2007 VORP leaders

[dkgojackets]

By far the best measure of offensive value. Here you go for non-BP readers. For those who don't know, it's measured in runs contributed above a replacement player at that position and is an actual individual stat.

American League

1. 3B Alex Rodriguez, NYY 96.7
2. RF Magglio Ordonez, DET 87.8
3. DH David Ortiz, BOS 86.2
4. C Jorge Posada, NYY 73.4
5. 1B Carlos Pena, TB 68.6
6. CF Curtis Granderson, DET 67.2
7. CF Ichiro Suzuki, SEA 63.4
8. RF Vladimir Guerrero, LAA 62.6
9. C Victor Martinez, CLE 55.1
10. CF Grady Sizemore, CLE 53.7

National League

1. SS Hanley Ramirez, FLA 89.5
2. 3B David Wright, NYM 81.1
3. 3B Chipper Jones, ATL 76.0
4. LF Matt Holliday, COL 74.4
5. 1B Albert Pujols, STL 72.1
6. 3B Miguel Cabrera, FLA 71.4
7. 1B Prince Fielder, MIL 69.2
8. 2B Chase Utley, PHI 68.8
9. SS Jimmy Rollins, PHI 66.2
10. 3B Ryan Braun, MIL 57.2

http://www.baseballprospectus.com/statistics/sortable/index.php?cid=204031

In case you were wondering, Nick Punto was last at -27.1.

[TheLetterZ]

Re: 2007 VORP leaders

I'd have to agree that it's the best measure of offensive measure right now.

[Karlos05]

Re: 2007 VORP leaders

I think I'd take the replacement player over every Pirate

[bergie56]

Re: 2007 VORP leaders

Could someone please explain this stat to me? I haven't ever found a definition that I like.

[Sandman42]

Re: 2007 VORP leaders

Could someone please explain this stat to me? I haven't ever found a definition that I like.

DK explained it good in his first post. It measures how much runs a player is worth to his team over a replacement level player. A replacement level player being defined as a AAAA player, really just a fringe player in the major leagues.

So A-Rod produced 97 more runs than a AAAA type player would over the course of a season.

[EWRMETS]

Re: 2007 VORP leaders

I guess this proves that Wright, Hanley, or Holliday should be MVP over Rollins.

[dkgojackets]

Re: 2007 VORP leaders

DK explained it good in his first post. It measures how much runs a player is worth to his team over a replacement level player. A replacement level player being defined as a AAAA player, really just a fringe player in the major leagues.

So A-Rod produced 97 more runs than a AAAA type player would over the course of a season.

Pretty much. A replacement player is basically available talent, such as a player on waivers open for any team to take. The wikipedia entry does a good job explaining too:

"The currency of baseball is the out. There are a finite number of outs that a team can make in one game, and it is almost always 27 (or 3 outs/inning * 9 innings/game). A player consumes these outs to create runs, and at the simplest level, runs and outs are the only truly meaningful stats in baseball. Outs are calculated by simply taking at-bats and subtracting hits, then adding in various outs that don't count toward at-bats: caught stealing, sacrifices, etc. Runs may be estimated by one of many run-approximation methods: Bill James' runs created, Pete Palmer's linear weights, BaseRuns, etc.; Baseball Prospectus author Keith Woolner, who invented VORP, prefers to use Clay Davenport's Equivalent Runs in the calculation of VORP. Armed with runs and outs (for the player and that player's league), one can finally calculate VORP.

It should be noted at this point that critics of VORP take issue with where the formula's arbitrary "replacement level" is set. Many equations and methods exist for finding the replacement level, but most will set the level somewhere around 80% of the league average, in terms of runs per out. There are two exceptions to this, though: catchers, who shoulder a larger defensive responsibility than any other player in the lineup (and are therefore more scarce), have a replacement level at 75% of the league average. At the other end of the defensive spectrum, first basemen and designated hitters must produce at a level above 85% of the average to be considered better than "replacement level," since defense is not a big consideration at either position (it is not a consideration at all for the DH).

Therefore, to calculate VORP one must multiply the league's average runs per out by the player's total outs; this provides the number of runs an average player would have produced given that certain number of outs to work with. Now multiply that number (of runs) by .8, or whatever percentage of average the replacement level is designated to be; the result is the number of runs you could expect a "replacement player" to put up with that number of outs. Simply subtract the replacement's runs created from the player's actual runs created, and the result is VORP. This is not the final adjustment, however: while the replacement's run total will be park-neutral (by definition, because replacement numbers are derived from league averages), the player's raw numbers won't be. Before calculating the VORP, the individual player stats must be normalized via park factors to eliminate the distortions that can be created by each ballpark, especially extreme parks like Coors Field in Denver (where the thin high-altitude air allows baseballs to travel further than at sea level) and Petco Park in San Diego (where the heavier sea air couples with distant fences to suppress run-scoring). After the final adjustment, the resultant VORP may be used to estimate how "valuable" the player in question is by providing a good picture of that player's marginal utility."

[Brandon13]

Re: 2007 VORP leaders

I guess this proves that Wright, Hanley, or Holliday should be MVP over Rollins.

Chipper's number is pretty impressive too when you consider he missed 28 games.

[CMH]

Re: 2007 VORP leaders

VORP is great.

It's even better when weighted against like position players.

In other words, Alex Rodriguez is that much better than any other player in the American League based purely on the fact that no other 3B put up anything close to him.

Magglio Ordonez (not to take away his fine season) plays the outfield which by nature creates more powerful players than any other position not named 1B. So to weigh him against ARod would be both unfair and illogical.

Then you take 3B in the NL and you can see how much better 3B in the NL are compared to the AL.

Actually, just from looking at the NL VORP I can immediately defend my decision for Matt Holliday as the NL MVP because he is the only LF in the Top 10. Whereas, David Wright's value can be more easily replaced by another 3B.

[bergie56]

Re: 2007 VORP leaders

Pretty much. A replacement player is basically available talent, such as a player on waivers open for any team to take. The wikipedia entry does a good job explaining too:

"The currency of baseball is the out. There are a finite number of outs that a team can make in one game, and it is almost always 27 (or 3 outs/inning * 9 innings/game). A player consumes these outs to create runs, and at the simplest level, runs and outs are the only truly meaningful stats in baseball. Outs are calculated by simply taking at-bats and subtracting hits, then adding in various outs that don't count toward at-bats: caught stealing, sacrifices, etc. Runs may be estimated by one of many run-approximation methods: Bill James' runs created, Pete Palmer's linear weights, BaseRuns, etc.; Baseball Prospectus author Keith Woolner, who invented VORP, prefers to use Clay Davenport's Equivalent Runs in the calculation of VORP. Armed with runs and outs (for the player and that player's league), one can finally calculate VORP.

It should be noted at this point that critics of VORP take issue with where the formula's arbitrary "replacement level" is set. Many equations and methods exist for finding the replacement level, but most will set the level somewhere around 80% of the league average, in terms of runs per out. There are two exceptions to this, though: catchers, who shoulder a larger defensive responsibility than any other player in the lineup (and are therefore more scarce), have a replacement level at 75% of the league average. At the other end of the defensive spectrum, first basemen and designated hitters must produce at a level above 85% of the average to be considered better than "replacement level," since defense is not a big consideration at either position (it is not a consideration at all for the DH).

Therefore, to calculate VORP one must multiply the league's average runs per out by the player's total outs; this provides the number of runs an average player would have produced given that certain number of outs to work with. Now multiply that number (of runs) by .8, or whatever percentage of average the replacement level is designated to be; the result is the number of runs you could expect a "replacement player" to put up with that number of outs. Simply subtract the replacement's runs created from the player's actual runs created, and the result is VORP. This is not the final adjustment, however: while the replacement's run total will be park-neutral (by definition, because replacement numbers are derived from league averages), the player's raw numbers won't be. Before calculating the VORP, the individual player stats must be normalized via park factors to eliminate the distortions that can be created by each ballpark, especially extreme parks like Coors Field in Denver (where the thin high-altitude air allows baseballs to travel further than at sea level) and Petco Park in San Diego (where the heavier sea air couples with distant fences to suppress run-scoring). After the final adjustment, the resultant VORP may be used to estimate how "valuable" the player in question is by providing a good picture of that player's marginal utility."

Thank you for this and thank you Sandman for your explanation. I need to read more about the newer stat categories.