2019-20 MLB Running Hot Stove Thread

WAR question. If you had a roster where each player was 0 WAR, a total replacement level roster, what is the expected, baseline, record of such a team? 50-112?
Adding Mike Trout and his 8.0 WAR would make the team's expected record 58-104? Or is Trout's WAR also dependent on his team? Is Trout really worth 8 wins above replacement if every other member of his team was a replacement level player?

 

"Too poor to cheat"

 

Winners win! Not losers like the Rockies (probably).

 

300 yards?

 

Interesting question to ponder, but it ignores the reality of what WAR really is and is not: a good shorthand to show how good a player is, not a precise metric. There is not, nor do I ever expect there will be, a single stat that tells the story of how good a player really is. WAR is decent approximation of that, but it's certainly not infallible.

 

I can't remember when I read it, but Baseball Prospectus I think said at one point that a team of "replacement level" players would probably win 20 to 30 games. That's basically a lineup fell of Mendoza line guys, and a pitching staff of guys with 5.00+ ERAs, at least at the time. Someone has probably done the leg work on a team full of 0.0 WAR players.

 

For giggles and shits, I looked up the 1899 Cleveland Spiders on Baseball Reference. Different era, of course, and the ownership situation was 100 percent corrupt, but they went 20-134 with a batting WAR of minus-4.1 and a pitching WAR of minus-16.6. So, taking all of the issues as a factor, it may be that even a team with negative WAR would (somehow) win 20 games.

1899 Cleveland Spiders Statistics | Baseball-Reference.com

 

I think it may be attributed to Earl Weaver, but someone said all teams win 50 and lose 50, it’s what you do in the other 62 that matter.

 

That's not particularly insightful from old Earl.

 

Veteran umpire Gary Cederstrom is retiring after 31 years. I covered him as a college player, he was a pretty good first baseman at Minot State, and knew him off the field. Opinions may vary as to his umpiring ability, but he's a heck of a nice guy.

 

Well, sometime you win. Sometime you lose. And sometimes, it rains. Think about it.