WAR question

[happybat4]

How the hell do they calculate defensive WAR for older players like Willie Mays or Babe Ruth?

[Blarg]

They can't.

[Angelsjunky]

Badly. As far as I understand it, the further back you go, the less accurate defensive metrics are. But there still is some information going back pretty far - there have always been stat nerds. You can read a bit here: http://www.baseball-reference.com/about/total_zone.shtml

[zenmaster]

I want to start a war on WAR. It seems to be the only stat some people use nowadays and they use it as the be all end all of determining if a player is good or not. 
 

I want my RBI baseball for NES days back where they used Avg, Hr, RBI for position and W-L ERA for pitchers!

 

Mark McGwire had some sweet stats in RBI...

[HeavenlyHalos]

Can we just have a disagreement on WAR? Not everything needs to be a full on war right away. Let's ease into it a bit like a prom night.

[Lou]

Can we just have a disagreement on WAR? Not everything needs to be a full on war right away. Let's ease into it a bit like a prom night.

Ease into it? Chalé

I got laid before the dance, holmes

[HeavenlyHalos]

I've always had a tremendous amount of respect for you.

[ELEVEN]

WAR is not the answer

[Lou]

I've always had a tremendous amount of respect for you.

Órale

[seenoevil]

all day

[Angelsjunky]

Well, despite its flaws, WAR is the best catchall stat available so should be a part of the conversation. But yeah, it has its limitations. One area I find it particularly worthless is for DHs and bat-first players who you don't really look to for defense or baserunning. WAR can give a more negative picture of such players than they deserve.

[Inside Pitch]

Well, despite its flaws, WAR is the best catchall stat available so should be a part of the conversation. But yeah, it has its limitations. One area I find it particularly worthless is for DHs and bat-first players who you don't really look to for defense or baserunning. WAR can give a more negative picture of such players than they deserve.

 

The defensive component and the pitching end of it -- both leave a lot to be desired.   But yeah, it's the best of whats out there as far as catchall's go.

[HeavenlyHalos]

I prefer adjusted batting runs and wins. Don't trust any of the defensive aspects of WAR.

Edited January 19, 2016 by HeavenlyHalos

[Angelsjunky]

For pure offense, wRC+ is probably the best stat. It is basically a more sophisticated version of OPS+ although I think also includes stolen bases - so overall offensive contribution. 100 is average, 120 is very good, 150+ is MVP caliber.

[Blarg]

So Trout is 487.

[Ray McKigney]

I want to start a war on WAR.