I realize that WAR is not a perfect stat ( as if there is one) but at least it does include all statistical facets of a players value.
Here are the leaders in Astros history in games per bWAR
Among position players with at least 250 games played.
If Carlos can get in 150-160 games in one season, no doubt he will be in the mvp conversation. Letâs just hope it is with Houston. Would really like to see us lock him up before he gets into free agency but I doubt that will happen.
Iâm not familiar with that stat. Iâm assuming the lower number is better?
bWAR is Wins Above Replacement as calculated by Baseball-Reference.com. The higher, the better. I assume this is just a back calculation into a rate based on games played, in which case the lower the better.
Thanks HH. Iâm familiar with WAR but for some reason the âbâ in front of it threw me and I thought it was some variable off of the WAR formula.
I should learn not to post before my second cup of coffee.
There is not a standard way to calculate WAR. Numerous publications have their method, but I think, and Iâm sure others will correct me if Iâm wrong, it comes down mostly to two widely referenced methods. One is a calculation by Fangraphs, referred to as fWAR, and the other is done by baseball-reference and is referred to as bWAR or sometimes rWAR. There are also other methods, such as Baseball Prospectus (WARP) and a method by Jay Jaffe (JAWS) which tries to evaluate a playerâs HOF worthiness. They are slightly different calculations of the same ideaâŚbasically how good is Player X with respect to the average player at his position.
This is essentially correct except that I would not lump in JAWS. It factors not just WAR but other factors like awards and raw numbers to create a comparison to other Hall of Famers, not to an average or replacement player.
Doesnât JAWS also factor something like âbest seven year stretchâ or something like that?
JAWS averages career WAR with the WAR from a playerâs best 7-year stretch. Itâs designed to limit giving a player too much credit for simple longevity. WAR is a counting stat, so this sort of factors more heavily a playerâs peak years. It still counts the career WAR, just sort of normalizes it.
If I understand the numbers right, itâs not something you can calculate at home? That you just have to take the publicationâs number and go with it?
FanGraphs publishes their methodology but I donât recall if all of the factors are readily available
Iâd like to make a run at getting McHugh back in the fold for depth if heâs right. Could help in rotation or the pen.
Reportedly the Astros have signed former Dodgersâ reliever Pedro Baez. The 32 year old posted a 3.03 ERA for LA in 7 seasons for them and a 1.096 WHIP.
Pitch usage and velo over last 4 seasons per his Fangraphs page (always an awesome resource):
Looks like a $6-7MM AAV on his 2 year contractâŚ
Not a reliever that I had at the top of my list but he is plenty experienced in some key situations. Thatâs a huge plus. Fastball velo and strikeouts dropped this past season but hopefully that was due to the strange COVID season issues. Hoping he rebounds to prior year velos with a full and regular spring training.
One other guarantee with Baez. Our games in which he pitches just got 5 minutes longer. 
Baezâs teammate on the LAD from 2015 onwardsâŚ
With the signing of Baez, we are now full up on the 40 man if Iâm not mistaken. Since we need at least one, if not two outfielders, not to mention back of the rotation pitching depth, some deal making may be in order.
Iâm guessing with the signing of Stanek and Baez we are done with bullpen additions???
I hope we still are in on Hand.
Me too. Canât believe we didnât claim him when we had the chance.
Baez deal is 2 years with a guaranteed $12.5M. There is a 500K signing bonus and successive salaries of $4.5M and $5.5M. Option for third year at $7.5M with a $2.5M buyout. There are other incentives as well.
The buyout sans escalator clauses is $2MM so thatâs how you get to the guarantee of $12.5MM ($500K + $4.5MM + $5.5MM + $2MM).
So the AAV on the contract is $6.25MM. And if youâre in to this type of thing, Spotrac has already updated the Astros CBT payroll for 2021 which is now at $182MM (which is the 5th highest payroll after the Yankees, Dodgers, Mets and Red Sox).