Diamond Mine

SO...

For the 2006 Season, I've completed the offensive and Defensive ratings for MLB players. This year, I've been able to integrate the offensive AND defensive ratings so that both work together to give a better "overall" rating. In order to do this, the process had to be changed to account for a player's offensive and defensive contributions relative to that player's position...


Here we have Travis Hafner form 2006

The 1st column indicates the year for Data basing purposes. The next column is the player's Lahman ID number also for database purposes. Then we have the First and Last name of the Player. Now we get to the stuff that matters.

POS:
This is the position code for a given player. The position code generally follows the basic numbers used when scoring a baseball game.

2: Catcher
3: 1st Base
4: 2nd Base
5: 3rd Base
6: Shortstop
7: Left Field
8: Center Field
9: Right Field

Since many players player more then just one position, it made sense to define some of the other players by the roles they played rather than the specific position they played the most if they didn't play that position as much as the players that ALWAYS play in a particular position. For Instance, It doesn't make sense to compare Eric Hinske to other players that almost exclusively played LF for their team since Eric Hinske played in different outfields and also played at 3rd, and 1st. We're going to asses Hinske's defensive value by comparing him to other players that served a similar role for their teams in 2006 instead of comparing him to someone like Manny Ramirez or Barry Bonds who almost ALWAYS plays in left or doesn't play the field at all.

0: DH or Utility player.
Players that have a "0" for their position code are DH's (like Frank Thomas), full time pinch hitters, or utility players that played the field in so many different positions that they can't be rated accurately at any of them (like Ryan Freel).

13: Other First Basemen
Players with 13's are players that normally play 1st base, but generally have enough fielding ability to log a relatively significant amount of playing time at other positions such as RF, or 3rd. Eric Hinske is pretty much the poster child for this position code.

14: Middle Infielders
These are players that play on a regular basis but do not solely play 2nd base or Short. If the A's didn't always have an injury problem up the middle, Marco Scutaro would register as a prototypical middle infielder instead of a regular 2nd basemen. Middle Infielders, as defined by this position code tend to be more 2nd base oriented. Many players that can handle Short and second are often made into utility men and are made to play 3rd and sometimes even outfield. This group of players contains more pure middle infielders along the lines of a Mike Gallego rather than a Mark Mclemore.

15: Other 3rd Basemen

15's are mostly natural 3rd basemen that lack the athleticism to get it done in the outfield but can usually fill in at 1st.

17: Other outfielders

This group consists mostly of corner outfielders that neither excels nor disappoints in either left or right. Players like these usually have average arms, because if they had an obviously weaker arm, they'd play much more left field (like Barry Bonds) and if they had a stronger arm, they might get more regular time in right field. Most of these players can play a little center on an "as needed" basis, but Center fielders aren't as interchangeable as the corner fielders are.


Offensive categories:
CON: I've made a change to the way I calculated this stat. As it turns out, batting average isn't all that bad when evaluating a player's ability to hit for contact.
POW: Power represents a player's ability to hit the ball a long way. It still is a variation of the Linear weighted power Index.
EYE: A hitter's "eye" is his ability to pick and choose the right pitches to take or swing at. Note, that players with good BB/K ratios are necessarily "selective" hitters. Vlad usually has a good BB/K ratio because he's just such a good hitter that he can hit many different pitches in many different parts of the strike zone (sometimes not even in the strike zone) with success.
SPD: Still a really complicated formula but it's a variation of Bill Jame's speed score.

Defensive categories:
Note: many of the defensive ratings used here have major flaws due to the primitive metrics used to measure defense in baseball. I believe that using these metrics actually can tell you a great deal about a player's defensive abilities when you compare these numbers in the context of players that were responsible for similar roles. Doing this cancels out some of the inherent problems with these metrics.
GLV: This rating is determined by a player's fielding percentage. Fielding percentage is generally a good indicator of sure handedness. If a player with a good fielding percentage gets to a ball in play, he'll probably record an out successfully.
ARM: "Arm" is determined by how often a player uses his arm to record out by way of assists.
RNG: Revised Zone Rating as provided by the Hardball times Website. Players with a score of 50 or more get to balls that the average player wouldn't and the opposite is true of players with a score of less than 50.

Now it gets a bit more complicated...
As a rule, shortstops don't hit as well as Right fielders. That is because short stop's defensive responsibilities take precedent over offensive production. What happens if you have a shortstop on you team that DOES hit like an outfielder? His value is magnified since your team has a competitive advantage over the competition. The "OR+" and "DR+" columns calculate the difference, either positive or negative, between that players skills and an average player. A player that hit's above average gets extra credit for it doing so. Players that hit above average while playing defensive positions that are more challenging, are given a higher rating since they are more valuable. the adjustments are made based on the difficulty of the position. Player’s are also given credit for above average performance defensively. The more "defensive" the position, the more important it is to be a good fielder.

OVR
This is the player’s overall rating. This rating takes into consideration a player’s position. So, a player with a 100 overall rating as a DH represents something different than a 3rd Basemen with an overall rating of 87. Take in to consideration, that a 3rd basemen with a rating of 87 could be more rare than a DH with a similar rating. As with anything in baseball, it’s relative to a team’s need or what particular skill you are evaluating.