Tuesday, January 31, 2012

Position Scarcity

Is there position scarcity in Rotisserie League baseball? Or is the idea of position scarcity overblown?

Average Positional Value, American League 2011
Position
# of Players
Earned
Avg
Catcher
24
$225
$9.38
First Base
18
$368
$20.44
Second Base
18
$277
$15.39
Shortstop
18
$286
$15.89
Third Base
18
$293
$16.28
Outfield
60
$988
$16.47
Designated Hitter
8
$120
$15.00

Catcher is weak and first base is strong but - for the most part - some of the old ideas that we have about position scarcity (middle infield is weak/outfield is strong) are debunked here. Second base is strong at the top (Robinson Cano, Dustin Pedroia, Ian Kinsler) but is the weakest non-catcher, non-DH position on the diamond. 

Average Positional Value, National League, 2011
Position
# of Players
Earned
Avg
Catcher
26
$216
$8.31
First Base
19
$371
$19.53
Second Base
19
$291
$15.32
Shortstop
19
$317
$16.68
Third Base
19
$296
$15.58
Outfield
65
$1,191
$18.32

It's a slightly different story in the National League. First base is still strong, but not quite so much. Outfielders do better here; this is closer to what we expect based on "traditional" earnings. And...wow...second base is still weak.

I'm not a position scarcity proponent. I might add a dollar or two to the top catchers or second basemen, but don't like to overpay for stats. A home run by Cano pushes you to the title just as much as a home run by Curtis Granderson.

These charts seem to discount the scarcity model even more than I already do. Yes, there is position scarcity. However, it's slight, and not something you should overcompensate for.

5 comments:

Mike said...

I think a more interesting analysis would be to take the avg value of the top 5 players and compare that to the avg value of the remaining players at that position. To me that paints a better picture in terms of scarcity.

USCMD said...

I play in a head to head league that has a complex formula for offense, that starts with total bases. It adds fractionally for walks, stolen bases, and subtracts for errors and caught stealing. As spring progresses I adjust the starting projected total bases. But heres 2b, the top 10: 356, 308, 275, 259, 254, 251, 239, 234, 202 and 185.

1b: 341, 336, 306, 292, 277, 262, 256, 251, 249, 200

C: 276, 262, 256, 250, 223, 216, 212, 178, and 172.

Excluded are dh, utility players etc. The numbers are the top ten projected starters at each position.

3b: 319, 311. 287, 276, 267, 257, 252, 244, 235 and 224.

Of note, the yankees high priced players, are 8th at 3b, and 9th at ss. Hmmmmm

USCMD said...

Mike, so the question is do I pay to get into the top 5, or accept a more mid-pack player at that position, to better attack another position.

Catcher and ss have been the spots where spending got you the biggest bang. 1b and 3b were the deepest. Recently, 2b has moved toward 1b/3b in terms of depth.

Mike Gianella said...

USCMD, how many teams are in your league? Is it mixed?

USCMD said...

10. no not mixed.

baseball manager. i'm in my 22nd yr. it was the 1st online baseball or for that matter any sport game.

baseballmanager.com

5 or 6 different games from free, to ~$85 a season.

where do you play?