3 questions about Carlos Pena

by Rays4242 on Dec 26, 2008 6:01 PM EST

Ok I dont know if this is worthy of a fanpost, so I apologize if it isn't

1) I guess the first question is more about the statistic known as Range Factor. I was reading Carlos Pena's Wikipedia entry and stumbled upon this..."In 2007, he had the lowest range factor of all AL league first basemen, 8.73."...so seeing how I dont know much about Range Factor as a measuring stick, but I do know that Carlos Pena is highly athletic for a 1B and has atleast better than average lateral movement at the position, I searched the exact definition of Range Factor. I found this..."It is calculated by dividing putouts and assists by number of innings or games played at a given defense position...some positions (especially first baseman) may have substantially more putouts because of a superior infield around them, that commits fewer errors and turns many double plays, allowing them to receive credit for more putouts."

So I guess my question is, was Carlos Pena's Range Factor negatively effected by the worst defensive infield in baseball that year, or is something else wrong with Range Factor as a statistic to accurately judge someones defensive skills? I dont want to discard that stats relevance, but I was shocked when I read that about Carlos Pena

2) Would Carlos Pena's 2007 season have earned him the MVP award over Dustin Pedroia in 2008? Pena hit .282 46 HR 121 RBI had a .411 OBP and a .627 SLG % to go along with 103 walks and great defense. He only had 490 ABs in about 135 games started and couldve reasonably hit 50 HR with 140 RBI over a full year

Pedroia had 110 more plate appearances in 2008 than Pena had in 2007. He hit .326 17 HR 83 RBI had a .376 OBP and a .493 SLG % to go along with 50 walks and great defense

3. Should Carlos Pena be invited to the World Baseball Classic to back up Albert Pujols for the DR?

This post was written by a member of the DRaysBay community and does not necessarily express the views or opinions of DRaysBay staff.

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I shouldve said this about question #2

The reason for posing the question is to ask whether the Rays success as a team in 2008, to go along with those exact same numebrs, could have won Pena that individual accomplishment as league MVP

by Rays4242 on Dec 26, 2008 6:07 PM EST reply actions

.

1. Range Factor is an awful statistic. It doesn’t tell you anything about the player’s range or defensive abilities. Pena’s UZR had him worth ~3 runs above the average first baseman in 2007. Pena was easily the best defender on that team’s infield.

2. Depends on whether the voters take positional adjustments into the equation. If so, no. If not, maybe.

by R.J. Anderson on Dec 26, 2008 6:07 PM EST reply actions

Even factoring position I've got 2007 Pena as more valuable than 2008 Mauer, Sizemore and Pedroia.

Which is quite frankly not at all what I was expecting but there you go.

by Aaron Campeau on Dec 26, 2008 11:38 PM EST up reply actions

Huh, didn't see that coming either.

by R.J. Anderson on Dec 26, 2008 11:48 PM EST up reply actions

According to the AC Labs spreadsheet:

07 Pena-5.9 WAR
08 Mauer-5.61 WAR
08 Sizemore-5.25 WAR
08 Pedroia-5.1 WAR

I still take Sizemore six days a week and twice on Sundays, but damn.

by Aaron Campeau on Dec 27, 2008 12:05 AM EST up reply actions

Yes on MVP

I’d imagine Pena would have ran away with it.

by tallyray on Dec 26, 2008 8:40 PM EST reply actions

Carlos should've been MVP

by Penaholic on Dec 26, 2008 10:16 PM EST reply actions

Range factor is completely useless for 1B

Range factor is just putouts + assists. Each out at 1B counts as a putout. Thus, for a 1B, range factor just measures whether a lot of balls get stopped in the infield. Since we had mostly flyball pitchers and crappy infield defenders that year, of course he had a low range factor. It doesn’t really mean anything though.

Vogt early, Vogt often.

by Brickhaus on Dec 26, 2008 10:42 PM EST reply actions

On #2

I think he would have been a mortal lock for MVP. Team that comes out of nowhere like that, the dominant player almost always ends up winning MVP.

Vogt early, Vogt often.

by Brickhaus on Dec 26, 2008 10:44 PM EST up reply actions

Thanks for clearing everything up about Range Factor

I found that weird that Pena would be last in any defensive category, but I guess considering what RF is made up of it makes sense he would be that low.

As far as the MVP question, if the Rays had the same team success as they had in 2008, a year earlier in 2007, does anyone think Pena’s 2007 season would’ve had a fighting chance to win the award over A-Rod’s 2007 season?

Pena- .282/.411/.627 46 HR 121 RBI 593 plate appearances — great defense

A-Rod- .314/.422/..645 54 HR 156 RBI 678 plate appearances — great defense at a more important position

This would be assuming the Rays win 97 games + Division title

Yankees win 94 games – 2nd place finish

I dont think Pena has a chance there, but vs Pedroia’s 2008 along with the Rays 2008 succes he wouldve won

by Rays4242 on Dec 26, 2008 11:58 PM EST up reply actions