Which Player Would You Take?

Here's a fun little game I like to play from time to time.  Here are the stats of two ballplayers.  Looking at these two guys, which one would you select for your team?

Player A

AB - 283

H - 65

BA - .230

HR - 14

RBI - 36

OPS - .730

Player B

AB - 283

H - 70

BA - .247

HR - 12

RBI - 44

OPS - .758

Not a whole lot of difference on the surface, but if pushed, you would probably take Player B, and say, "what the hell, he's better, but not by all that much."

OK, I'm not going to wait until tomorrow to identify these guys.  Player A is the combined statistics of Rod Barajas and Mike McKenry.  Player B is Matt Weiters.  (If you have to ask why I am making such a comparison, then you probably shouldn't be reading this blog!)  I do realize that no defensive abilities are included in this comparison.

Not making any judgements here, just having a little fun with numbers, while recognizing the famous quote of Benjamin Disraeli, "There are three kinds of lies:  Lies, damned lies, and statistics".

I also thank Dan Bonk whose recent Facebook post inspired this little but of game playing.

Welcome, Rod Barajas

Lost amidst the noise and the news coming from State College this past week was the signing by the Pirates of free agent catcher Rod Barajas. By all accounts, the Pirates were front and center in the courting of Barajas, and Barajas himself said all the right things about coming to the Pirates.

So, the team now has a catcher to replace Ryan Doumit. Barajas himself has admitted that he is neither a high average or high on base percentage guy, but that he can hit the ball out of the park (16 HR in 2011 and 125 over a thirteen year career). By contrast, Ryan Doumit has hit 67 HR over a seven year career, and sports a .271 career BA and .777 OPS, as opposed to .238 and .698 for Barajas. Of course, Doumit's biggest problems have been his many many trips to the DL and a salary commitment of $15 million over the next two seasons. Barajas will make $4 million next year (highest on the team as of today).

The one number on Barajas that scares me the most is his age: 36. Fairly old for a ballplayer, and really old for a catcher. Why am I filled with images of Pirates free agent signings of years past of guys who are in their mid-thirties who turn out to be washed up when they arrive in Bradenton? I really hate to be such a pessimist on this, but the Pirates track record on such matters makes you leery to say the least.