from Amazon
Monday, August 08, 2011
WAR comparison
Good job by Dave. But I like his side note here:
We would not suggest that anyone look at 2011 WAR as a definitive ordered list of who the best players in the game are at this time – it’s not even trying to make that claim. It’s talking about past performance only, not what we expect going forward.
In fact, Buster’s criticism of WAR could be applied to any stat you want, traditional or advanced. If you interpret it literally, ERA currently says that Ryan Vogelsong is the best pitcher in the National League. That’s crazy, of course, but no one interprets single-season ERA that way. Single season batting average gives you Casey Kotchman as the third best hitter in baseball. It’s not just the advanced stats that produce results that “don’t pass the smell test”.