Unlike the acquisition of Cliff Lee from Cleveland last summer, the Phillies won’t simply be renting Roy Oswalt.
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I recently released the Reina Value for the NBA, and I have also created a similar system for Major League Baseball.
The Reina Value is a valuation system which quickly determines how players are performing in relation to their contracts throughout the season.
While there is no salary cap in the MLB, making wise decisions on contracts remains imperative, especially for small market teams.
I created a ranking system called the ‘Floor Impact Counter’ for basketball and for baseball, it is renamed the ‘Field Impact Counter.’
There is never a be-all and end-all in any ranking system (particularly in considering intangibles like defense), but I believe the below formula (which is similar to what some use for fantasy baseball) is equally fair to both hitters and pitchers.
(10 Wins
+ 20 Shutout
+ 10 Save
+ Outs
+ Holds
+ Strikeouts
- 5 Loss
- 5 Blown Save
- .5 Hit
- ER
- .5 BB
- .5 HBP
(Divided by 3))
Below are the leading positional players and pitchers from 2000-2006, with their season FIC and per game FIC in parenthesis. Pitchers, especially starters of course, average a higher per game FIC than everyday players.
2006 Albert Pujols, 394 (2.75)
Johan Santana, 305 (8.96)
2005 Albert Pujols, 373 (2.31)
Chris Carpenter, 332 (10.07)
2004 Barry Bonds, 542 (3.69)
Randy Johnson, 323 (9.23)
2003 Barry Bonds, 405 (3.11)
Roy Halladay, 330 (9.15)
2002 Barry Bonds, 503 (3.51)
Randy Johnson, 401 (11.44)
2001 Barry Bonds, 516 (3.37)
Randy Johnson, 379 (10.83)
2000 Todd Helton, 449 (2.81)
Randy Johnson, 399 (11.41)
Historical Seasons
Babe Ruth ’27: 513 (3.40)
Lou Gehrig ’27: 504 (3.25)
Ted Williams ’41: 479 (3.35)
Joe DiMaggio ’41: 398 (2.87)
Mickey Mantle ’56: 409 (2.73)
Barry Bonds ’04: 542 (3.69)
Lefty Grove ’31: 413 (10.07)
Sandy Koufax ’65: 522 (12.15)
Bob Gibson ’68: 462 (13.58)
Dwight Gooden ’85: 432 (12.35)
Pedro Martinez ’99: 344 (11.08)
Randy Johnson ’01: 379 (10.83)
Career Totals
Babe Ruth: 6,886 (2.75)
Lou Gehrig: 5,939 (2.74)
Ted Williams: 6,139 (2.68)
Joe DiMaggio: 4,172 (2.40)
Barry Bonds: 7,090 (2.37)
Ty Cobb: 7,119 (3.35)
Albert Pujols: 2,449 (2.24)
Jimmie Foxx: 4,956 (2.14)
Alex Rodriguez: 3,481 (1.83)
Willie Mays: 5,282 (1.77)
Mickey Mantle: 4,222 (1.76)
Ken Griffey, Jr.: 3,913 (1.65)
Derek Jeter: 2,418 (1.32)
Pete Rose: 4,337 (1.22)
Randy Johnson: 5,105 (9.02)
Juan Marichal: 4,176 (8.87)
Bob Gibson: 4,658 (8.82)
Babe Ruth: 1,404 (8.61)
Roger Clemens: 6,098 (8.60)
Pedro Martinez: 3,590 (8.03)
Sandy Koufax: 3,155 (7.95)
Lefty Grove: 4,585 (7.44)
With some context given to the statistic used to rank players, here is the crux of what the Reina Value actually is:
Players are ranked from highest to lowest by the total FIC for the season, not per game, which I decided to do because players are only valuable when they are on the field.
Beside each player’s actual salary, we slide in raw salary figures, ranked top to bottom, which determines his ‘deserved’ salary.
The player who has the highest FIC receives the highest ‘deserved’ salary. The player with the second highest FIC receives the second highest salary. The player with the hundredth highest FIC receives the hundredth highest salary.
I then calculate the percentage increase or decrease from the actual and deserved, and that becomes the Reina Value.
In 2007, only five of the top-25 ranked FIC players also had a salary amongst the top-25 in all of baseball. Those players were Alex Rodriguez, David Ortiz, Vladimir Guerrero, Todd Helton, and Barry Bonds.
- Player, Season FIC (Reina Value)
Top-25 Of 2007 1. Alex Rodriguez, 399 (+3.2)
2. Magglio Ordonez, 340 (+72)
3. David Ortiz, 330 (+63)
4. Jimmy Rollins, 302 (+113)
5. Albert Pujols, 300 (+28)
6. Jake Peavy, 296 (+237)
7. Matt Holliday, 295 (+264)
8. C.C. Sabathia, 295 (+79)
9. Brandon Webb, 291 (+2,45)
10. David Wright, 285 (+1,140)
11. Prince Fielder, 285 (+3,514)
12. Chipper Jones, 281 (+20)
13. Vladimir Guerrero, 279 (+0)
14. Aaron Harang, 278 (+241)
15. John Lackey, 275 (+149)
16. Hanley Ramirez, 273 (+3,507)
17. Johan Santana, 266 (+8)
18. Carlos Pena, 262 (+1650)
19. Chase Utley, 261 (+193)
20. Todd Helton, 259 (-17)
21. Carlos Lee, 257 (+19)
22. Josh Beckett, 257 (+104)
23. Barry Bonds, 256 (-15)
24. Javier Vazquez, 253 (+6)
25. Dan Haren, 251 (+489)
David Wright ($1.25 million), Prince Fielder ($415k), Hanley Ramirez ($402k,) and Carlos Pena ($800k) were the biggest bargains in baseball. Wright played to a $15.5 million deal, Fielder to $15 million, Ramirez to $14.5 million, and Pena to $14 million.
Bartolo Colon only produced a season FIC of 80 despite his $16 million salary, and Jason Schmidt at $15.7 million was an even worse value due to his injury-plagued season and FIC of 15.
Alex Rodriguez was not the highest paid player in baseball in 2007 (that honor went to Jason Giambi and his $23.4 million salary) so he actually outperformed his contract by 3.2%.
Rodriguez is due to make approximately $27 million next season which will be the figure all players strive to 'deserve' next season, and we will be updating his and everyone else's Reina Value throughout 2008.
