A review of the exceptional teams in 2006

[MARCPELLETIER]

Here is the final list of players, per position, that reoccurred the most among the 2006 exceptional teams. Obviously, considering that there was a bias towards pitching stadiums and pitching teams, many weak hitters make the list. Defense was also a constant presence.

Three players strike the list, as they bear a reputation, at least defended by some, to be way overpaid. Clemens, Figgins, and Vernon Wells.


16............ C (vs lhp) J.Molina
15............ C (vs rhp) Schneider
12.............1B.....Teixera
19............ 2B Castillo
22MVP.....SS.....Jack Wilson
17............ 3B.....Figgins
16............ LF.....Cliff Floyd
16............ CF.....Vernon Wells
20............ RF.....Ichiro
14............ DH....Ortiz
15............ OF (bench) Kapler
13............ UT/PR..Bruntlett
18............ IF.....Cora

20............SP.....Clemens
18............ SP.....Peavy
16............ SP.....Pettitte
15............ SP.....Willis
13............ SET-UP ....Heilman
13............ CLOSER....WAGNER
18............ RRHP....Calero
18............ RRHP....Putz
14............ RRHP ...Ayala
20..........LRHP....Mercker
19............ LRHP...Flores
19............ LRHP....Mulholland

[MARCPELLETIER]

A closer counts

In one sample, I looked at how having a good closer could help one team increasing its record. For every team, I checked at the correlation between, on one hand, the amount spent on the team's legit closer, and on the other hand, the difference of wins between actual wins and pythogarian wins. I expected that teams that don't spent on a good closer should have an important gap between the number of expected wins and the number of actual wins.

My expectations were founded. The correlation stood at 0.28, and it was significant, and it seem to hold regardless of the stadium.

For example, teams that spent less than 2M on their closer averaged 5 wins less than what their pythagorian record would expect. Teams that had a difference as large as 10 wins between actual and expected wins all spent less than 2M on their closer.

Now, bear in mind that all these teams, with no exception, had very strong seasons. So you can be succesful without closer, no doubt about that. But expect to lose some tight games along the way.

[LA Bear]

Luckyman,

How did you get access to all this info? It's awesome research. One thing that could help would be a breakdown by position of the highest and 2nd highest recurring names. It would help me understand better where some of the tradeoffs are made and still have solid players at each position.

How do you calculate Pythogorian W's?

LA Bear

[MICHAELTARBELL]

Great Stuff Marcus!

[MARCPELLETIER]

Pythagorian:

W= 162* RS^2 / (RS^2+RA^2) RS=Run scored, RA=run allowed.

As to browse around the league, I use the strato.berce.us tool, and browse around the leagues. I'll check out later for positions.

BTW, about my "closer counts" paragraph, I should have added that my sample is biased towards underachieving teams, considering that I looked for teams with excellent pythagorian records, but not necessary excellent overall win-loss record. So perhaps the effect of not having a closer is less important in other Strat teams.

[Jerlins]

I'm waaaay too lazy to add the total $ of the ideal players, but if its close to $80, I wouldn't mind being in a league where we had an agreement to let this "ideal" team into a league with 11 others and try to combat it. Would be fun. We could put this master team in a neutral park and see what it can do. Sort of a theme "beat the ideal" league.

[MARCPELLETIER]

It's a 100M team, actually.

[Jerlins]

Would make for a tough challenge to set up against. Do you toss LH's and take your chances on Ichiro, Molina, and Wells, or RH's and hope Teixiera, Ortiz, and Floyd don't clobber you? I think in this case, I'd be more inclined to put Santana, D. Davis, and Buehrle on my team and hope for the best.

[MARCPELLETIER]

For LABear,

here is the full list of all players with 5 occurrences or more.

22 Wilson,
20 Clemens,
20 Mercker,
20 Suzuki,
19 Flores,
19 Mulholland,
19 Castillo,
18 Cora,
18 Peavy,
18 Osoria,
18 Calero,
17 Chavez,
17 Figgins,
16 Pettitte,
16 Floyd,
16 Wells,
16 Molina,
16 Abreu,
15 Rollins,
15 Schneider,
15 Kapler,
15 Willis,
14 Santana,
14 Ayala,
14 Ortiz,
13 Bruntlett,
13 Giambi,
13 Roberts,
13 Wagner,
13 Taveras,
13 Heilman,
13 Rodriguez,
13 Duke,
13 Chavez,
13 Sanchez,
13 Kotsay,
12 Munter,
12 Schoeneweis,
12 Gomez,
12 Rodriguez,
12 Ensberg,
12 Jeter,
12 Johnson,
12 Martinez,
12 Street,
12 Reyes,
12 Piedra,
12 Robles,
11 Looper,
11 Crawford,
11 Buehrle,
11 Peralta,
11 Teixeira,
11 Ellison,
11 Shields,
11 Dunn,
11 Anderson,
11 Duffy,
11 Hudson,
11 Polanco,
11 Carroll,
11 Vizquel,
11 Carpenter,
10 Blanco,
10 Orr,
10 Jones,
10 Clark,
10 Edmonds,
10 Mauer,
10 Lee,
10 Chulk,
10 Giles,
10 Villone,
10 Lackey,
10 Byrd,
10 Putz,
10 Young,
10 Grudzielanek,
10 Webb,
10 Glaus,
10 Berkman,
9 Ibanez,
9 Lee,
9 Blum,
9 Sheffield,
9 Hernandez,
9 Zito,
9 Myers,
9 Redmond,
9 Damon,
9 Ramirez,
9 Thames,
9 Casey,
9 Winn,
9 Harden,
9 Capuano,
9 Oswalt,
9 Glavine,
9 Ryan,
9 Sanchez,
9 Punto,
9 Radke,
9 Derosa,
9 Bako,
9 Snyder,
8 Valentin,
8 Mueller,
8 Macdougal,
8 Chacin,
8 Padilla,
8 Matheny,
8 Ozuna,
8 Burns,
8 Pena,
8 Mora,
8 Feliz,
8 Patterson,
8 Posada,
8 Guerrero,
8 Halladay,
8 Crisp,
8 Gathright,
8 Molina,
8 Zambrano,
8 Sullivan,
8 Molina,
8 Matsui,
8 Sauerbeck,
8 Sheets,
8 Erstad,
8 Carrasco,
8 Stinnett,
7 Harang,
7 King,
7 Moeller,
7 Jones,
7 Mabry,
7 Madson,
7 Papelbon,
7 Walker,
7 Harris,
7 Garland,
7 Zaun,
7 Counsell,
7 Podsednik,
7 Hernandez,
7 Kline,
7 Prior,
7 Everett,
7 Robertson,
7 Gonzalez,
7 Utley,
7 Ramirez,
7 Contreras,
7 Beckett,
7 Smoltz,
7 Arroyo,
7 Hall,
7 Cabrera,
7 Diaz,
7 Betancourt,
7 Escobar,
7 Kent,
7 Sabathia,
7 Timlin,
7 Tavarez,
7 Burrell,
7 Torrealba,
7 Delgado,
7 Rowand,
6 Perez,
6 Everett,
6 Hammond,
6 Konerko,
6 Nunez,
6 Jenks,
6 Gibbons,
6 Giles,
6 Rodriguez,
6 Pujols,
6 Helton,
6 Ellis,
6 Cordero,
6 Singleton,
6 Lidge,
6 Stauffer,
6 Baldwin,
6 Vargas,
6 Rogers,
6 Jenkins,
6 Mulder,
6 Harris,
6 Griffey
6 Guardado,
6 Logan,
6 Shouse,
6 Repko,
6 Colon,
6 Maddux,
6 Linebrink,
6 Wickman,
6 Weaver,
5 Gosling,
5 Dingman,
5 McLouth,
5 Mohr,
5 Iguchi,
5 Pierre,
5 Towers,
5 Donnelly,
5 McCarthy,
5 Perez,
5 Howard,
5 Wright,
5 Blanco,
5 Carrara,
5 Vogelsong,
5 Furcal,
5 Tejada,
5 Torres,
5 Seanez,
5 Lowe,
5 DeJesus,
5 Moyer,
5 Spurling,
5 Murton,
5 Garcia,
5 Niekro,
5 Durazo,
5 Sizemore,
5 Cordero,
5 Rodriguez,
5 Myers,
5 Eldred,
5 Varitek,
5 Eaton,
5 Thompson,
5 Fuentes,
5 Menechino,
5 Tracy,
5 Sexson,
5 Navarro,
5 Hermanson,