The Hands on Runs statistic determines how much weight an individual player carries in his line-up. Which players were most valuable to their team now that the 2008 season is over?
There will definitely be no A-Rod World Series opt out announcement and it is unlikely that a near $100M deal will be hashed out at a fast food restaurant, but the free agent class for 2009 contains a whole host of current All-Stars, former All-Stars, salvage cases and at least one future Hall of Famer.
The story of Albert Belle can be summed up in one word: controversy. His talent on the field was matched by very few, and his propensity to deal with the media the way he did, made national headlines.
RealGM Search
By Christopher Reina
At RealGM, we use the Field Impact Counter (FIC) to objectively measure how effectively teams are performing. We combine the position players and pitchers' FIC scores to measure which teams played the best in 2008.
Team: FIC Per Game Total (FIC Position Players/FIC Pitchers)
1. Boston Red Sox: 19.6 (9.3, 10.2)
The Red Sox shutout their opponent 16 times, which led the entire MLB.
2. Chicago Cubs: 18.9 (8.4, 10.5)
The Cubs had an OPS of over .800 at six out of their eight positions, with shortstop and right field dragging behind at .744 and .731.
3. New York Mets: 18.2 (8.3, 9.9)
It felt like the Mets led the MLB in blown saves, but they were actually third with 29 and were 22nd in save percentage.
4. Philadelphia Phillies: 18.2 (8.1, 10.1)
Phillies’ relievers had a 3.19 ERA for the season, compared to 4.25 for the Mets. It actually is somewhat of a wonder how the Phillies didn’t win the NL East by more than three games.
5. New York Yankees: 17.7 (7.9, 9.8)
The Yankees scored double-digit runs 14 different times, which inflated their run total a little bit. The offense still disappears too frequently, and they were either shutout or scored one run in 22 games.
6. Chicago White Sox: 17.6 (7.9, 9.6)
Even though homers were down, the White Sox hit 235 which puts them not a whole ways off the top teams during the height of the PED era.
7. Tampa Bay Rays: 17.6 (6.9, 10.7)
The Rays were 29-18 in one-run games thanks to consistent pitching up and down their staff.
8. Los Angeles Angels: 17.5 (6.9, 10.6)
Good teams find ways to win, but the Angels were not a classic 100 win team and were supposed to only win 88 games, if you believe in Pythagorean records.
9. St. Louis Cardinals: 17.3 (8.1, 9.2)
With an MLB-worst 31 blown saves, the Cardinals missed the playoffs for two consecutive seasons for the first time since 1999.
10. Minnesota Twins: 17.2 (7.7, 9.4)
The Twins dealt away a future Hall of Fame starting pitcher in Johan Santana and an up and comer in Matt Garza, but as a unit their starters had a 4.32 ERA (15th in the MLB) and three of them had an ERA under 4.00 and another at 4.05. Minnesota starters were 6th in the MLB in quality starts with 86.
11. Texas Rangers: 17.1 (9.0, 8.2)
The Rangers had the best OPS in baseball with a mark of .816, but finished 21 games behind the Angels- the first time since the 2001 Rockies in which the best hitting team has missed the playoffs
12. Toronto Blue Jays: 16.8 (6.4, 10.4)
The Blue Jays led the MLB in ERA with a 3.49 mark, but didn’t make the postseason, the first time a team has completed that feat (Padres had one-game playoff last season), since the 2003 Dodgers and their 3.16 ERA.
13. Milwaukee Brewers: 16.4 (6.3, 10.1)
Even though they still might be bitter towards official scorer Bob Webb and his call that put CC Sabathia’s one-hitter into doubt, the Brewers were 14-1 against the Pirates.
14. Detroit Tigers: 16.0 (7.8, 8.2)
I really didn’t see Detroit’s underachieving 2008 coming at all. Dontrelle Willis and Jeremy Bonderman didn’t combine for 100 innings; Justin Verlander had a 4.84 ERA; and the dearth of lefties in the lineup resulted in a .722 OPS against right handed pitchers, which was 25th in baseball.
15. Cleveland Indians: 15.8 (6.9, 8.9)
Despite their horrible start to 2008, they went 34-21 in August and September while finishing just 7.5 (essentially 7) games behind the White Sox. They were a couple of wins better than that right off the top, and it begs the question of what would have happened had they stuck it out with CC Sabathia.
16. Los Angeles Dodgers: 15.7 (5.8, 10.0)
The Dodgers still need to get more extra base hits, as they slugged .399 on the season, although they had marks of .442 and .443 in August and September respectively.
17. Houston Astros: 15.7 (6.0, 9.7)
The Astros stole a healthy 114 bases but were thrown out 52 times, which was the highest total in 2008.
18. Atlanta Braves: 15.5 (6.9, 8.6)
For the first time since 1990 and quite a few top marks along the way, the Braves were 12th in the NL in ERA.
19. Baltimore Orioles: 15.4 (7.6, 7.7)
The Orioles were 46-48 through the break, but won just 22 of their final 67 games, including a 5-for-25 stretch in September.
20. Colorado Rockies: 14.8 (6.3, 8.6)
The Rockies were 10-14 in September in 2008 following a record of 21-8 in September/October.
21. Florida Marlins: 14.6 (5.3, 9.3)
Florida’s September nine-game winning streak did a lot to pad their final record, but things look froming due to a nice youg starting staff of Chris Volstad, Josh Johnson, Ricky Nolasco and Scott Olsen.
22. Arizona Diamondbacks: 14.5 (4.8, 9.7)
The D-Backs led all teams in quality starts with 95.
23. Cincinnati Reds: 14.4 (5.4, 9.0)
With Adam Dunn and Ken Griffey now gone, the Jay Bruce and Joey Votto era can fully get underway.
24. Pittsburgh Pirates: 13.9 (5.9, 8.0)
The Pirates had their best collection of outfielders since Bonds, Van Slyke and Bonilla in Jason Bay, Xavier Nady and Nate McLouth, but they dealt away the first two with very little to show for it.
25. Kansas City Royals: 13.8 (4.7, 9.1)
The Royals had 44 saves (42 for Joakim Soria) but just 75 wins. Not surprisingly, they were 20-18 in one-run games.
26. San Francisco Giants: 13.3 (4.0, 9.2)
The Giants hit just 94 homers, which was the first time a team had fewer than 100 in a non-strike season since the 1993 Marlins when they hit 94 in their inaugural season.
Barry Bonds hit 73 in 2001 and the Giants hit 235 as a team, which was second behind the Rangers.
27. Seattle Mariners: 13.1 (5.2, 7.9)
Encouraged by an unexpected 88-74 finish in 2007, the Mariners expensively added Erik Bedard at the cost of five players and Carlos Silva at the cost of $48 million over four seasons, but both were big busts and they had the second worst record in baseball.
28. Oakland Athletics: 12.3 (3.3, 9.0)
The A’s weren’t expecting to compete and eagerly began rebuilding last offseason, but were 51-42 on July 11th and just four games behind the Angels. But they soon traded away Rich Harden and Joe Blanton and subsequently struggled from there with a 24-46 record.
29. Washington Nationals: 11.7 (3.7, 7.9)
Despite a brand new park, the Nationals were 13th in the NL in attendance with 2.32 million.
30. San Diego Padres: 11.6 (3.2, 8.4)
The Padres were shutout 13 times and were 16-28 in one-run games.
