Roughly two days after CC Sabathia agreed to terms on a monstrous contract, A.J. Burnett swooped in and received a huge payday from the recession-proof Yankees.
The Angels and Red Sox will score a lot of runs, while the absence of a dominant starter for the White Sox could be the difference.
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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 and has been widely discussed, RBIs are a difficult number to quantify although less so in a team context.
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 September 4th's games
American League Team Leaders In HOR
- (HOR, FIC rank amongst all hitters)
Angels: Vladimir Guerrero (10.6%, 51st)
Athletics: Jack Cust (11.2%, 214th)
Blue Jays: Alex Rios (12.1%, 79th)
Indians: Grady Sizemore (12.6%, 8th)
Mariners: Raul Ibanez (14.8% 28th)
Orioles: Aubrey Huff (13.2%, 9th)
Rangers: Josh Hamilton (13.5%, 13th)
Rays: Carlos Pena (11.7%, 74th)
Royals: Jose Guillen (12.3%, 84th)
Red Sox: Dustin Pedroia (12.7%, 3rd)
Tigers: Miguel Cabrera (12.6%, 86th)
Twins: Justin Morneau (13.7%, 11th)
White Sox: Carlos Quentin (14.0%, 4th)
Yankees: Alex Rodriguez (13.7%, 14th)
National League Team Leaders In HOR Astros: Lance Berkman (15.9%, 2nd)
Braves: Mark Teixeira (10.9%, 5th)
Brewers: Ryan Braun (13.0%, 38th)
Cardinals: Ryan Ludwick (14.2%, 25th)
Cubs: Aramis Ramirez (12.3%, 26th)
Diamondbacks: Mark Reynolds (13.7%, 218th)
Dodgers: Matt Kemp (12.8%, 118th)
Giants: Randy Winn (12.2%, 48th)
Marlins: Hanley Ramirez (12.9%, 21st)
Mets: David Wright (14.6%, 12th)
Nationals: Cristian Guzman (10.5%, 127th)
Padres: Adrian Gonazlez (16.4%, 58th)
Phillies: Ryan Howard (14.9%, 108th)
Pirates: Nate McLouth (13.7%, 17th)
Reds: Brandon Phillips (12.6%, 73rd)
Rockies: Matt Holliday (13.4%, 6th)
Overall AL HOR Leaders 1. Ibanez (14.8%)
2. Quentin (14.0%)
3. Morneau (13.7%)
4. Rodriguez (13.7%)
5. Hamilton (13.5%)
While washing the dishes one early morning this week I was bombarded with a lengthy video montage of Dustin Pedroia and his MVP candidacy on Sports Center, and as much as I’d like to say he is a product of ESPN, Fenway and the Red Sox Nation, he really isn’t.
He is third among all batters in season FIC with 253, narrowly ahead of Carlos Quentin’s 249 who is likely out for the season now, making Pedroia's MVP chase almost a near certainty.
Though he is hitting .341/.389/.507 at Fenway Park and .320/.363/.487 on the road, 10 of his 16 homers have come while out of Boston.
Derek Jeter was an MVP candidate in 2006 in a similar fashion as Pedroia, but he finished 3rd in season FIC with 264, ahead of eventual winner Justin Morneau, but trailing David Ortiz and Travis Hafner.
Overall NL HOR Leaders 1. Gonzalez (16.4%)
2. Berkman (15.9%)
3. Howard (14.9%)
4. Wright (14.6%)
5. Ludwick (14.2%)
Pujols is first in all of baseball in season FIC (309) but he ranks just 12th amongst NL batters in this category and teammate Ryan Ludwick is fifth in NL and leading the Cardinals.
Unless David Wright goes on an insane streak over the final weeks of the season, Pujols remains an easy choice for NL MVP. He has been the most productive hitter in baseball and despite ungodly consistent numbers, he has only won one MVP, finishing second to Barry Bonds in 2002 and 2003 and behind Ryan Howard in 2006.
- Christopher Reina is the executive editor of RealGM and the creator of the Reina Value. He may be reached at Chris.Reina@RealGM.com.
