Consensus is King

Wednesday, February 18 2004 @ 11:57 AM EST

Contributed by: robertdudek

When it comes to fielding metrics, there seem to be more and more on the market these days. The Raindrops is a Mets-focused blog. The author takes a look at various defensive metrics, using new Mets centrefielder Mike Cameron, and attempts to integrate them (and express the results in runs saved/cost versus average).

On the whole, he does a very good job. There are a few caveats to heed when you read through the article:

1) Win Shares is not based on play-by-play data; the others (to my knowledge) are. Ideally, another pbp metric would be substituted. Diamond Mind ratings are among the best out there and I think there's some kind of chart somewhere that can convert the grades (Excellent to Poor) to a runs scale.

2) It's a little unclear if the numbers given are related to range, or overall defence. UZR evaluates range and throwing separately, while Win Shares integrates them. David Pinto's system, judging by the name, concentrates on range. It's not clear whether throwing is or is not included in UZR data quoted.

3) The Win Shares adjustment compares Cameron to an average outfielder, but centrefielders in general get more win shares than corner outfielders.

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