Tango on Baseball Archives

© Tangotiger

Archive List

Exactly How Full of S is OPS? (August 6, 2003)

Regression analysis over 30 years at the team level shows that the best estimator is 1.64*OBP + SLG. Coincidentally, taking the complete bare-bones approach I did with my articles a few months ago on "OPS: Begone!", I also came up with this exact same equation.
--posted by TangoTiger at 11:56 AM EDT


Posted 12:10 p.m., August 6, 2003 (#1) - bob mong(e-mail) (homepage)
  Who is this guy? That article is fantastic!

Well written, humorous, informative, and easy to read - get him to write some stuff for Primer!

Posted 3:20 p.m., August 6, 2003 (#2) - Rally Monkey
  That's what's wrong with the Angels. Should have kept Palmeiro.

Posted 9:11 p.m., August 6, 2003 (#3) - Innumerate masses
  Teacher? Can I get my microscope back now?

Posted 2:19 p.m., August 7, 2003 (#4) - Steve
  Great article. There is one detail needs to be clarified, though.
DePodesta's model says that an * EXTRA * point of OBP is worth 3 times more than an * EXTRA * point of SLG. The baseline for those extras are never defined. Is there some threshold value of OBP and/or SLG that should be considered? Has anyone done any studies on this?

Posted 3:08 p.m., August 7, 2003 (#5) - tangotiger
  I mentioned this in my OPS article, but that doesn't matter.

Value = (OBP - baseX) * 3 + (SLG - baseY) * 1
Value = 3*OBP + SLG - 3baseX - baseY
Value = 3*OBP + SLG - whatever

As you can see, it's irrelevant what baseX, baseY, or whatever equals. The DIFFERENCE among the players will remain exactly the same.

Try it out. Take a 400/500 player and a 300/600 player, and take whatever baseline for OBP and SLG you want. The difference between Value(player1) and Value(player2) will be exactly the same.

Posted 6:20 p.m., August 7, 2003 (#6) - Scoriano
  Obvious point: To make comparisons valuable, the product of any of these shorthand formulae still needs be adjusted for park context, etc.

Posted 8:41 p.m., August 12, 2003 (#7) - Michael J
  So does this mean that Mientkiewicz (however you spell that ridiculous name) is actually a pretty legitimate first baseman considering he has had a relatively high OBP the last 3 years combined for any player and a Slug for a first baseman. I see him ridiculed occassionally on this site, that's why I bring it up.

Posted 8:57 p.m., August 12, 2003 (#8) - Michael J
  that should read relatively low Slg percentage for first baseman.