Sports Illustrated power rankings

[howboutthoseos]

These are hilarious. O's 23rd, Red Sox EIGHTH.

This was apparently as of before the Yankees series (although it just came across my twitter feed) but still - 23rd? And that appears to be up from 24th last week!

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2012/baseball/mlb/07/30/fangraphs-power-rankings-week-16/index.html#?eref=twitter_feed

[ESos92]

Wow. I can respect ranking us low. I really can. This team is fluky and hard to believe in. But some of those other rankings are outrageous IMO.

[howboutthoseos]

Wow. I can respect ranking us low. I really can. This team is fluky and hard to believe in. But some of those other rankings are outrageous IMO.

Agree. And this should all be caveated with the premise that these rankings are inherently meaningless.

But looking at them through that prism, it still gives a nice window in the national media.

[sjoslyn]

NOTE: All stats are through Sunday, July 29.

Rankings written by Ben Duronio of Fangraphs.com. The system used to rank the teams is based not on the current standings or a gut feeling about team quality, but on how well they've performed at the underlying traits that predict future performance better than wins and losses.

wRC+ is an offensive index where 100 is league average and every point above or below that denotes how far from league average a player's performance has been up to that point. It is adjusted for park and league, so it takes into account the context of a player's surroundings, and allows for comparison of performance from players in different situations and in different times.

Read more: http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2012/baseball/mlb/07/30/fangraphs-power-rankings-week-16/index.html#ixzz22UiJ4heY

Whatever happened to just collectively looking at how a team is playing based on the win/loss column? I understand SM and how there's predictability and all that jazz, but at the end of the day, it boils down to one thing; winning or losing a game. The aforementioned power rankings are a complete joke, especially in baseball and this list is completely absurd. Ranking the Red Sox 8 our of 30 when they've maybe touched 4 games over .500 all year, or ranking the Pirates at 18 when they are deep in a pennant race but have the Cardinals at the 3rd spot overall.

I thought the ESPN PR's were a huge joke but this just takes the cake.

[OFFNY]

.

RED SOX PROPOGANDA AD:

"Winning two close contests against the Yankees could be an igniter for the Red Sox to make a late season push."

Wow. 2 ENTIRE close contests from the Yankees ??? And they were close contests, which count for more, since they are clutch. It's much more impressive than if they would have blown the Yankees off the field. But hey, IF THEY HAD blown the Yankees off the field in those 2 games, then we simply would have played up that aspect of it, and described them as dominating beat-downs, through and through.

"With David Ortiz expected back this week, this could be the first time Boston's lineup is at full strength all season, which is scary for the rest of the AL East as only the Blue Jays have scored more runs this year."

REAL SCARY for the real of the A.L. East. Everyone is quivering in their boots about David Ortiz being back, and the Red Sox' lineup being AT FULL-STRENGTH. OOOHHH.

"The Red Sox do need to get a bit more out of Adrian Gonzalez if they want to make a big push though, as his 106 wRC+ would be his lowest of any season with 100 games and he has not taken a walk since June 24."

When making any sort of criticism of this team, be sure to TIPTOE VERY CAREFULLY with our choice of words ....... "The Red Sox do need to get a bit more out of Adrian Gonzalez, as his numbers are cra ....... eh, I mean his 106 wRC+ would be the lowest of any season with 100 games."

P.S. Our deepest apologies to both Adrian Gonzalez individually and the Red Sox as a whole if you feel that we may have dissed you in the slightest way with that last Adrian Gonzalez statement. That WAS NOT our intention. If you deem it necessary, we will promptly issue a public apology for sullying the name and the reputation of your players and your team.

[Thedan0909]

Doesn't SI do their rankings based solely on Pythagorean W/L? If so, it is what it is. Not much we can do about it except score more runs and give up fewer.

That said, power rankings were always more interesting to me when the O's were out of the race early. Now I'm more concerned with the actual standings.

[OFFNY]

Doesn't SI do their rankings based solely on Pythagorean W/L? If so, it is what it is. Not much we can do about it except score more runs and give up fewer.

I don't have a problem with that. In fact, even if it wasn't based on that, and if it was their opinion that the Red Sox are better than us, I wouldn't have a problem with that, either. We're only 2 and-a-half games ahead of them, and there is a long way to go. But, the comments section is not based on the Pythagorean W/L. I mean really, can they at least try to give a token effort at being not so biased toward a team that has been hovering at or below .500 the entire season ??? Jeez.

[Goober Noodles]

.

RED SOX PROPOGANDA AD:

"Winning two close contests against the Yankees could be an igniter for the Red Sox to make a late season push."

Wow. 2 ENTIRE close contests from the Yankees ??? And they were close contests, which count for more, since they are clutch. It's much more impressive than if they would have blown the Yankees off the field. But hey, IF THEY HAD blown the Yankees off the field in those 2 games, then we simply would have played up that aspect of it, and described them as dominating beat-downs, through and through.

"With David Ortiz expected back this week, this could be the first time Boston's lineup is at full strength all season, which is scary for the rest of the AL East as only the Blue Jays have scored more runs this year."

REAL SCARY for the real of the A.L. East. Everyone is quivering in their boots about David Ortiz being back, and the Red Sox' lineup being AT FULL-STRENGTH. OOOHHH.

"The Red Sox do need to get a bit more out of Adrian Gonzalez if they want to make a big push though, as his 106 wRC+ would be his lowest of any season with 100 games and he has not taken a walk since June 24."

When making any sort of criticism of this team, be sure to TIPTOE VERY CAREFULLY with our choice of words ....... "The Red Sox do need to get a bit more out of Adrian Gonzalez, as his numbers are cra ....... eh, I mean his 106 wRC+ would be the lowest of any season with 100 games."

P.S. Our deepest apologies to both Adrian Gonzalez individually and the Red Sox as a whole if you feel that we may have dissed you in the slightest way with that last Adrian Gonzalez statement. That WAS NOT our intention. If you deem it necessary, we will promptly issue a public apology for sullying the name and the reputation of your players and your team.

To paraphrase:

"Are you still there bandwagon red sox fans? Please come back! We love you! Really, we really love your mone... er you guys!"

[DrungoHazewood]

As much as I dislike SI, the only real problem I have with this list is that they've apparently completely ignored the mountains of evidence that the AL is a .550 league compared to the NL. As a shortcut, you can probably add five wins (or 50 runs, however you want to do it) to any AL team to get their equivalent NL performance.

But ranking by Pythag? No problem there. That's almost certainly a better predictor of the next two months than the last four months' W/L record.

[Thedan0909]

I don't have a problem with that. In fact, even if it wasn't based on that, and if it was their opinion that the Red Sox are better than us, I wouldn't have a problem with that, either. We're only 2 and-a-half games ahead of them, and there is a long way to go. But, the comments section is not based on the Pythagorean W/L. I mean really, can they at least try to give a token effort at being not so biased toward a team that has been hovering at or below .500 the entire season ??? Jeez.

Can't argue with that sentiment. I almost like it in a weird way though. It only makes it more laughable when the Sox end up missing out on the playoffs and everyone is so surprised.

[paulcoates]

Tell ya what, why dont we just apply these stats to the draft order. Stats dont show the overall effort, which is what power rankings should be about

[Hang10]

These are hilarious. O's 23rd, Red Sox EIGHTH.

This was apparently as of before the Yankees series (although it just came across my twitter feed) but still - 23rd? And that appears to be up from 24th last week!

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2012/baseball/mlb/07/30/fangraphs-power-rankings-week-16/index.html#?eref=twitter_feed

Power rankings are mostly based on run differential, so they are often worth next to nothing, as they are in this case.

[Frobby]

I will never understand why we have so many threads about these power rankings. This is baseball, not the BCS. There's only one ranking that matters, and that's the standings.

[DrungoHazewood]

Power rankings are mostly based on run differential, so they are often worth next to nothing, as they are in this case.

Next to nothing if all you care about is the current standings. Run differential is far more predictive than current standings, so if you're looking for what's likely to happen over the next couple months power rankings based on run differential are much better than current wins and losses. I know that's not kind to the Orioles, but that's beside the point.

[Pedro Cerrano]

Next to nothing if all you care about is the current standings. Run differential is far more predictive than current standings, so if you're looking for what's likely to happen over the next couple months power rankings based on run differential are much better than current wins and losses. I know that's not kind to the Orioles, but that's beside the point.

I don't know about that. It seems to me that the Orioles play a bunch of close games and then get shillacked whenever one of their "bad" starters takes the hill (and against Texas). To me, that is indicative of the team needing a few better starting pitchers but not necessarily about how good the talent of the overall team is.