Royals Review, a Kansas City Royals community

At the request of a party who shall remain anonymous, I have constructed a spreadsheet to give pseudo-Fangraphs-style positional wOBA averages by position for 2008 MLB, AL, and NL. I still think the best general model for such averages is something like this (see my related FanShot here), but it is interesting to see how closely the empirical data from last year matches up. I've even included a silly wOBA-fied version of baseball-reference's OPS+. Since I'm guessing Fangraphs' version of wOBA will become the most frequently cited, I've used a formula that I think they are using -- that is, one that excludes reached base on error (this makes sense for them, since I assume they are using the baseball databank data, which doesn't include that information). They also use custom linear weights for each year, which I don't use here. However, Tom Tango (the creator of wOBA) notes that the weights since 1956 don't stray all that far from the generic formula. I think Fangraphs is great, and is quickly becoming the best source for sabermetric data on the internet -- free or pay. Personally, I prefer that ROE be included in wOBA, since I do think it at least partially reflects player skill. Stat Corner does so (and they also have park-adjusted wOBA*). I would also prefer that both sites includes stolen bases and caught stealings in the formula (I don't think they do -- but correct me if I'm wrong). But they have their reasons. I have a sheet ready with SB/CSs and also one with ROEs if people are interested. Update: Thanks to the coment below, I now realize that Fangraphs does include SB/CS in their wOBA figures, and have corrected the spreadsheet.

Fangraphs has added wOBA (weighted On-Base Average), one of the stats that improves on OPS by essentially weighing the relative value of on-base and slugging more accurately and scaling it to league average OBA (.335 is average, .400 is awesome, .300 is virtually replacement value). The link above explains the basics in more detail. The Fangraphs version of wOBA does incorporate SB/CS. The Royals last year were 25th in MLB with a team wOBA of .314. Mike Aviles led the Royals (100 PA min.) with a .360 wOBA, with only David DeJesus (.355) and Alex Gordon (.344) also above average.

Although the M's new GM has a reputation as a scouting guy (in his previous job, he was the guy largely responsible for drafting much of the Brewers' young talent), he's going to start a whole department for sabermetric stuff. Here's a particularly interesting line that caught my eye: "The Mariners have relied on freelance stats consultant Mat Olkin the past few seasons. Olkin was employed simultaneously by the Kansas City Royals last season and worked primarily out of his home office in Connecticut." That's right, the Royals shared a sabermetric consultant with the Mariners. No wonder they liked Yuniesky Betancourt so much!