The method is pretty simple for determining whether a player is above or below league average. Take his Replacement runs on his FanGraphs page and subtract it from his Runs Above Replacement column. If the difference is greater than zero, then the player is indeed above average, if the difference is in the negative, then the player is below average. Here's how the Rays current positional players stack up:
| Name | Pos | Replacement | RAR | RAA | Above Average? |
| Ben Zobrist | 2B/OF | 14.7 | 63.5 | 48.8 | Yes |
| Evan Longoria | 3B | 16.9 | 52.9 | 36 | Yes |
| Carl Crawford | OF | 17.9 | 48 | 30.1 | Yes |
| Jason Bartlett | SS | 13.6 | 42 | 28.4 | Yes |
| Gabe Gross | OF | 8.8 | 17.2 | 8.4 | Yes |
| Carlos Pena | 1B | 17 | 22.9 | 5.9 | Yes |
| B.J. Upton | OF | 17 | 21.6 | 4.6 | Yes |
| Gabe Kapler | OF | 5.9 | 8.5 | 2.6 | Yes |
| Gregg Zaun | C | 1 | 3.1 | 2.1 | Yes |
| Willy Aybar | 2B/DH | 8 | 5.2 | -2.8 | No |
| Pat Burrell | DH | 11.4 | 1.8 | -9.6 | No |
| Dioner Navarro | C | 11.1 | -1.2 | -12.3 | No |
Quick thoughts:
- Ben Zobrist is the team MVP. He's a full win better than Evan Longoria to this date and that's staggering.
- Evan Longoria is ridiculously talented at baseball and holy crap name your children after Andrew Friedman.
- Notice how Gabe Gross has a lower RAR than Carlos Pena and B.J. Upton but a higher "RAA"? That's because he plays less, which is shown in the Replacement column. Gross is good.
- Gabe Kapler is good.
- I was hesitant to include Gregg Zaun because the sample size is ridiculously small, but I knew people would ask where he ranks if I didn't.
- Pat Burrell has been poor.
- Dioner Navarro has been homeless.
Also, before someone makes a comment that reflects on zero understanding about how Replacement Runs are figured, read this.