I don’t like the Giants’ offense. Not much to say. I just got off work and I’m beat. The Giants also just lost a heart breaker to the Reds 2-1. There’s nothing like pounding out 11 hits in a game and only scoring 1 run. That’s Giants baseball for you.
Anyways, here’s a quick graph post today on the Giants team composition by wins above replacement. I’m sure you’ve already got a feeling for who is adding the most to the team, but it’s cool to see it all in one format regardless. WAR values are graciously provided by FanGraphs.
Tim Lincecum is, of course, otherworldly good at baseball. He’s added the most to this team by a large number. You could think of it this way, Tim Lincecum’s value (at present time) = 2 Pablo Sandovals. Outside of Lincecum, Sandoval, and Cain, the Giants don’t have much. Consider this, the total wins above replacement for this selection of players adds up to 32.9 wins above replacement. Lincecum, Sandoval, and Cain account for 13.6 of those wins or about 41.3% of the team’s value. Nearly half of the Giants team value is coming from 3 players. Three players! Renteria’s slice of the pie is almost non-existent. He’s played above replacement level this year by only the tiniest of margins.
Even with a large positional adjustment, Molina’s 2009 season has been poor. It still wouldn’t be a bad idea to move him down in the lineup. The much maligned Fred Lewis has actually been just as valuable to the Giants as Molina has been. Try explaining that sometime to the hordes of Fred Haters out there. It’s not a good sign for Molina, even more so when you consider that he’s had 130 more PA’s on Fred this season, and yet, they are worth exactly the same in the big scheme of things.
Also, major props to Papa Dubs. He’s been pitching out of his gourd this season (9.86 K/9, 3.40 BB/9, 2.55 FIP, 3.92 tRA).