Position Player fWAR: Eaton the 7 Dwarves

[chitownsportsfan]

Thank you Eminor for your contributions . It is greatly appreciated. As you said a lot about WAR is misunderstood and misused and that's what so confusing about it. It just takes too much effort to get a real grasp on what it all means especially when the people qwho talk about are constantly making mistakes.

 

It appears I will remain a dinosaur stuck in the tar pit struggling but ultimately losing the battle.

 

just remember that WAR is two things 1) it's an attempt to measure TRUE VALUE, and 2) IT'S NOT A PROJECTION.

 

WAR saying that Alex Avila (sporting a pretty hot .360 OBP as a Catcher) has been more valuable this season really is making no claim at all about how is better not only right now (like this moment) but also forever in the future.

 

Don't think you can't grasp it that's just silly. Only so many things can happen on a baseball diamond that's the beauty of it. Smart people have assigned all those thing values. WAR is a summation of those values.

[Vance Law]

Yea I was sort of driving at that but I guess I am not supposed to compare a 1st baseman to a catcher or OF or IF just to other 1st basemen. The problem is it does nothing to show a players value to his team . Maybe I am just the dummy who looks at it and says how can anyone say Avila is better than Abreu or more valuable of a player. Abreu means 10X what Avila does for the Sox . If you say 1 WAR is worth $7/8 million than isn't Avila worth more than Abreu here ?

 

Several things.

 

Do you know how few people on planet Earth can manage being an at least adequate defensive catcher at the major league level and at the same time be an average major league hitter? There are virtually none of those people. That's why Avila gets a big boost in WAR. The fact that he can't stay on the field obviously hurts him. The same premise goes for SS, 2B, CF. Literally anyone can play 1B.

 

Abreu gets hurt in WAR because he can only play 1st base, he plays first base poorly, he's terribly slow and therefore grades out awful as a baserunner, and he's not remotely hitting like he did his rookie year. He adds value to the team only one way- with the bat. He hasn't been great, he's been good, and everything else he does on the field is a liability.

[GreenSox]

Several things.

 

Do you know how few people on planet Earth can manage being an at least adequate defensive catcher at the major league level and at the same time be an average major league hitter? There are virtually none of those people. That's why Avila gets a big boost in WAR. The fact that he can't stay on the field obviously hurts him. The same premise goes for SS, 2B, CF. Literally anyone can play 1B.

Good points, but the market says Avila is worth $2.5 million. Abreu would bring far more than that, even today.

 

Right is Eaton's best position by a mile (although I suspect he'd be really good in left as well). It wouldn't surprise me if the Sox sign a right fielder and move him back to center, where he's only average.