Red Sox closing in on JD Drew

[jacksonianmarch]

Abreu has played 150+ games for 9 consecutive seasons. He has stolen 30+ bases the past 3 seasons. Last season was the first season that he did not surpass 20HR since 98, yet his torrid pace as a yankee would have had him hitting about 25 (he was poor in philly to start). Abreu's OBP is 20 points higher in his career. Their slugging is almost exactly the same (Drew +7 points career). Abreu has surpassed 100RBI for the past 4 seasons. Drew reached 100 for the first time last yr. I would say the OBP, the steals, the RBI and the durability make Abreu the much better player.

[jacksonianmarch]

one other thing. Abreu's AVG has been .286 or higher for 9 straight yrs, .297 or higher 7 out of the last 9 seasons and he has a career AVG of .302. Drew has surpassed .300 once and has a career avg of .286.

[Cocos Disciples]

Yup. Abreu is better than Drew. Got us there.

[TheKilo]

What about Abreu's defensive shortcomings?

[ORS]

Career OPS+/EqA

 

Drew 133/.304

Abreu 137/.314

 

Better offensively, but not by any margin that supports your much statement. Drew, despite not having Abreu's speed, is statistically the better defender. Abreu is a better player, just not by the margin you suggest.

[jacksonianmarch]

What about Abreu's defensive shortcomings?

 

the fact that he has above average range and a rocket arm is really a problem now isnt it. Damn. His only shortcoming is that he wont go flying into a wall, which I think is more him wanting to preserve himself for 162 than lose his season.

 

Drew and Abreu are on the same page defensively.

[jacksonianmarch]

Career OPS+/EqA

 

Drew 133/.304

Abreu 137/.314

 

Better offensively, but not by any margin that supports your much statement. Drew, despite not having Abreu's speed, is statistically the better defender. Abreu is a better player, just not by the margin you suggest.

 

durability, speed, RBI's. Dont give me the whole lineup argument, Abreu was the lone force in Philly for awhile until Utley and Howard came on.

[TheKilo]

the fact that he has above average range and a rocket arm is really a problem now isnt it. Damn. His only shortcoming is that he wont go flying into a wall, which I think is more him wanting to preserve himself for 162 than lose his season.

 

Drew and Abreu are on the same page defensively.

 

I'll just wait til ORS comes with the stats to put down your argument.

 

And if you don't want to believe evidential numbers showing the two are really similar offensively, then that's on you.

[ORS]

durability' date=' speed, RBI's. Dont give me the whole lineup argument, Abreu was the lone force in Philly for awhile until Utley and Howard came on.[/quote']

EqA accounts for speed, so you can quit with that one. RBI's are purely dependent on situation. I looked at their RBI rates over the last two years and Abreu leads Drew by abou 1.8% - better, but not by much.

 

You can't support the statement he's much better.

[ORS]

the fact that he has above average range and a rocket arm is really a problem now isnt it. Damn. His only shortcoming is that he wont go flying into a wall, which I think is more him wanting to preserve himself for 162 than lose his season.

 

Drew and Abreu are on the same page defensively.

Past 3 years...

 

Abreu: -4 runs compared to average

Drew: +12 runs compared to average

 

About 5 runs a year better. Not much better, but better. Funny how that works, I can concede he's not much better when the numbers are kind of close. Why can't you do the same?

[TheKilo]

Past 3 years...

 

Abreu: -4 runs compared to average

Drew: +12 runs compared to average

 

About 5 runs a year better. Not much better, but better. Funny how that works, I can concede he's not much better when the numbers are kind of close. Why can't you do the same?

 

I need to start learning more about these stats.

[ORS]

Those are FRAA - fielding runs above average. They can be found on the DT cards of any player for free on BaseballProspectus.com. EqA, VORP, WARP, et al are proprietary material of the site, and they have a statistics glossary explaining each one. They aren't the best (well EqA is) stats out there, but they are easy to look up. BP and THT are the best sites for quick sabermetric stats.

[TheKilo]

Those are FRAA - fielding runs above average. They can be found on the DT cards of any player for free on BaseballProspectus.com. EqA' date=' VORP, WARP, et al are proprietary material of the site, and they have a statistics glossary explaining each one. They aren't the best (well EqA is) stats out there, but they are easy to look up. BP and THT are the best sites for quick sabermetric stats.[/quote']

 

 

 

Thanks, when I try to bring some of these up when talking to may family and friends about baseball they still resort to things like batting average and runs batted in to estimate a player's worth.

[ORS]

Here's a neat site that shows some of the non-traditional stats for the Sox and all MiLB levels in the Sox organization.

 

linky