Of course Mookie hasn't merely bounced back offensively this year, he has rocketed into the stratosphere.
It might have all happened anyway, sure, there's really no way of knowing.
I get what you're saying, but it's just a hypothetical value - like I said, bare minimum major league level.
That's why when you see a negative WAR, it is big-time sucking LOL
I think replacement level is essentially defined as the caliber of a guy you would call up from AAA to replace an injured player. Bare minimum major league level.
A lot of it comes down to luck, Slash. Kapler used some relievers with some pretty lousy numbers and it just so happened they didn't give up any runs on this particular night. Tends to make your decisions look better.
I think it's been tried 4 times all year.
For a pitcher of Kimbrel's caliber, going for a 4 out save should mean an extra 5 pitches or so.
But as we have all seen, Kimbrel seems to have some sort of issue with 4 outs or 4 run leads and generally doesn't do very well with them.
You're talking about players that everyone knows are having great seasons.
But I also look at the WAR for players that I haven't seen play and don't really know much about.
Dirt dog? No. Hot dog? Yes. Puig is a textbook example of a hot dog. I saw him do the same bat-flip thing on Monday night. He does stuff like that all the time.
If he was white he wouldn't be treated differently. Lackey certainly didn't get a pass for his little routine of showing up his fielders.