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December 24, 2005
Reviewing AL Lineups by Position
Note: "P-OPS+" and similar stats measure batters against their positional peers instead of the entire league.
Best AL Team Offense by Position
| Pos | Team | OPS | P-OPS+ | BA | OBP | P-OBP+ | SLG | P-SLG+ | R | HR | RBI | BB | SO | Players |
| C | Cleveland | .815 | 135 | .292 | .365 | 117 | .450 | 118 | 78 | 20 | 86 | 70 | 86 | V Martinez, J Bard |
| 1B | NY Yankees | .926 | 129 | .275 | .389 | 113 | .537 | 116 | 95 | 42 | 118 | 96 | 122 | T Martinez, J Giambi, A Phillips |
| 2B | Baltimore | .861 | 136 | .306 | .379 | 116 | .482 | 120 | 108 | 18 | 77 | 76 | 91 | B Roberts, C Gomez, B Castro |
| 3B | NY Yankees | 1.011 | 163 | .317 | .414 | 125 | .597 | 138 | 122 | 47 | 129 | 88 | 140 | A Rodriguez |
| SS | Texas | .891 | 133 | .328 | .380 | 113 | .510 | 119 | 114 | 24 | 95 | 56 | 95 | M Young |
| LF | Boston | .943 | 141 | .286 | .377 | 112 | .566 | 129 | 122 | 46 | 153 | 86 | 134 | M Ramirez, K Millar, J Payton |
| CF | Cleveland | .823 | 129 | .287 | .345 | 108 | .478 | 121 | 115 | 23 | 83 | 54 | 139 | G Sizemore, C Crisp |
| RF | LA Angels | .901 | 132 | .297 | .368 | 112 | .534 | 120 | 110 | 35 | 122 | 64 | 60 | V Guerrero, J Rivera, J Davanon, C Figgins |
| DH | Boston | .991 | 150 | .295 | .396 | 117 | .595 | 133 | 114 | 44 | 146 | 102 | 123 | D Ortiz |
Worst AL Team Offense by Position
| Pos | Team | OPS | P-OPS+ | BA | OBP | P-OBP+ | SLG | P-SLG+ | R | HR | RBI | BB | SO | Players |
| C | Seattle | .566 | 64 | .216 | .253 | 81 | .313 | 82 | 54 | 10 | 46 | 24 | 123 | M Olivo, P Borders, Y Torrealba, R Rivera, M Ojeda, D Wilson |
| 1B | LA Angels | .703 | 79 | .271 | .324 | 95 | .379 | 84 | 92 | 11 | 79 | 52 | 113 | D Erstad, C Kotchmann |
| 2B | Kansas City | .627 | 73 | .235 | .293 | 90 | .334 | 83 | 66 | 9 | 55 | 44 | 100 | R Gotay, T Graffanino, A Blanco, D Murphy, D Hocking, J McEwing |
| 3B | Cleveland | .630 | 70 | .229 | .286 | 88 | .344 | 83 | 63 | 15 | 64 | 40 | 116 | A Boone, J Hernandez |
| SS | Minnesota | .608 | 66 | .235 | .283 | 86 | .325 | 80 | 61 | 7 | 47 | 36 | 96 | J Bartlett, J Castro, N Punto |
| LF | Baltimore | .671 | 75 | .239 | .289 | 86 | .381 | 89 | 73 | 17 | 60 | 42 | 114 | L Bigbie, E Byrnes, B Surhoff, D Newhan, E Marrero |
| CF | NY Yankees | .629 | 73 | .243 | .297 | 92 | .333 | 81 | 68 | 7 | 60 | 50 | 99 | B Williams, H Matsui, T Womack, B Crosby |
| RF | Toronto | .704 | 77 | .261 | .308 | 92 | .397 | 85 | 91 | 12 | 76 | 35 | 133 | A Rios, R Johnson, G Gross |
| DH | Baltimore | .639 | 65 | .210 | .277 | 82 | .362 | 83 | 62 | 18 | 70 | 54 | 100 | J Gibbons, S Sosa, J Lopez, R Pameiro, B Castro, B Surhoff, A Friere, C Gomez |
Boston and Cleveland had a P-OPS+ of 110 or better at five positions. Chicago and Toronto had none.
Kansas City, Minnesota, Seattle and Toronto had a P-OPS+ of 90 or worse at five positions. Boston had none.
New York's third basemen (i.e., Alex Rodriguez) were the best hitters in the American League relative to position, followed by Boston's and Cleveland's designated hitters (i.e., Travis Hafner), Boston's left fielders, and Cleveland's catchers. That revisionist history circa July 2004 about Ryan Drese justifying the Hafner trade? It needs further revision.
Seattle's catchers led the league in ineptitude at the plate, followed by Baltimore's designated hitters, Minnesota's shortstops, Cleveland's third basemen, and Baltimore's left fielders.
As bad as Minnesota's shortstops were, Christian Guzman was worse.
How in the world could a team's DHs hit .210/.277/.362 as Baltimore's did? No qualifying individual player in the AL finished with an OBP under .290 (whoops, Ivan Rodriguez!). They at least provided a valuable educational service to the nation's children by simulating the hitting environment on Neptune (poisonous atmosphere, gravitational pull 11x Earth's, temperature of -170C).
The group of best hitters combined for 692 walks and 990 strikeouts. The worst drew 315 fewer walks but only struck out four more times.
A team consisting of the best hitters by position would score about 1,075 runs (6.6 per game) in a season. The worst hitters would reach only about 560 runs (3.5 per game).
Posted by Lucas at December 24, 2005 11:33 AM