For the last two years, I have been ranking every starting player in the MLB by position in a system I’ve dubbed The Determinator. I don’t worry about projection systems, I look only at how well a player did that last year, analyze the data, and showcase who was and will be the best for the upcoming season.
Welcome back to The Determinator.
Today we continue with highlighting the Yankees, honorable mentions, and shortstops statistic leaders!
The Determinator: My General Methodology
The Determinator is a ranking system that is built upon the analyzation of 16 carefully chosen stats through a very simplistic system of comparisons. Some of these stats are more classical (Games Played, Home Runs, etc.), others are more advanced (wRC+, WAR, etc.). From this come 7 offensive stats, 4 defensive, 2 baserunning, and 3 general stats, set to contribute towards the importance of each part of the game.
The Offensive stats are: AVG/OBP/SLG, wRC, wRC+, HR, and Off (Fangraphs)
The Defensive stats are: Fielding, DRS, UZR (or Framing for Catchers), and Def (Fangraphs)
The Baserunning stats are: Stolen Bases and BsR (Fangraphs)
The Overall stats are: Games Played, Innings at Position, and fWAR (Fangraphs)
After determining this list of statistics, I then had to input each into a Microsoft Excel spreadsheet I sorted how each player did in each statistic from best-to-worst. If you were top 5 in a category, you got ranked as a ‘Green’. Top 6-10 was a ‘Yellow’. And, Top 11-15 was labelled as a ‘Red’. The number of each ranking was counted- so it was possible to come out with a score of zero- and given values of 5, 3, and 1 respectively.
Key Note: If player/s across a statistic had the same numbers across a border- for example the 5th and 6th players with the most Home Runs- then they would both be counted as the better ranking- in this case both ‘Green’ or 5 points- and replace one spot from the following ranking- in this case a ‘Yellow’ or 3 points. This could also stretch some statistics to include more ‘Red’ players who had equal stats to the 15th best.
Additionally, if no stats were recorded in a counting statistic that could fit into a ranking- as is seen with Catchers and Stolen Bases- then no ranking is given to those players. This would greatly increase the number of points given out, and lessen the value of each point. This is not true for advanced metrics that can produce negative values- as also is seen with Catchers and BsR.
The results were then tallied, sorted from greatest to least, and a ranking was created.
Finally, player age, 2022 salary, and contract status, were all not considered in this experiment. This is entirely statistic-based.
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In order to quality for ranking by The Determinator, a player must’ve had at least 250 plate appearances during the 2021 season and at least 500 innings played at the position in question.
Yankees Players:
Number 28: Gleyber Torres, New York Yankees
Top-5: None
Top-10: SB
Top-15: None
Total Score: 3
Going into the offseason, Yankees GM Brian Cashman said that Gleyber Torres is not going to be the Yankees shortstop going forward. However, with free agency set to be nuts there is a very real possibility that the Yankees see Torres as the easy-to-go-to option. I wrote about this possibility earlier in the offseason as well. He’s the cheapest, easiest, and honestly not the worst option.
However, it has to be said that Gleyber Torres was horrendous against the expectation that was put on him going into 2021. Maybe a new hitting coach can bring him back to form offensively, and I’d hope that he’d move on from a position where he’s a defensive liability instead of comfortable.
I really want Gleyber Torres to succeed. He’s young, fun, and before last season looked to be a future core member of the next many years for the Yankees. I’d hate to see that future disappear. However, that future is quite clearly reached best with Torres at second base…which is also occupied by DJ LeMahieu. (Which I’ll forever hold was not a smart signing, even at the time.)Embed from Getty Images
Honorable Mentions:
Tim Anderson (Chicago White Sox) – Scored 27 Points; Ranked 11th (Tied with Dansby Swanson)
J.P. Crawford (Seattle Mariners) – Scored 26 Points; Ranked 13th
Javier Baez (Detroit Tigers) – Scored 21 Points; Ranked 16th
Paul DeJong (St. Louis Cardinals) – Scored 17 Points; Ranked 18th
Wander Franco (Tampa Bay Rays) – Scored 15 Points; Ranked 19th
Amed Rosario (Cleveland Guardians) – Scored 8 Points; Ranked 22nd (Tied with Elvis Andrus)
Francisco Lindor (New York Mets) – Scored 6 Points; Ranked 25th (Tied with Andrelton Simmons)
Didi Gregorius (Philadelphia Phillies) – Scored 1 Points; Ranked 31st (Tied with Nick Ahmed & Jose Iglesias)
Statistic Leaders:
Games – Dansby Swanson & J.P. Crawford (160)
Batting Average (AVG) – Trea Turner (.328)
On-Base Percentage (OBP) – Corey Seager (.394)
Slugging Percentage (SLG) – Fernando Tatis Jr. (.611)
Home Runs (HR) – Fernando Tatis Jr. (42)
Stolen Bases (SB) – Trea Turner (32)
Weighted Runs Created (wRC) – Trea Turner (117)
Weighted Runs Created Plus – (wRC+) – Fernando Tatis Jr. (156)
Baserunning (BsR) – Fernando Tatis Jr. (+9.3)
Offense (Off) – Fernando Tatis Jr. (+48.5)
Wins Above Replacement (WAR) – Trea Turner (+6.9)
Fielding (Fld) – Kevin Newman (+6.7)
Innings (Inn) – J.P. Crawford (1412.1)
Defensive Runs Saved (DRS) – Carlos Correa (+21)
Ultimate Zone Rating (UZR) – Kevin Newman (+6.4)
Defense (Def) – Kevin Newman (+11.9)
Reminder:
The Determinator is a way I used to determine the best players at each position. Like any metric or formula, I am sure it has flaws. No statistical compilation is perfect. That being said, The Determinator, seems pretty effective at assigning player values. I’m pleased with what I have found using this method and hope this is a conversation starter for many.
