Carl Crawford = Manny Ramirez

by R.J. Anderson on Dec 6, 2008 10:12 AM EST

Here are Crawford's and Ramirez's runs projections for 2009:

Manny Ramirez: +30 batting, -7.5 adjustment, +20 replacement, -15 defense
Carl Crawford: + 3 batting, -7.5 adjustment, +20 replacement, +10 defense

Put together, this puts Ramirez at +27.5 runs and Crawford at +25.5 runs. Converted to wins, that is a mere 2.75 to 2.55 advantage for ManRam, and that isn't even including baserunning metrics such as BP's equivalent baserunning runs. Now, if I were to go on air at ESPN or write a column at an extreme mainstream site discussing how Crawford in 2009 is almost just as valuable, all told, as Ramirez, can you imagine the type of criticism I would receive. In fact, I expect to get some here as well, even though our fanbase tends to value defense a bit more.

All part of a piece on why defense is undervalued. If there's one reason I wouldn't want to trade Carl, it's because of his defense. Now, let's just hope he outperforms that .335 wOBA that Marcels has him pegged for.

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Comments

Defense is sexy.

Jon Garland, pleasepleaseplease accept arbitration. Your mad iNNiNgZ eAtEr sKiLLz will be greater exemplified in next year's free agent class. kthxbai.

by Blicks on Dec 6, 2008 11:26 AM EST reply actions

Hey RJ

What are the replacement value runs for each position?

by Sam Page on Dec 6, 2008 2:05 PM EST reply actions

Do you mean positional or simply replacement level?

Generally, replacement level is either 20 or 22.5 runs (so 2 or 2.25 wins) depending on who’s doing it. Positional adjustments are provided by Tom Tango and are as follows:

Catcher: 12.5 (runs)
1B: -12.5 (runs)
2B/3B/CF: 2.5 (runs)
SS: 7.5 (runs)
LF/RF: -7.5 (runs)
DH: -17.5 (runs, plus that’s with a 5 run adjustment, since hitters find it harder to hit while DHing than playing the field)

by R.J. Anderson on Dec 6, 2008 2:10 PM EST up reply actions