Baseball Statistics: VORP and WARP

VORP and WARP are two statistics that are used to show a player's value to his team.

VORP (Value over Replacement Player) and WARP (Wins Above Replacement Player)

VORP is defined by Baseball Prospectus as "the number of runs contributed beyond what a replacement-level player at the same position would contribute if given the same percentage of team plate appearances. VORP scores do not consider the quality of a player's defense."

WARP1 calculates how many wins a player provides over a player that is paid minimum salary and can be obtained with minimum cost. WARP2, similar to WARP1, but it includes league difficulty. And WARP3, similar to WARP1 except it factors in season length. WARP2 is to be used when comparing player careers of different eras, while WARP3 is best used for comparing single seasons across different years.

This 'replacement player' is not league average; he is in fact below league average. According to Baseball Prospectus, a team consisting entirely of replacement-level players would likely be historically bad, winning only 20-25 games over a full 162-game season.

Now, WARP is very complicated to calculate and if I tried to explain it to you your brain might explode, so for now I'm just going to show you how it can be used to determine a player's value to his club.

VORP - 2008

AMERICAN LEAGUE

1. Alex Rodriguez - 62.9

2. Dustin Pedroia - 60.0

3. Grady Sizemore - 59.1

4. John Hamilton - 57.4

5. Milton Bradley - 57.2

NATIONAL LEAGUE

1. Albert Pujols - 98.6

2. Hanley Ramirez - 78.6

3. Chipper Jones - 75.9

4. Lance Berkman - 73.1

5. David Wright - 66.1

WARP1

AMERICAN LEAGUE

1. Dustin Pedroia - 9.8

2. Joe Mauer - 9.6

3. Alex Rodriguez - 8.9

4. Justin Morneau - 8.6

5. Kevin Youkilis - 8.4

NATIONAL LEAGUE

1. Albert Pujols - 13

2. Lance Berkman - 10.9

3. Chase Utley 10.4

4. Hanley Ramirez - 10.3

5. Ryan Ludwick - 10.1

WARP2

AMERICAN LEAGUE

1. Joe Mauer - 11.9

2. Dustin Pedroia - 10.4

3. Alex Rodriguez - 10.1

4. Justin Morneau - 9.8

5. Grady Sizemore - 9.7

NATIONAL LEAGUE

1. Albert Pujols - 13.5

2. Lance Berkman - 11.3

3. Hanley Ramirez - 10.9

4. Ryan Ludwick - 10.9

5. David Wright - 10.6

5. Chipper Jones - 10.6

5. Chase Utley - 10.6

WARP3

AMERICAN LEAGUE

1. Joe Mauer - 11.8

2. Dustin Pedroia - 10.4

3. Alex Rodriguez - 10.1

4. Justin Morneau - 9.7

5. Grady Sizemore - 9.7

NATIONAL LEAGUE

1. Albert Pujols - 13.5

2. Lance Berkman - 11.4

3. Ryan Ludwick - 10.9

4. Hanley Ramirez - 10.9

5. Chipper Jones - 10.6

5. Chase Utley - 10.6

5. David Wright - 10.6

I know this seems like a lot of numbers to digest and you may be very confused as to what the hell I am talking about. Bear with me. I'll put it all into perspective below.

VORP and WARP determine how valuable a player is to a team. Thus, we can conclude that the higher a player's VORP and WARP, the more valuable a player is to a team. What better way to show how VORP and WARP can be applied than to use it in determining the MVP.

The AL MVP was an extremely open race with a number of players biding for the trophy. In the end it went to Duston Pedroia, the Red Sox 2B. Pedroia placed 2nd in VORP, 1st in WARP1, and 2nd in WARP2 and WARP3. However, had gone to any of the 2nd, 3rd, or even 4th place candidates, there really wouldn't be any argument since they were also so close statically.

The NL MVP vote was much different, and frankly, extremely confusing.

Ryan Howard placed 2nd in MVP voting despite being ranked 28th in VORP, 90th in WARP1, WARP2, AND WARP, behind Skip Schumaker and ahead of Jason Kendall. Sometimes I really think that the BBWAA has absolutely no clue about baseball, and Howard placing 2nd in MVP voting, despite not even being the most valuable player on his team, (Chase Utley had a VORP of 64.5, a WARP1 of 10, and WARP2 and WARP3 of 10.6, nearly doubling Howard's value in every single category.) is that evidence.

Lance Berkman, who was ranked 4th in VORP and 2nd in WARP across the board to Albert Pujols, placed 5th in voting, behind Manny Ramirez, who only played 53 games in the NL.

Worst of all, Hanley Ramirez, even though he was ranked 2nd in VORP and 4th, 3rd, and 4th in WARP1, 2, and 3 respectively, finished ELEVENTH in the voting, behind the likes of Aramis Ramirez, Carlos Delgado, Brad Lidge, and C.C. Sabathia, who only played half his games in the NL, and had a horrible first half in Cleveland.

Someday, MVP voting will be calculated using stats that actually matter. Maybe then players like Pujols, Hanley Ramirez, and Lance Berkman will get the recognition that they deserve. Until then, we can only crunch numbers and hope that the voters will one day see the light.

Comedy Option : Here are the Top 10 worst VORPs in MLB

WORST VORP

1. Tony Pena - -25.0

2. Corey Patterson - -19.3

3. Andruw Jones - -17.3

4. Jeff Francoeur - -16.9

5. Wily Mo Pena - -16.5

6.Andy Laroche - -16.3

7. Austin Kearns - -13.9

8. Wladimir Balentien - -13.2

9. Andy Marte - -12.5

10. Omar Vizquel - -12.4

All VORP and WARP statistics taken from http://www.baseballprospectus.com/