deadline! Oh yea- those players are Aaron Boone and Bud Norris.

Speaking of the deadline, Jonah Keri lays out nine deals that happen before July 31st. Some players of note are Chad Qualls (to the Yanks), Jarrod Washburn (to the Brewers), and Roy Halladay (to the Rangers).

Saber-critics like to argue that statistically inclined fans would prefer to have the games played on computers, rather than on the field. Well, could this be the first step towards that? Look at this scouting report!

The batting robot, which has a sensor to determine if pitches are strikes or balls, hits balls in the strike zone almost 100 percent of the time, doesn't swing at pitches outside the strike zone, and is guaranteed to pass all drug tests.

Hmmm....sounds a lot like Albert Pujols...plus his nickname is "The Machine". I'm becoming less convinced that this writer didn't just spend a few days in St. Louis...

Ishikawa is also working on getting the batting robot to be able to hit to all parts of the field.

Ok. Albert doesn't really do that, so I guess it is a robot after all.

The Big Four professional sports leagues and the NCAA are suing the state of Delaware in order to stop them from legalizing gambling on those sports.

Any fans of the show Seinfeld should get a kick out of this. My favorite sports moment: When George gives up sex and is suddenly able to concentrate his energies towards more "productive" things, and he gives batting advice to Bernie Williams and Derek Jeter.

Finally, a poll. It's about this guy.

Poll

Batting Stance Guy is....

Awesome

20 votes

Lammmeeeeeee

20 votes

Who Cares?

29 votes

69 votes | Poll has closed

The Best Baserunners of 2008

Sky Kalkman — Wed, 18 Feb 2009 16:37:46 -0000

Around here, we're big fans of WAR (Wins Above Replacement) and the effort put forth by David Appelman, Tom Tango, Mitchel Lichtman, and others to make it available over at Fangraphs. There is one significant piece of the puzzle missing, however, and that's baserunning. I don't mean stolen bases, but rather the ability to take extra bases on hits and outs without being thrown out.

Fortunately, Dan Fox has done the work and baserunning data for the past two years is freely available over at Baseball Prospectus. For as much frustration as we have with BPro, this data is fantastic. You can find the baserunning report here. There are five baserunning categories listed, plus the total:

SB/CS runs (EQSBR)
GB out advancement runs (EQGAR)
FB out advancement runs (EQAAR)
Hit advancement runs (EQHAR)
Passed ball, wild pitch, and balk advancement runs (EQOAR)

Not only do players receive credit for taking extra bases beyond what's expected and penalties for making outs, they're also penalized for not taking extra bases when the average major league baserunner would have been expected to do so.

2008 Leaders and Trailers

Since Fangraphs' implementation of wRAA already includes the effect of stolen bases and caught stealings, I'm going to remove that piece and only discuss the total of the other four categories. Here are the 2008 leaders in non-SB baserunning:

Player	Runs
Ian Kinsler	6.5
Jose Reyes	6.5
Ichiro Suzuki	6.4
Chone Figgins	6.4
Shane Victorino	5.7
Matt Holliday	5.5
Curtis Granderson	5.2
Nate McLouth	5.0
Mike Aviles	4.9
Joe Mauer	4.6

Most of those names don't surprise me, except for Matt Holliday and Nate McLouth. If McLouth is such a speedy guy, maybe he just takes really poor routes to the ball in center field? And look at Joe Mauer -- he just keeps adding value in lots of little ways.

We can also look at the other end of the spectrum, the brutes:

Player	Runs
Bengie Molina	-7.0
Prince Fielder	-6.9
Dioner Navarro	-6.0
Casey Kotchman	-5.5
Mike Lowell	-5.2
Carlos Pena	-4.9
Rod Barajas	-4.9
Joey Votto	-4.4
Kevin Millar	-4.1
Cesar Izturis	-4.1

Seeing Prince Fielder and Bengie Molina atop the worst baserunners list is not a surprise, and the rest of the list is mostly made up of slow first basemen and catchers -- except for Cesar Izturis, that is, who must really not know what he's doing out there. Although he did rate at +1.4 runs last year.

The Difference Between Steals and Baserunning

Speed is obviously an important factor both in stealing bases and running the bases. But as there are other skills involved (reading the pitcher's move and getting a good jump for the former and the ability to track batted balls and judge fielders for the latter) players don't always have the same talent at doing each. Here's a list of the baserunners who added more value with stolen bases relative to non-SB baserunning:

Player	SB Skill
Bengie Molina	7.0
Prince Fielder	6.7
Cesar Izturis	6.2
Willy Taveras	6.0
Casey Kotchman	5.1
Jimmy Rollins	4.9
Rod Barajas	4.9
Mike Lowell	4.7
Carlos Pena	4.5
Michael Bourn	4.2

Actually, that table ends up being a mix of the sloths (who don't bother to ever steal bases or take extra bases) and speedy guys we might expect to provide more value on the basepaths (Willy Taveras, Jimmy Rollins, and Michael Bourne).

And here are the players who are much better at running the bases than stealing bases:

Player	Non-SB Skill
Melvin Mora	7.2
Ryan Theriot	6.4
Bill Hall	5.5
Mike Aviles	5.3
Corey Hart	5.2
Nick Markakis	5.2
Joe Mauer	5.1
Chone Figgins	5.1
Miguel Tejada	4.9
Jay Bruce	4.8

Congratulations to Melvin Mora for winning the 2008 Larry Walker Award.

Team Totals

Again, these numbers do not include SB/CS runs.

Team	Runs
MIN	16.1
NYN	14.4
TEX	10.4
LAN	8.2
MIL	7.3
ANA	7.3
ARI	5.1
COL	4.6
KCA	4.0
PHI	3.6
OAK	3.6
FLO	3.3
CHA	2.0
CLE	1.8
HOU	0.8
SDN	-0.3
ATL	-0.9
NYA	-1.7
TOR	-2.6
SLN	-3.2
CIN	-3.3
DET	-3.9
PIT	-6.4
SFN	-6.7
SEA	-7.8
TBA	-8.0
BAL	-8.6
WAS	-8.7
BOS	-9.7
CHN	-9.9

Well, there's another explanation for why the Minnesota Twins outscored their OPS last year, in addition to hitting well with runners in scoring position. Baserunning should be more of a repeatable skill than clutch hitting, although it's adding only about 1.5 wins. Every little bit, though, right?

The Angels are an organization known for their baserunning and outperforming their apparents talent level, and while they rank in the top half of the league, +.7 wins isn't really the explanation we're all looking for.

For being a "doing the small things" team, the Rays sure weren't good on the base paths last year. Balme Dioner Navarro, Carlos Pena, Willy Aybar, and the lack of any really good baserunners for that.

Finally, wiith the Red Sox and Cubs at the bottom of the list, it's evident baserunning isn't as critical to team success as other parts of the game.