Friday
October 24, 2003
BANG FOR THE BUCK (2003 edition)
I’ve been working on this report for a month or so now. Which major league player provided the most offensive Bang for the Buck? Which player had the best stats at the lowest cost? I think it’s an interesting question.
But how should that be measured? Well, obviously 2003 salary is going to be the denominator of the equation. But what offensive statistic should be used to determine “bang”? Is it just the number of home runs? Well, not really, because home runs are just one statistic. Someone could have 35 home runs, but hit .200. How about On-base Percentage? Well, that includes walking as a fairly major portion of it. You don’t “bang” when you walk. There’s no noise at all, well, except the ball hitting the catcher’s mitt.
Well, I could go stat-by-stat and find reasons it should not be the statistic to use. So, here’s what I’m going to do. I’m going to use my favorite statistic, OPS (On-base percentage + Slugging percentage). I like the stat because it does encourage players to get on base. But, in using Slugging Percentage, ‘total bases’ are the key number. In other words, a single is worth 1, a double is worth 2, a triple 3, and a home run 4. I think that “bang” could mean “extra-bases.” So, OPS is what I will use. I would love your input though. Is there a better statistic for me to use? Send me an e-mail and let me know what you think. If someone convinces me that there is a better stat to use, I will re-run my analysis with it!
So, now we have that figured out. But, then a fairly important thought crossed my mind. Based on how obvious it is, I should have thought of it sooner. How is it even fair to compare the stat/salary ratios of Scott Podsednik ($300,000) and Alex Rodriguez ($22,000,000). A-Rod earned more than 73 times as much as Podsednik. To have an equivalent OPS/$ ratio to Podsednik’s 822, A-Rod would have to have an OPS of over 60,000. Of course, the maximum OPS a player can have is 5000. So, to counter that fact, I have broken the players into six salary ranges. The ranges are somewhat arbitrary so that categories are (in my opinion) fair.
I took a look at 154 players that hit the minimum number of plate appearances to be eligible for a batting title. I looked at their 2003 OPS, and compared it to their 2003 salary (most numbers from ESPN.com). OPS divided by Salary (and then times a number (1,000,000) just to make the numbers more readable or user-friendly.
Why don’t I just get to the numbers and you can see exactly what I mean. I will show the Top 10 Bang for the Buck players in each of my salary ranges, starting with the highest salaried players, those making over $10 million in 2003. As we get further down the pay scale, obviously it is more feasible that when dividing by far smaller numbers, the result is a bigger number, showing more Bang for the Buck.
Top 10 Bang for the Buck (over $10 million category)
|
Player |
OPS |
2003 Salary |
OPS/Salary |
|
Todd Helton |
1088 |
$ 10,600,000 |
102.64 |
|
Gary Sheffield |
1023 |
$ 11,000,000 |
93.00 |
|
Jim Thome |
958 |
$ 11,166,667 |
85.79 |
|
Barry Bonds |
1278 |
$ 15,000,000 |
85.20 |
|
Nomar Garciaparra |
870 |
$ 10,500,000 |
82.86 |
|
Jason Giambi |
939 |
$ 11,428,571 |
82.16 |
|
Andruw Jones |
851 |
$ 11,500,000 |
74.00 |
|
Bernie Williams |
778 |
$ 12,357,143 |
62.96 |
|
Manny Ramirez |
1014 |
$ 17,185,177 |
59.00 |
|
Carlos Delgado |
1019 |
$ 17,500,000 |
58.23 |
Top 10 Bang for the Buck ($5 - $9.9 million category)
|
Player |
OPS |
2003 Salary |
OPS/Salary |
|
Frank Thomas |
952 |
$ 5,000,000 |
190.40 |
|
Richie Sexson |
927 |
$ 5,125,000 |
180.88 |
|
Geoff Jenkins |
913 |
$ 5,187,500 |
176.00 |
|
Garrett Anderson |
885 |
$ 5,350,000 |
165.42 |
|
Miguel Tejada |
807 |
$ 5,125,000 |
157.46 |
|
Jose Vidro |
866 |
$ 5,500,000 |
157.45 |
|
Jose Valentin |
776 |
$ 5,000,000 |
155.20 |
|
Vinny Castilla |
771 |
$ 5,000,000 |
154.20 |
|
Javy Lopez |
1065 |
$ 7,000,000 |
152.14 |
|
Carlos Beltran |
911 |
$ 6,000,000 |
151.83 |
Top 10 Bang for the Buck ($2 - $4.9 million category)
|
Player |
OPS |
2003 Salary |
OPS/Salary |
|
Bill Mueller |
938 |
$ 2,100,000 |
446.67 |
|
Kevin Millar |
820 |
$ 2,000,000 |
410.00 |
|
Frank Catalanotto |
823 |
$ 2,200,000 |
374.09 |
|
Eric Young |
727 |
$ 2,000,000 |
363.50 |
|
Rafael Furcal |
794 |
$ 2,200,000 |
360.91 |
|
Adam Kennedy |
743 |
$ 2,270,000 |
327.31 |
|
Terrence Long |
678 |
$ 2,175,000 |
311.72 |
|
Jose Cruz Jr. |
779 |
$ 2,500,000 |
311.60 |
|
Jacque Jones |
797 |
$ 2,750,000 |
289.82 |
|
Placido Polanco |
799 |
$ 2,875,000 |
277.91 |
Top 10 Bang for the Buck ($1 - $1.9 million category)
|
Player |
OPS |
2003 Salary |
OPS/Salary |
|
Reggie Sanders |
913 |
$ 1,000,000 |
913.00 |
|
David Ortiz |
961 |
$ 1,250,000 |
768.80 |
|
Erubiel Durazo |
804 |
$ 1,065,000 |
754.93 |
|
Juan Pierre |
734 |
$ 1,000,000 |
734.00 |
|
Mark Loretta |
814 |
$ 1,250,000 |
651.20 |
|
Deivi Cruz |
647 |
$ 1,000,000 |
647.00 |
|
Pat Burrell |
713 |
$ 1,250,000 |
570.40 |
|
Alex Cora |
625 |
$ 1,150,000 |
543.48 |
|
Doug Mientkiewicz |
843 |
$ 1,750,000 |
481.71 |
|
Jay Payton |
865 |
$ 1,850,000 |
467.57 |
Top 10 Bang for the Buck ($400,000 - $999,999 category)
|
Player |
OPS |
2003 Salary |
OPS/Salary |
|
Adam Dunn |
819 |
$ 400,000 |
2,047.50 |
|
Vernon Wells |
909 |
$ 520,000 |
1,748.08 |
|
Travis Lee |
807 |
$ 500,000 |
1,614.00 |
|
Ronnie Belliard |
760 |
$ 475,000 |
1,600.00 |
|
Jimmy Rollins |
707 |
$ 450,000 |
1,571.11 |
|
David Eckstein |
651 |
$ 425,000 |
1,531.76 |
|
Wes Helms |
780 |
$ 575,000 |
1,356.52 |
|
Eric Hinske |
765 |
$ 600,000 |
1,275.00 |
|
Albert Pujols |
1106 |
$ 900,000 |
1,228.89 |
|
Marlon Anderson |
703 |
$ 600,000 |
1,171.67 |
Top 10 Bang for the Buck (less than $400,000 category)
|
Player |
OPS |
2003 Salary |
OPS/Salary |
|
Marcus Giles |
917 |
$ 316,500 |
2,897.31 |
|
Hank Blalock |
872 |
$ 302,500 |
2,882.64 |
|
Aubrey Huff |