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Who Has Been Most Valuable To His Team In 2008?
Authored by Christopher Reina - 6th May, 2008 - 3:16 pm
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I like to keep track of a simple to understand statistic that is supremely indicative of how much weight a player carries within the framework of his offense.

There are two hands involved with every run scored; one from the runner scoring and one from the batter who drives in the run. When a player hits a home run, he has two hands on the run.

In order to calculate the percentage of runs a player has a hand in, I add the run total with the RBI total, then divide by the amount of runs their team has scored, and finally divide by two in order to get a percentage. Because there are many times throughout a season when a player scores a run without another player receiving credit for an RBI (ex: errors), the percentage is a little bit short, but it is extremely close.

This is a factor that should be heavily considered when the MVP voting is conducted, but it certainly is not an end all. Defensive impact among a host of other factors are not included here, but this stat is a very good gauge in determining who the real candidates are and also breaking ties since the true value of a player to his team is apparent.

I also modified this statistic for basketball which was renamed Hands on Buckets. According to this statistical formula, Chris Paul had a truly legendary impact on his club's offense during the 07-08 season.

* All numbers through Monday's games

American League Team Leaders In HOR

Angels: Torii Hunter, Casey Kotchman, Gary Matthews (11.6%)
Athletics: Emil Brown (14.6%)
Blue Jays: Vernon Wells (14.9%)
Indians: Casey Blake (12.5%)
Mariners: Raul Ibanez (14.3%)
Orioles: Aubrey Huff (14.0%)
Rangers: Josh Hamilton (16.8%)
Rays: Carl Crawford (15.3%)
Royals: Alex Gordon (13.6%)
Red Sox: David Ortiz (13.7%)
Tigers: Magglio Ordonez (13.4%)
Twins: Justin Morneau (15.7%)
White Sox: Carlos Quentin (15.8%)
Yankees: Johnny Damon (13.2%)

National League Team Leaders In HOR

Astros: Lance Berkman (20.1%)
Braves: Chipper Jones (15.9%)
Brewers: Rickie Weeks (13.0%)
Cardinals: Albert Pujols (14.0%)
Cubs: Derrek Lee (13.5%)
Diamondbacks: Conor Jackson (14.2%)
Dodgers: Rafael Furcal (14.5%)
Giants: Bengie Molina (13.2%)
Marlins: Hanley Ramirez (15.5%)
Mets: Ryan Church (16.5%)
Nationals: Cristian Guzman (13.6%)
Padres: Adrian Gonzalez (19.4%)
Phillies: Chase Utley (17.4%)
Pirates: Nate McLouth (17.5%)
Reds: Edwin Encarnacion, Brandon Phillips (12.0%)
Rockies: Matt Holliday, Garrett Atkins (14.4%)

Overall NL HOR Leaders

1. Berkman (20.1%)
2. Gonzalez (19.4%)
3. McLouth (17.5%)
4. Utley (17.4%)
5. Church (16.5%)

The Phillies are in first place in the NL East and since Utley carries 17.4% of their potent offense, he is also ranked first overall in FIC rankings. Utley is my National League Most Valuable Player at this point in the season with Pujols and Chipper a close second and third.

Overall AL HOR Leaders

1. Hamilton (16.8%)
2. Quentin (15.8%)
3. Morneau (15.7%)
4. Crawford (15.3%)
5. Wells (14.9%)

There really isn't a clear-cut offensive MVP in the AL at this stage of the season. Jacoby Ellsbury is the offensive FIC leader but is 16th overall and is fourth on his own team in HOR. Quentin, Kevin Youkilis, and Damon are the only other three AL positional players currently in the FIC top-30, which means the eventual winner of this award has probably yet to present himself as a viable candidate.

- Christopher Reina is the executive editor of RealGM and the creator of the Reina Value. He may be reached at Chris.Reina@RealGM.com.
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