With the regular season nearing an end, I thought that now would be a pretty good time to take a look at the ’09 team in comparison w/ the ’04, ’05, and ’06 teams. How good is this team compared to the 100-win teams or the team that won the World Series? I compared the main hitters on the 4 teams by wOBA, UZR/150, and WAR. I compared th pitchers using FIP and WAR. For players who came over mid-season, I used their full season numbers so that we could more accurately compare the quality of the players rather than the amount of their contributions to the team.
The 2004 Cardinals:
| Pos |
Player |
wOBA/FIP |
UZR/150 |
WAR |
| C |
Matheny |
.273 |
|
0.4 |
| 1B |
Pujols |
.439 |
3.6 |
7.9 |
| 2B |
Womack |
.330 |
4.9 |
2.8 |
| SS |
Renteria |
.312 |
0.4 |
1.9 |
| 3B |
Rolen |
.421 |
22.1 |
8.8 |
| LF |
Sanders |
.341 |
10.3 |
2.2 |
| CF |
Edmonds |
.436 |
1.3 |
8.1 |
| RF |
Walker |
.432 |
0.7 |
3.2 |
| SP1 |
Carp |
3.85 |
|
3.2 |
| SP2 |
Morris |
4.93 |
|
1.1 |
| SP3 |
Williams |
4.10 |
|
2.7 |
| SP4 |
Suppan |
4.77 |
|
1.3 |
| SP5 |
Marquis |
4.55 |
|
1.9 |
| MR |
Kline |
3.68 |
|
0.5 |
| SU |
Tavarez |
2.92 |
|
1.3 |
| CL |
Izzy |
3.02 |
|
1.1 |
| Total WAR |
|
|
|
48.4 |
The ’05 Cardinals:
| Pos |
Player |
wOBA/FIP |
UZR/150 |
WAR |
| C |
Molina |
.282 |
|
0.9 |
| 1B |
Pujols |
.436 |
1.0 |
7.7 |
| 2B |
Grudz |
.321 |
9.9 |
3.0 |
| SS |
Eckstein |
.335 |
-3.6 |
3.4 |
| 3B |
Rolen |
.308 |
21.7 |
1.5 |
| LF |
Sanders |
.384 |
-5.5 |
2.1 |
| CF |
Edmonds |
.386 |
9.7 |
5.9 |
| RF |
Walker |
.382 |
-12.2 |
2.0 |
| SP1 |
Carp |
2.90 |
|
6.8 |
| SP2 |
Morris |
3.99 |
|
2.7 |
| SP3 |
Mulder |
4.30 |
|
2.2 |
| SP4 |
Suppan |
4.53 |
|
1.5 |
| SP5 |
Marquis |
4.95 |
|
0.7 |
| MR |
Reyes |
3.12 |
|
1.1 |
| SU |
Tavarez |
4.01 |
|
0.3 |
| CL |
Izzy |
3.60 |
|
0.7 |
| Total WAR |
|
|
|
42.5 |
And now for the World Champs:
| Pos |
Player |
wOBA/FIP |
UZR/150 |
WAR |
| C |
Molina |
.261 |
|
-0.2 |
| 1B |
Pujols |
.448 |
4.5 |
7.7 |
| 2B |
Belliard |
.313 |
-0.8 |
1.3 |
| SS |
Eckstein |
.310 |
-0.6 |
1.5 |
| 3B |
Rolen |
.373 |
14.4 |
5.6 |
| LF |
Duncan |
.399 |
-7.5 |
2.0 |
| CF |
Edmonds |
.350 |
7.6 |
2.6 |
| RF |
Encarnacion |
.320 |
7.1 |
1.1 |
| SP1 |
Carp |
3.44 |
|
5.2 |
| SP2 |
Suppan |
4.70 |
|
1.7 |
| SP3 |
Weaver |
5.47 |
|
0.5 |
| SP4 |
Mulder |
6.01 |
|
-0.4 |
| SP5 |
Marquis |
5.90 |
|
-0.6 |
| MR |
Looper |
3.46 |
|
1.0 |
| SU |
Wainwright |
3.31 |
|
1.1 |
| CL |
Izzy |
5.70 |
|
-1.0 |
| Total WAR |
|
|
|
29.1 |
How in the hell did that team win the World Series? Especially when the others didn’t!
And this year’s Cards (all numbers are to date and are not final – duh!)
| Pos |
Player |
wOBA/FIP |
UZR/150 |
WAR |
| C |
Molina |
.331 |
|
2.9 |
| 1B |
Pujols |
.460 |
0.8 |
8.2 |
| 2B |
Skip |
.335 |
-6.9 |
1.0 |
| SS |
Ryan |
.317 |
14.4 |
3.0 |
| 3B |
DeRosa |
.330 |
-6.8 |
1.6 |
| LF |
Holliday |
.391 |
2.1 |
5.0 |
| CF |
Rasmus |
.320 |
14.0 |
2.6 |
| RF |
Ludwick |
.341 |
1.0 |
1.9 |
| SP1 |
Carp |
2.75 |
|
5.1 |
| SP2 |
Wainwright |
3.25 |
|
4.9 |
| SP3 |
Pineiro |
3.02 |
|
5.0 |
| SP4 |
Lohse |
4.57 |
|
0.7 |
| SP5 |
Wellemeyer |
5.26 |
|
-0.1 |
| MR |
Miller |
3.48 |
|
0.4 |
| SU |
McClellan |
4.18 |
|
0.1 |
| CL |
Franklin |
3.27 |
|
0.9 |
| Total WAR |
|
|
|
43.2 |
