Brett Lawrie is the best player in baseball according to WAR

[fenrir]

Apparently his defense is so good, that according to WAR he is having a better season than Joey Votto, who currently has a 201 OPS+.

[chicagowhitesox1173]

Apparently his defense is so good, that according to WAR he is having a better season than Joey Votto, who currently has a 201 OP+.

I hear he has such a high war too because they sometimes shift him to short left field which raises his defensive war alot. I guess it gives him more range maybe.

[Honus Wagner Rules]

Lawrie has 3.3 defensive WAR in just 68 games! That is just nuts!

[Rich the Giants fan]

Well his UZR is a respectable 8.4, or 19.9 per 150 games, but his +/- is an outstanding +36, giving him approximately 29 defensive runs saved. He must be one hell of a defender. I've never seen him play, but boy he must be able to pick it.

But best player in the game? Boy if there's ever been a better argument against WAR, I've never come across it.

[ipitch]

Doesn't look too good to me!
Lawrie-Run.gif

[Buczilla]

Lawrie is a perfect example of B-R's dWAR being out of wack. Esco and Kelly Johnson from the Jays as well.

[GiambiJuice]

WAR. What is it good for? Absolutely NOTHING.

[RaysFan_98]

WAR. What is it good for? Absolutely NOTHING.

First time i have heard someone say the WAR stat is useless lol

[GiambiJuice]

First time i have heard someone say the WAR stat is useless lol

I guess you've never heard the song.

[RaysFan_98]

I guess you've never heard the song.

I have lol

[GiambiJuice]

I have lol

lol. ........

[Seels]

I think it's just a quirk with James +/- stat. WAR stats for samples this small are meaningless because of the defensive sample being meaningless. I don't think +/- is affected by things like defensive shifts, though I know UZR can be.

Either way, Lawrie is a good / great player that I think everyone would agree with as being A: not the best defensive player of all time, and B: A worse player than Joey Votto

[Bothrops Atrox]

WAR. What is it good for? Absolutely NOTHING.

That is about the 20th time I have heard someone say this. I think somebody should make up something new.

[Bothrops Atrox]

Instead of saying that WAR is "wrong" or "useless" because a result does not match up with preconceived notions (never an acceptable reason why data is wrong), I would love to see a skeptic explain why +/- is overrating his defense (which it may very well be doing), and give a solid estimate of how many runs he really has saved, in their opinions. At least Rich compared +/- with other defensive metrics. That was actually helpful.

[dgarza]

So.... I don't know how WAR Runs Fielding are calculated, but Lawrie is on pace to DEMOLISH the 3B WAR Runs Fielding record. He's on pace to have 60 WAR Runs Fielding this year....

                                                     
Rk              Player Rfield Year Age  Tm Lg   G  PA
1      Brooks Robinson     33 1968  31 BAL AL 162 667
2        Robin Ventura     32 1998  30 CHW AL 161 674
3      Brooks Robinson     32 1967  30 BAL AL 158 681
4          Scott Rolen     30 2004  29 STL NL 142 593
5           Buddy Bell     30 1979  27 TEX AL 162 720
6        Graig Nettles     30 1971  26 CLE AL 158 690
7    Aurelio Rodriguez     30 1970  22 TOT AL 159 663
8          Clete Boyer     30 1961  24 NYY AL 148 579
[B]9         Brett Lawrie     29 2012  22 TOR AL  68 293[/B]
10       Chone Figgins     29 2009  31 LAA AL 158 729
11         Clete Boyer     28 1962  25 NYY AL 158 633
12       Robin Ventura     27 1999  31 NYM NL 161 671
13          Buddy Bell     27 1981  29 TEX AL  97 415
14       Graig Nettles     27 1976  31 NYY AL 158 657
15      Charlie Reilly     27 1890  23 COL AA 137 571

I mean, what gives? 29 in just 68 games???

Now that I'm looking at this chart, Buddy Bell 1981 looks pretty damn good.