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Well, as good as possible.

But one of the concerns expressed in recent days, by myself and by others, has been more or less as follows: if Vernon Wells is your best hitter, just how good an offense can you have?

I have suggested repeatedly that Wells is essentially a Joe Carter type hitter, albeit distinctly better. (And Wells is also younger than Carter at the same stage of their careers, and much better defensively - but these are factors more relevant to his overall value as a player - here, we're just concerned with his current level as an offensive force.)

Joe Carter was the best hitter on the Toronto Blue Jays just once in his seven year tenure - that was his first year here, for the 1991 AL East champs. In 1992, Winfield and Alomar were clearly better, and you can make a case for Olerud and Maldonado as well. In 1993, Olerud, Alomar, and Molitor were all significantly better than Carter. The Jays were a below .500 team for the rest of his tenure, and he was never the best hitter on those teams, either. Molitor and Olerud were definitely better in 1994, and I'll spare you the gory details from his final three years in Toronto, as Carter by then was very much a below-average hitter.

Anyway, enough of the Joe Carter digression. I have another Data Table! Two, actually!

The first one is really simple: it lists the 100 best hitters in the major leagues. They are ranked by Runs Created Per Game, as calculated by me, using as much data as I could (in other words, CS and GDP and HBP are part of these rankings.)

The second Table simply lists the 30 teams and notes how many players it has from each group of the Top 100 hitters. This is the fun part!

Ready? Here's the Hot 100!

  Player          Team GPL  AB   R   H 2B 3B HR RBI SB CS  BB GDP HBP BAVG  OBP  SLG  RC RC/27

 1 Derrek Lee      ChC 146 551 114 188 47  3 44 102 15  3  80  11   5 .341 .425 .677 162 11.57
 2 Albert Pujols   StL 150 553 119 186 35  2 39 109 16  2  88  18   8 .336 .433 .618 149 10.39
 3 Alex Rodriguez  NYY 148 554 112 176 26  1 44 118 15  6  83   8  15 .318 .419 .606 146 10.08
 4 Jason Giambi    NYY 128 386  66 108 14  0 30  80  0  0  95   7  17 .280 .441 .549 103  9.72
 5 David Ortiz     Bos 146 550 109 163 37  1 43 132  1  0  93  13   1 .296 .394 .602 134  9.04
 6 Carlos Delgado  Fla 132 481  77 147 39  3 31 108  0  0  63  13  17 .306 .400 .593 115  8.97
 7 Jason Bay       Pit 149 555 103 169 42  6 30  90 19  0  83  12   6 .305 .397 .564 131  8.92
 8 Travis Hafner   Cle 124 436  82 131 36  0 26  90  0  0  70   9   9 .300 .405 .562 103  8.85
 9 Todd Helton     Col 130 460  75 142 39  1 17  66  3  0  96  13   8 .309 .435 .509 107  8.70
10 Bobby Abreu     Phi 149 540  97 161 34  1 24  96 31  9 107   5   5 .298 .416 .498 124  8.50
 
11 Vlad Guerrero   LAA 131 485  90 154 28  2 31 103 13  1  54  15   8 .318 .391 .575 108  8.40
12 Brian Giles      SD 144 499  84 150 36  7 14  76 12  5 110  13   6 .301 .424 .485 112  8.23
13 Miguel Cabrera  Fla 147 571 103 185 39  2 32 107  1  0  59  17   2 .324 .386 .567 122  8.20
14 Ken Griffey     Cin 128 491  85 148 30  0 35  92  0  1  54   9   3 .301 .369 .576 106  8.08
15 Adam Dunn       Cin 147 498  98 123 32  2 37  92  4  2 102   5  11 .247 .385 .542 112  7.90
16 Brian Roberts   Bal 141 555  91 174 45  6 18  71 27 10  67   5   3 .314 .388 .514 116  7.90
17 Morgan Ensberg  Hou 137 476  78 133 27  2 35  96  6  6  77  11   8 .279 .385 .565 105  7.84
18 Lance Berkman   Hou 119 422  68 124 34  1 19  68  3  0  81  17   3 .294 .410 .514  90  7.70
19 Manny Ramirez   Bos 139 505  99 145 30  1 36 125  1  0  73  19   9 .287 .383 .564 108  7.69
20 Pat Burrell     Phi 141 508  73 144 23  1 30 111  0  0  92  11   3 .283 .393 .510 107  7.69
 
21 Mark Teixeira   Tex 150 600 106 177 36  2 41 132  4  0  66  18  10 .295 .373 .567 126  7.68
22 Jim Edmonds     StL 135 442  84 115 35  0 28  84  4  5  90   5   4 .260 .388 .529  96  7.68
23 Troy Glaus      Ari 137 497  76 131 29  1 36  93  4  2  76   7   7 .264 .366 .543 104  7.46
24 Gary Sheffield  NYY 119 530  94 156 26  0 28 102 10  2  73  12  10 .294 .384 .502 107  7.44
25 David Wright    NYM 147 527  88 164 40  1 21  89 17  7  66  15   6 .311 .392 .510 106  7.43
26 Michael Young   Tex 147 622 106 205 37  5 22  83  5  2  52  18   3 .330 .383 .511 119  7.34
27 Aramis Ramirez  ChC 123 463  72 140 30  0 31  92  0  1  35  15   6 .302 .358 .568  89  7.11
28 Jeff Kent       LAD 141 519  95 153 34  0 27 100  6  2  68  18   8 .295 .382 .516 101  7.10
29 Andruw Jones    Atl 149 552  92 149 24  3 50 125  3  3  61  18  12 .270 .351 .596 111  7.09
30 David Dellucci  Tex 123 419  95 106 17  5 28  64  5  3  76   7   4 .253 .371 .518  85  7.09

31 Paul Konerko    CWS 144 529  89 144 21  0 37  90  0  0  72   9   5 .272 .363 .522 103  7.05
32 Nick Johnson    Was 140 415  60 121 33  2 14  66  3  7  70  10   7 .292 .404 .482  81  7.04
33 Marcus Giles    Atl 145 539  98 162 45  4 12  56 16  3  61   6   6 .301 .375 .466 100  7.02
34 Chase Utley     Phi 134 491  79 139 33  6 22  89 13  3  59  10   7 .283 .363 .509  94  6.96
35 Geoff Jenkins   Mil 135 496  80 143 38  1 22  78  0  0  49  11  17 .288 .369 .502  93  6.91
36 Richie Sexson   Sea 145 517  91 135 33  1 37 110  1  1  80  14   2 .261 .365 .544 101  6.90
37 Cliff Floyd     NYM 137 507  78 140 21  1 32  93 11  2  53   5   9 .276 .354 .511  95  6.89
38 Johnny Damon    Bos 136 572 104 182 33  6  9  72 14  1  47   5   2 .318 .367 .444  99  6.77
39 Derek Jeter     NYY 138 599 111 183 25  5 16  60 13  5  69   5   4 .306 .384 .444 106  6.75
40 Jason Varitek   Bos 122 434  66 122 29  1 21  66  2  0  56  10   3 .281 .365 .498  80  6.74

41 Chad Tracy      Ari 133 449  62 133 28  3 23  58  3  1  31  10   7 .296 .348 .526  81  6.69
42 Jhonny Peralta  Cle 128 453  69 130 33  3 22  73  0  2  47  11   3 .287 .355 .519  82  6.60
43 Miguel Tejada   Bal 148 596  82 184 48  5 25  91  5  1  37  22   7 .309 .355 .532 105  6.54
44 Hideki Matsui   NYY 148 576  98 173 42  3 21 110  2  2  57  15   3 .300 .362 .493 102  6.53
45 Shawn Green     Ari 145 533  84 157 35  4 22  73  7  3  59  17   4 .295 .364 .499  96  6.52
46 Lyle Overbay    Mil 132 486  75 133 30  1 18  69  0  0  73   7   0 .274 .368 .451  85  6.39
47 Victor Martinez Cle 145 496  65 149 25  0 19  74  0  1  54  15   5 .300 .370 .466  85  6.35
48 Placido Polanco Det 147 458  77 151 24  1  8  53  4  3  32  11   5 .330 .385 .439  75  6.30
49 Alfonso Soriano Tex 111 592  99 164 40  2 35  99 25  2  30   9   7 .277 .316 .529 101  6.23
50 Emil Brown       KC 121 489  67 140 31  5 14  78  8  1  42   6   9 .286 .347 .456  82  6.23

51 Coco Crisp      Cle 145 536  80 164 39  4 14  65 15  6  40  14   9 .306 .351 .472  90  6.21
52 Sean Casey      Cin 147 529  75 165 32  0  9  58  2  0  48  10   4 .312 .371 .423  85  6.16
53 Jose Guillen    Was 140 528  80 153 29  2 24  75  1  1  30  12  18 .290 .344 .489  88  6.13
54 Carlos Lee      Mil 141 573  82 156 39  0 32 106 12  4  53  12   5 .272 .333 .508  98  6.11
55 Randy Winn      Sea 117 559  75 164 43  4 16  54 18  9  46  11  11 .293 .351 .470  94  6.10
56 Raul Ibanez     Sea 149 564  85 164 30  2 19  84  9  4  63  11   2 .291 .362 .452  94  6.10
57 Ichiro Suzuki   Sea 149 621 107 188 18 12 15  68 32  8  44   4   4 .303 .350 .443 100  6.08
58 Ray Durham       SF 135 450  65 135 30  0 12  58  4  3  44   8   1 .300 .368 .447  73  6.08
59 Mike Sweeney     KC 113 435  57 127 37  0 20  74  3  0  30  15   4 .292 .340 .515  72  6.06
60 Bill Mueller    Bos 135 473  66 139 33  3  9  58  0  0  53  12   7 .294 .369 .433  78  6.05

61 Grady Sizemore  Cle 133 577 100 167 32 11 20  77 21 10  49  14   9 .289 .349 .487  97  6.04
62 Joe Mauer       Min 139 445  55 135 25  2  9  53 12  1  57  22   6 .303 .381 .429  74  5.97
63 Carl Crawford    TB 148 619  96 185 31 15 15  80 44  6  25   8   2 .299 .327 .470  98  5.91
64 David DeJesus    KC 133 461  69 135 31  6  9  56  5  5  42   9   9 .293 .359 .445  74  5.89
65 Jermaine Dye    CWS 149 485  68 132 27  2 28  78 10  3  32   6   2 .272 .328 .509  78  5.85
66 Kevin Mench     Tex 134 512  69 139 33  3 25  70  4  2  50  14   5 .271 .340 .494  84  5.84
67 Julio Lugo       TB 147 579  81 170 33  6  5  52 36  9  54   4   5 .294 .357 .397  90  5.73
68 Tadahito Iguchi CWS 132 462  69 129 24  5 14  66 14  5  45   9   7 .279 .347 .444  73  5.71
69 Bill Hall       Mil 133 454  61 127 34  3 16  55 17  4  34   7   0 .280 .328 .474  71  5.71
70 Jorge Posada    NYY 131 433  61 114 21  0 16  62  1  0  61   6   2 .263 .354 .423  69  5.70

71 Felipe Lopez    Cin 145 532  84 152 31  5 20  72 15  6  46  15   2 .286 .340 .476  84  5.65
72 S. Hillenbrand  Tor 144 562  86 168 36  2 17  78  4  1  25  21  22 .299 .351 .461  87  5.62
73 Craig Biggio    Hou 143 542  86 143 36  1 22  62 11  1  35   7  17 .264 .327 .456  84  5.56
74 Joe Randa       Cin 144 513  68 142 39  2 16  63  0  1  47  14  10 .277 .340 .454  79  5.55
75 Eric Chavez     Oak 137 576  85 156 35  1 25  94  6  0  57  19   6 .271 .334 .465  90  5.53
76 Melvin Mora     Bal 135 540  70 150 28  1 20  74  7  4  43   9   9 .278 .339 .444  82  5.52
77 J. Encarnacion  Fla 120 473  58 136 25  3 16  74  4  5  38   8   1 .288 .350 .455  71  5.49
78 Luis Castillo   Fla 118 434  70 129 12  3  4  30 10  7  64  11   1 .297 .388 .366  65  5.42
79 Brady Clark     Mil 132 550  84 167 30  0 11  44 10 13  42  13  16 .304 .369 .418  82  5.42
80 Kevin Millar    Bos 127 430  56 119 27  1  9  50  0  1  49  10   8 .277 .356 .407  65  5.42
 
81 Ryan Klesko      SD 125 412  53 103 19  1 17  56  3  4  62   6   1 .250 .349 .425  63  5.35
82 Vernon Wells    Tor 142 567  71 155 29  3 26  88  4  3  41  11   1 .273 .320 .473  84  5.35
83 Jorge Cantu      TB 129 556  67 160 38  1 25 105  1  0  18  17   7 .288 .315 .495  81  5.33
84 Carlos Beltran  NYM 138 529  77 144 31  2 15  70 17  6  53   8   2 .272 .337 .423  78  5.29
85 Rafael Furcal   Atl 143 578  90 160 27 10 11  54 42 10  57  11   1 .277 .340 .415  86  5.28
86 Jeromy Burnitz  ChC 148 559  78 148 31  2 23  83  5  4  55  11   2 .265 .330 .451  83  5.26
87 Craig Counsell  Ari 138 539  78 140 31  3  9  41 24  7  73   7   8 .260 .354 .378  79  5.18
88 David Eckstein  StL 147 586  82 169 24  7  7  56 10  7  55  13  13 .288 .360 .389  84  5.17
89 Brad Wilkerson  Was 138 526  70 132 36  7 11  55  7 10  77   6   6 .251 .352 .409  78  5.14
90 Garrett Atkins  Col 124 456  56 129 27  0 13  77  0  2  45  17   5 .283 .351 .428  66  5.14

91 Jay Gibbons     Bal 139 444  64 118 27  3 22  63  0  0  22   9   3 .266 .301 .489  64  5.13
92 Ben Broussard   Cle 129 427  56 109 24  4 19  62  2  2  30   4   4 .255 .309 .464  62  5.13
93 Hank Blalock    Tex 149 602  77 162 32  0 24  87  1  0  48  12   2 .269 .323 .442  86  5.12
94 Eric Hinske     Tor 134 425  72 111 26  2 12  58  7  4  45   8   8 .261 .340 .416  62  5.11
95 Preston Wilson  Was 129 476  69 125 28  2 24  84  4  6  43  17   7 .263 .331 .481  71  5.10
96 Chone Figgins   LAA 146 596 101 171 24  8  8  52 51 17  55   9   0 .287 .345 .394  85  5.09
97 Craig Monroe    Det 144 516  61 143 26  3 18  86  8  3  40  15   3 .277 .326 .444  73  5.07
98 Matt Lawton     NYY 135 493  66 125 30  1 12  51 18  9  68  10  12 .254 .355 .391  73  5.07
99 Ronnie Belliard Cle 133 487  65 139 34  1 14  70  2  2  30  13   1 .285 .324 .446  68  5.06
100 Luis Gonzalez  Ari 137 538  80 142 30  0 21  72  4  1  71  27   5 .264 .358 .437  79  5.06
As it turns out, Wells' recent struggles (going into yesterday's game, he'd gone 14-75, .187, over his last 20 games) mean he doesn't even rank as the top hitter on his own team anymore.

And here is how those hitters are distributed around the majors. The teams are ordered by games won, and the figure in parentheses tells us where the team's best hitter ranks:

Team              1-10  11-20  21-30  31-40  41-50  51-60  61-70  71-80  81-90  91-100  TOTAL
St. Louis (2)      1      -      1      -      -      -      -      -      1      -       3
Chicago Sox (31)   -      -      -      1      -      -      2      -      -      -       3
Boston (5)         1      1      -      2      -      1      -      1      -      -       6
Cleveland (8)      1      -      -      -      2      1      1      -      -      2       7
NY Yankees (3)     2      -      1      1      1      -      1      -      -      1       7
Atlanta (29)       -      -      1      1      -      -      -      -      1      -       3
LA Angels (11)     -      1      -      -      -      -      -      -      -      1       2
Oakland (75)       -      -      -      -      -      -      -      1      -      -       1
Houston (17)       -      2      -      -      -      -      -      1      -      -       3
Philadelphia (10)  1      1      -      1      -      -      -      -      -      -       3
Florida (6)        1      1      -      -      -      -      -      2      -      -       4
Washington (32)    -      -      -      1      -      1      -      -      1      1       4
Minnesota (62)     -      -      -      -      -      -      1      -      -      -       1
Texas (21)         -      -      3      -      1      -      1      -      -      1       6
San Diego (12)     -      1      -      -      -      -      -      -      1      -       2
Chicago Cubs (1)   1      -      1      -      -      -      -      -      1      -       3
Toronto (72)       -      -      -      -      -      -      -      1      1      1       3
Milwaukee (35)     -      -      -      1      1      1      1      1      -      -       5
NY Mets (25)       -      -      1      1      -      -      -      -      1      -       3
Baltimore (16)     -      1      -      -      1      -      -      1      -      1       4
Cincinnati (14)    -      2      -      -      -      1      -      2      -      -       5
San Francisco (58) -      -      -      -      -      1      -      -      -      -       1
Detroit (48)       -      -      -      -      1      -      -      -      -      1       2
LA Dodgers (28)    -      -      1      -      -      -      -      -      -      -       1
Arizona (23)       -      -      1      -      2      -      -      -      1      1       5
Seattle (36)       -      -      -      1      -      3      -      -      -      -       4
Tampa Bay (63)     -      -      -      -      -      -      2      -      1      -       3
Pittsburgh (7)     1      -      -      -      -      -      -      -      -      -       1
Colorado (9)       1      -      -      -      -      -      -      -      1      -       2
Kansas City (50)   -      -      -      -      1      1      1      -      -      -       3
And there is a team whose top hitter has been roughly equivalent to Toronto's best hitter; and this team, unlike Toronto, doesn't even have any other players in the Hot 100. That team is the Oakland A's, who sport an 82-67 record and are in the thick of the hunt for a post-season berth.

There are a couple of factors completely ignored by my quick and dirty look that really should be taken into account. First, of course, the A's play in a pitcher's park while the Blue Jays play in a hitter's park. Even more important, the A's have three players who would probably rank higher than either Eric Chavez or Shea Hillenbrand, but none of them have had quite enough plate appearances this year: Mark Ellis, Dan Johnson, and Bobby Crosby.

The A's and the Blue Jays stand 5th and 6th in the AL (9th and 10th) in the majors in scoring runs this year. It obviously isn't fair to compare their overall output to that of NL teams like the Cubs or the Marlins. It's true that despite the presence of such elite offensive players as Derrek Lee and Carlos Delgado, the Blue Jays have outscored both the Cubs and the Marlins. Obviously this is because of the designated hitter. However, it is worth pointing out that Toronto and Oakland have also outscored AL teams featuring Big Scary Bats like Vladimir Guerrero, Paul Konerko, and Miguel Tejada.

How Good Should Your Best Hitter Be? | 4 comments | Create New Account
The following comments are owned by whomever posted them. This site is not responsible for what they say.
Andrew K - Monday, September 19 2005 @ 06:38 AM EDT (#128294) #
Magpie, I like seeing this data but I do feel that it's flawed without correction for park factors (or does RC/27 involve that?)

In any case, I think there is a tendency to overanalyse. We need clever tools to *predict* next year's offensive effectiveness, but to recap what has gone before it is easy. Count the number of runs scored, suitably adjusted for park factor. I don't have the numbers to hand, but I think we fall rather short on this count.
Pistol - Monday, September 19 2005 @ 08:49 AM EDT (#128295) #
Here's the AL top 50 by EqA (that is, adjusted for park), min 250 outs:
#	NAME	       TEAM	POS	PA	EqA	
1	Alex Rodriguez	NYA	3B	644	0.348	
2	Jason Giambi	NYA	1B	492	0.347	
3	Vlad Guerrero	ANA	RF	542	0.336	
4	Travis Hafner	CLE	DH	507	0.335	
5	David Ortiz	BOS	DH	637	0.334	
6	Brian Roberts	BAL	2B	615	0.318	
7	Manny Ramirez	BOS	LF	581	0.318	
8	Gary Sheffield	NYA	RF	602	0.314	
9	Richie Sexson	SEA	1B	595	0.314	
10	Mark Teixeira	TEX	1B	667	0.313	
11	Miguel Tejada	BAL	SS	631	0.309	
12	Mike Young	TEX	SS	668	0.307	
13	Mike Sweeney	KCA	DH	461	0.304	
14	Paul Konerko	CHA	1B	598	0.303	
15	Jhonny Peralta	CLE	SS	494	0.302	
16	David Dellucci	TEX	DH	490	0.301	
17	Jason Varitek	BOS	C	488	0.301	
18	Hideki Matsui	NYA	LF	628	0.300	
19	Derek Jeter	NYA	SS	669	0.299	
20	Matt Stairs	KCA	1B	411	0.298	
21	Raul Ibanez	SEA	DH	621	0.298	
22	Victor Martinez	CLE	C	547	0.298	
23	Mark Ellis	OAK	2B	418	0.297	
24	Grady Sizemore	CLE	CF	623	0.296	
25	Rondell White	DET	LF	396	0.296	
26	Joe Mauer	MIN	C	495	0.292	
27	Emil Brown	KCA	RF	530	0.291	
28	Johnny Damon	BOS	CF	614	0.291	
29	Carl Crawford	TBA	LF	639	0.290	
30	Coco Crisp	CLE	LF	567	0.290	
31	Ichiro Suzuki	SEA	RF	660	0.290	
32	David Dejesus	KCA	CF	512	0.289	
33	Jorge Cantu	TBA	2B	571	0.289	
34	Jermaine Dye	CHA	RF	519	0.287	
35	Trot Nixon	BOS	RF	406	0.287	
36	Alfonso Soriano	TEX	2B	621	0.286	
37	Julio Lugo	TBA	SS	629	0.286	
38	Kevin Mench	TEX	LF	559	0.286	
39	Rafael Palmeiro	BAL	1B	414	0.285	
40	Bill Mueller	BOS	3B	526	0.284	
41	S Hillenbrand	TOR	1B	601	0.283	
42	Melvin Mora	BAL	3B	583	0.281	
43	Dmitri Young	DET	DH	504	0.280	
44	Eric Chavez	OAK	3B	627	0.280	
45	Tadahito Iguchi	CHA	2B	505	0.280	
46	Torii Hunter	MIN	CF	412	0.280	
47	Craig Monroe	DET	RF	552	0.279	
48	Adam Kennedy	ANA	2B	412	0.278	
49	Chone Figgins	ANA	3B	643	0.278	
50	Fr Catalanotto	TOR	LF	406	0.278	
And here's how the teams stack up in the AL (number of players in the top 50 in () ):
#	TEAM	EqA
1	NYA	0.275  (5)
2	BOS	0.272  (6)
3	CLE	0.266  (5)
4	TBA	0.265  (3)
5	TEX	0.265  (5)
6	BAL	0.262  (4)
7	DET	0.260  (3)
8	ANA	0.255  (3)
9	CHA	0.252  (3)
10	OAK	0.252  (2)
11	TOR	0.251  (2)
12	SEA	0.250  (3)
13	KCA	0.249  (4!)
14	MIN	0.245  (2)
Stats are all from BP.
Wildrose - Monday, September 19 2005 @ 12:05 PM EDT (#128311) #
Lots of solid work compiling both lists fellas, here's a comprehensive (some may say too comprehensive) link detailing potential 2006/2006 free agents.
Afterglow - Tuesday, September 20 2005 @ 01:10 AM EDT (#128368) #
I see from mlb4u.com that Eric Crozier was released by the NYY. Has any organization yet tried to rescue him or Josh Phelps? Or is it not worth the effort? You know, besides Phelps seeming to have no ability to connect with a baseball.
How Good Should Your Best Hitter Be? | 4 comments | Create New Account
The following comments are owned by whomever posted them. This site is not responsible for what they say.