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Click here for more information about the Field Impact Counter and the Reina Value. *Through Monday's games Team: FIC Total (FIC Position Players/FIC Pitchers) 1. Milwaukee Brewers: 27.47 (13.33/14.14) Playing three games against the Giants will help any club's ERA (3.17). They have very nice balance of young (Manny Parra/Ryan Braun) and old (Ben Sheets/Jason Kendall for now). 2. Chicago White Sox: 23.98 (12.91/11.07) The White Sox were a (very) darkhorse pick in the AL Central and nearly their entire lineup is on fire to start the season, including Joe Crede. The influence of Nick Swisher and Orlando Cabrera both on and off the field has already been remarkable for a team that was lifeless (figuratively and literally) at the plate last season. 3. Baltimore Orioles: 23.28 (10.98/12.31) Luke Scott, who was part of the Miguel Tejada trade, has been tremendous, posting a /526/.609/.842 in 19 at bats to begin 2008. 4. Arizona Diamondbacks: 21.86 (10.12/11.74) The Diamondbacks have hit 16 homers (one in every 15.4 at bats) and lead the MLB in slugging with .498. They also have a league-low 2.18 ERA. 5. Chicago Cubs: 20.29 (8.76/11.52) Kosuke Fukudome ranks second in the NL in batting (.458), third in OPS (1.289) and first in OBP (.581). 6. Atlanta Braves: 19.49 (10.04/9.46) Tom Glavine has a 0.79 ERA but no decisions in his two starts back with Atlanta. 7. New York Mets: 19.44 (11.03/8.41) Even though the Mets have looked very vulnerable, Carlos Delgado's .440/.565 is an extremely promising sign. 8. St. Louis Cardinals: 19.40 (6.74/12.67) Rick Ankiel has three homers in 27 at bats, slugging .704, but Dave Duncan's piecemeal pitching staff has done exceptionally well, especially Todd Wellemeyer (9.75 K/9) and Kyle Lohse has worked 12 scoreless innings. 9. Toronto Blue Jays: 18.54 (6.96/11.58) The Blue Jays swept the Red Sox over the weekend, outscoring their division rivals 23-9. Alex Rios has been celebrating the extension by posting a 1.046 OPS. 10. Pittsburgh Pirates: 18.48 (10.00/8.48) When did Nate McLouth (.472/.735), Xavier Nady (.457/.742) and Ryan Doumit (.480/.625) become Three River's murderer's row? 11. Cincinnati Reds: 17.07 (6.14/10.93) Who would have thought the Reds' pitchers would be striking out nearly one man per inning (62 in 63.0 innings)? Johnny Cueto's 10 K's in seven innings certainly helps that ratio tremendously. 12. Los Angeles Angels: 16.91 (7.16/9.75) Torii Hunter's walk-off grand slam on Monday was his fourth homer of the season (second of the game). The Del Taco free agent acquisition is slugging .727 for the Halos. 13. Texas Rangers: 16.59 (8.64/7.94) David Murphy, not Josh Hamilton, has been the surprising outfielder for the Rangers, hitting 1.044. 14. Kansas City Royals: 16.32 (4.13/12.19) The Royals are third in the MLB in ERA (2.67) and both Mark Grudzielanek and Billy Butler have an OPS above .900. 15. San Diego Padres: 15.70 (5.41/10.29) As will likely be the case throughout the season, the Padres lead the MLB with seven quality starts. 16. Philadelphia Phillies: 15.66 (7.96/7.70) Pat Burrell, longtime foil on Philadelphia sportstalk radio, has a 1.363 OPS. 17. Tampa Bay Rays: 14.99 (6.54/8.44) The Rays' offense has been extremely anemic with Carlos Pena and B.J. Upton leading their regulars with a .227 batting average. 18. Washington Nationals: 13.71 (6/49/7.22) The Nationals lead the MLB in doubles (19), but haven't won since beginning the season 3-0. 19. New York Yankees: 12.97 (1.90/11.07) The Yankees are 26th in runs, but their pitching has kept them close against divisional foes Toronto and Tampa Bay. 20. Houston Astros: 12.70 (5.33/7.38) The big three of Carlos Lee, Lance Berkman and Miguel Tejada has been solid for manager Cecil Cooper. 21. Seattle Mariners: 12.67 (5.14/7.53) The Mariners offense (hitting .225) has made the Texas and Baltimore pitching staffs look far too good. 22. Oakland Athletics: 12.41 (2.96/9.45) Joe Blanton and Rich Harden have been good, but that lineup (.634 OPS) is even worse than expected. 23. Florida Marlins: 11.72 (3.27/8.45) The Marlins are still waiting for their first quality start, as their staff has yielded a .325 average. 24. Cleveland Indians: 11.00 (3.15/7.85) C.C. Sabathia has been all too hittable in his two starts this season. 25. Los Angeles Dodgers: 10.93 (1.17/9.76) Joe Torre is already giving Juan Pierre too many at bats at the expense of Matt Kemp. 26. Boston Red Sox: 10.37 (1.14/9.24) Along with the Tigers, who would have thought the Red Sox would be this far down the list? David Ortiz's .479 OPS is very concerning to their repeat chances. 27. Minnesota Twins: 10.29 (1.43/8.85) The Twins have hit into 13 double plays already in 2008, but Carlos Gomze looks like he'll be an excellent leadoff hitter for many years to come. 28. Detroit Tigers: 5.20 (0.39/4.81) Their individual OPS totals, outside of Carlos Guillen and Brandon Inge, have been horrible. Magglio Ordonez: .571 Miguel Cabrera: .555 Edgar Renteria: .440 Ivan Rodriguez: .400 Placido Polanco: .274 29. Colorado Rockies: 4.03 (-3.59/7.62) Troy Tulowitzki and Garrett Atkins have been a disappointing left side of the Rockies' infield, posting OPS numbers of .557 and .655 respectively 30. San Francisco Giants: 2.38 (-3.13/5.50) The Giants have a league-worst .573 OPS, only Aaron Rowand and Eugenio Velez are over .800 (.889 and .833 respectively). Their staff, meanwhile, is allowing a .325 average. - Christopher Reina is the executive editor of RealGM and the creator of the Reina Value. |
At RealGM, we use the Field Impact Counter (FIC) to objectively measure how effective teams are performing. We combine the position players and pitchers FIC scores to measure which teams have played the best so far in 2008.