While preparing for careers out of school, students do different things. Advertising majors may make a portfolio of their ideas and skills. Business majors keep items from an internship to show what they have learned. Doctors and nurses study for years before becoming professionals.
In a last ditch attempt to work in a MLB front office, I have decided to put together a portfolio of sorts. I have created a few spreadsheets that would show how much value a certain player has. I will do this on a team-by-team basis, but if I see something of interest, I will post it here as an article. I hope to have a Google spreadsheet done by the time spring training starts. If I’m correct, I hope to have a job in baseball one day. If I’m totally off, at least I learned a little about Excel.
To show value, I will produce something very similar to FanGraphs player pages with a few twists in formulas. Value will be based on wOBA and Runs Above Average, which translates to Wins Above Average and then to a dollar value for everyone to understand.
I will not exactly be copying FanGraphs formula. I have reversed engineered their site to my spreadsheet. In my theoretical season, there will be no pinch hitters because that adjusts the positional value of each player. Also, I have made hit by pitches (HBP) and walks (BB) of equal importance in wOBA, because a HBP and BB have the same result and shouldn’t be differentiated. In wOBA, I have also removed reaching base due to an error. Those are pointless to predict and are luck based. A player should not be valued based to luck.
I will be posting something close to everyday based on the progress I make. My first projection is for Kosuke Fukudome, and that should be posted tomorrow.
I’m goin’ in.
