A Decade of WAA
This table provides more context to WAA by showing its value for the last 10 season leaders. Note: Columns 3-7 and 9 are over loaded. Their values differ based upon whether a player is a pitcher or batter. All posted tables will be like this so that pitchers and batters can be ranked together based upon their worth.
| Year | WAA | BA/IP | OBP/ERA | PA/G | RBI/W | R/L | Name_Tm | BAT/PITCH |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2004 | 11.4 | 245.7 | 2.60 | 35 | 16 | 14 | Randy_Johnson_ARI | PITCH |
| 2005 | 12.5 | 211.3 | 1.87 | 32 | 13 | 8 | Roger_Clemens_HOU | PITCH |
| 2006 | 11.0 | 0.331 | 0.431 | 634 | 137 | 119 | Albert_Pujols_SLN | BAT |
| 2007 | 14.8 | 0.314 | 0.422 | 708 | 156 | 143 | Alex_Rodriguez_NYA | BAT |
| 2008 | 10.0 | 253.0 | 2.70 | 35 | 17 | 10 | CC_Sabathia_TOT | PITCH |
| 2009 | 12.4 | 229.3 | 2.16 | 33 | 16 | 8 | Zack_Greinke_KCA | PITCH |
| 2010 | 11.1 | 249.7 | 2.27 | 34 | 13 | 12 | Felix_Hernandez_SEA | PITCH |
| 2011 | 11.7 | 0.262 | 0.364 | 691 | 119 | 136 | Curtis_Granderson_NYA | BAT |
| 2012 | 10.1 | 0.330 | 0.393 | 697 | 139 | 109 | Miguel_Cabrera_DET | BAT |
| 2013 | 11.8 | 236.0 | 1.83 | 33 | 16 | 9 | Clayton_Kershaw_LAN | PITCH |
Note Randy Johnson’s 11.4 WAA in 2004. That year the Arizona Diamondbacks went 51-111 for a whopping -60 Team(WAA). If Randy Johnson put up a +11.4, what did the rest of the team look like? Team WAA is the summation of all player WAAs. Which leads to our third theorem.
Theorem 3:
Team(WAA) = Sum(Player(WAA)) across all players playing for the team
where Team(WAA) = W – L
In 2004 Team(WAA) = 51 – 111 = -60 for the Arizona Diamondbacks yet Randy Johnson posted the highest Player(WAA) in the entire league. The rest of the Arizona team combined brought that number down to their ultimate record.
The 2004 Arizona team is an extreme example. In order to appreciate how quickly WAA can turn south let’s take a look at the ten 2004 Diamondback players posting the highest negatives.
| Rank | WAA | BA/IP | OBP/ERA | PA/G | RBI/W | R/L | Name_Tm | BAT/PITCH |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2011 | -2.0 | 81.7 | 5.51 | 45 | 2 | 5 | Steve_Randolph_ARI | PITCH |
| 2063 | -2.5 | 0.248 | 0.293 | 364 | 29 | 39 | Scott_Hairston_ARI | BAT |
| 2114 | -3.1 | 0.245 | 0.319 | 255 | 14 | 21 | Luis_Terrero_ARI | BAT |
| 2115 | -3.2 | 49.0 | 7.16 | 10 | 2 | 3 | Casey_Daigle_ARI | PITCH |
| 2132 | -3.8 | 0.285 | 0.343 | 532 | 53 | 45 | Chad_Tracy_ARI | BAT |
| 2139 | -4.0 | 45.3 | 8.14 | 17 | 1 | 4 | Lance_Cormier_ARI | PITCH |
| 2150 | -4.6 | 120.7 | 6.04 | 29 | 3 | 7 | Steve_Sparks_ARI | PITCH |
| 2158 | -5.2 | 0.262 | 0.301 | 613 | 49 | 56 | Alex_Cintron_ARI | BAT |
| 2160 | -5.5 | 46.3 | 9.32 | 10 | 0 | 9 | Edgar_Gonzalez_ARI | PITCH |
| 2168 | -7.5 | 142.0 | 6.65 | 27 | 4 | 15 | Casey_Fossum_ARI | PITCH |
The rank column represents the entire league. Casey Fossum ranks 2168 of 2169 total players in 2004. The worst ten of the 2004 Diamondbacks in the above table combined for -41.4 WAA which helps explain their ultimate record.