The Ale-X-Files: wOBA by Position and League

This week, we'll take a look at evaluating your players in relation to the league based on their wOBA. For those of you looking to make trades prior to the deadling, this could very much impact you.

Today is pretty much a straight numbers dump. I've calculated and sorted the wOBA numbers based on league and position. Numbers are from the All-Star break and a minimum of 200 PA were required to be included in the calculations.

	RCL TML 1B .375 .360 2B .340 .319 3B .338 .342 SS .322 .278 C .321 .315 RF .364 .355 LF .384 .350 CF .330 .325

A couple of notes about the numbers:

• They are the average of wOBA by position, so they are not precise wOBA by taking all league events.
• This is by position reported, not position necessarily by played. This also means that the DH position, with only 2 players in that category, are essentially spread out among their preferred position.

Overall Observations:

• No big surprises.
• Corner OF and 1B lead both leagues.
• RCL has higher wOBA overall, likely due to the park factor, but it's why they were separated out.
• If you're in the TML and OOTP allowed it, you may want to DH for your SS instead of your P.

So What Use is This?

• True value of your hitters: For example, Dale Watson is having a great season compared to most hitters in the RCL. However, when I compare his wOBA to the league average at 1B (his position) he is just .004 points above the average 1B in the RCL. This means that as I look at possibly his contract or trading him, I should take into account that he's relatively replaceable, or that I wouldn't likely be taking a major hit even if I ended up with a below average hitter.
• Where you have surplusess/deficits and where it's easiest to get a leg up: For example, if I were in the TML, I'd be looking for a SS that could hit because it would be where I could likely gain the most on my competition. (Though that might change if enough people pay attention to this) A .278 wOBA is flat-out terrible, and I'd guess these guys have some golden gloves, because if they don't ... yuck.

While there aren't any surprises in the overall data itself, it should give everyone a measuring stick for wOBA, at least for now. I'll be re-running these stats twice a season. Obviously, this is only one side of the coin and there are some reasons the numbers aren't exact, but I'm pretty confident they are at least a good starting point to help you make decisions about your hitters and their value.

One Update:

The last Ale-X-Files was about Lo-Rod winning the Triple Crown. Since that time, he continues to get very few ABs with runners on and in scoring position. He's still hitting well in those situations, but not getting enough of them is the problem. He's dropped to 9th on the leaderboard in RBI.