2000 Season

Baseball Player Won-Loss Records
Home List of Articles

2000 Season

The 2000 Season as seen through the Prism of Player Won-Lost Records

Next in my continuing series of looking at individual seasons through the prism of Player won-lost records is the 2000 season.

The 2000 season was the highest-scoring season for which I have calculated Player won-lost records. In a separate article, I compare net win values for events in the 2000 American League with the values of the same events in the lowest-scoring league for which I have calculated Player won-lost records, the 1968 American League.

The Best of 2000

I calculate Player won-lost records two ways: pWins, which tie to team wins and eWins, which control for context and the ability of one's teammates. For players with more pWins than eWins, their Player wins contributed to more team wins than one might expect; for players with more eWins than pWins, just the opposite is true: their Player wins translated into fewer team wins than expected. Or more briefly: a player with more pWins than eWins was better in context, a player with more eWins than pWins was worse in context.

The top 10 players in pWins above Positional Average and Replacement Level were as follows.


		pWins over Positional Average Top 10 Players						pWins over Replacement Level Top 10 Players
	Player	pWins	pLosses	pWOPA	pWORL		Player	pWins	pLosses	pWOPA	pWORL
1	Pedro J. Martinez	16.4	7.1	9.5	11.0	1	Alex Rodriguez	23.5	15.1	9.3	11.1
2	Alex Rodriguez	23.5	15.1	9.3	11.1	2	Pedro J. Martinez	16.4	7.1	9.5	11.0
3	Barry Bonds	24.0	15.1	7.9	9.7	3	Barry Bonds	24.0	15.1	7.9	9.7
4	Jason Giambi	20.1	11.8	7.1	8.7	4	Jason Giambi	20.1	11.8	7.1	8.7
5	Jim Edmonds	21.4	14.4	6.4	8.1	5	Jeff Kent	22.6	16.4	6.4	8.2
6	Mike Piazza	17.9	11.8	6.4	7.9	6	Jim Edmonds	21.4	14.4	6.4	8.1
7	Jeff Kent	22.6	16.4	6.4	8.2	7	Randy 'Big Unit' Johnson	18.5	13.4	6.2	8.1
8	J. Kevin Brown	15.5	10.4	6.2	7.8	8	Mike Piazza	17.9	11.8	6.4	7.9
9	Randy 'Big Unit' Johnson	18.5	13.4	6.2	8.1	9	J. Kevin Brown	15.5	10.4	6.2	7.8
10	Keith Foulke	9.1	2.9	6.1	7.4	10	Greg Maddux	17.0	12.2	6.0	7.7

The top 10 players in eWins above Positional Average and Replacement Level were as follows.


		eWins over Positional Average Top 10 Players						eWins over Replacement Level Top 10 Players
	Player	eWins	eLosses	eWOPA	eWORL		Player	eWins	eLosses	eWOPA	eWORL
1	Pedro J. Martinez	16.6	6.9	9.8	11.4	1	Pedro J. Martinez	16.6	6.9	9.8	11.4
2	Alex Rodriguez	22.6	15.9	7.6	9.4	2	Alex Rodriguez	22.6	15.9	7.6	9.4
3	Barry Bonds	23.3	15.8	6.2	8.1	3	Barry Bonds	23.3	15.8	6.2	8.1
4	Randy 'Big Unit' Johnson	18.2	13.7	5.9	7.9	4	Randy 'Big Unit' Johnson	18.2	13.7	5.9	7.9
5	Jason Giambi	19.5	12.4	5.8	7.4	5	Jason Giambi	19.5	12.4	5.8	7.4
6	Carlos Delgado	21.2	14.2	5.4	7.1	6	Carlos Delgado	21.2	14.2	5.4	7.1
7	Greg Maddux	16.6	12.6	5.3	7.1	7	Greg Maddux	16.6	12.6	5.3	7.1
8	Troy Glaus	20.9	15.9	5.3	7.1	8	Troy Glaus	20.9	15.9	5.3	7.1
9	Todd Helton	22.2	14.8	5.3	7.0	9	Todd Helton	22.2	14.8	5.3	7.0
10	Jim Edmonds	20.8	15.0	5.3	7.0	10	Brian S. Giles	24.5	18.7	5.0	7.0

I take a look at some of the most interesting players of 2000 at the end of this article.

2000 Postseason

Player	Team	pWins	pLosses	pWORL
	2000 Postseason: Total

Derek Jeter	NYA	3.0	1.5	1.8
Andy Pettitte	NYA	2.2	1.0	1.4
Mariano Rivera	NYA	1.5	0.4	1.4
Benny Agbayani	NYN	2.3	1.4	0.9
Orlando Hernandez	NYA	2.1	1.5	0.9
Freddy Antonio Garcia	SEA	1.3	0.6	0.8
Timo Perez	NYN	2.0	1.3	0.7
Al Leiter	NYN	1.6	1.2	0.7
Alex Rodriguez	SEA	1.3	0.9	0.6
Roger Clemens	NYA	2.0	1.7	0.6

Top postseason players by round were as follows.

Player	Team	pWins	pLosses	Net Wins
	2000 World Series

Roger Clemens	NYA	0.7	0.2	0.5
Mariano Rivera	NYA	0.7	0.2	0.5
Derek Jeter	NYA	0.9	0.5	0.5
Andy Pettitte	NYA	0.8	0.4	0.4
Rick Reed	NYN	0.5	0.2	0.3

Player	Team	pWins	pLosses	Net Wins
	2000 Postseason: League Championship Series

Derek Jeter	NYA	1.5	0.6	0.9
Mike Hampton	NYN	1.3	0.5	0.8
Freddy Antonio Garcia	SEA	1.1	0.5	0.7
Edgardo Alfonzo	NYN	1.1	0.4	0.6
Timo Perez	NYN	1.0	0.5	0.6

Player	Team	pWins	pLosses	Net Wins
	2000 Postseason: Division Series

Jim Edmonds	SLN	0.9	0.1	0.8
Benny Agbayani	NYN	0.9	0.4	0.6
Andy Pettitte	NYA	0.9	0.4	0.5
Mariano Rivera	NYA	0.5	0.0	0.4
Fernando Vina	SLN	0.6	0.2	0.4

Best of 2000 by Factor and Position

Next, let's look at the top players in various aspects of the game.

Best by Factor: Batting, Baserunning, Pitching, Fielding

There are four basic factors for which players earn Player won-lost records: Batting, Baserunning, Pitching, and Fielding. The top players in 2000 in wins over positional average (WOPA) by factor were as follows.


Batting
		Context-Neutral					Context-Dependent
	Player	eWins	eLoss	eWOPA		Player	pWins	pLoss	pWOPA
1	Jason Giambi	16.5	9.4	7.1	1	Jason Giambi	16.9	8.9	8.0
2	Carlos Delgado	17.6	10.6	7.0	2	Barry Bonds	15.9	8.1	7.4
3	Barry Bonds	15.1	8.9	5.9	3	Carlos Delgado	17.6	10.6	7.0
4	Todd Helton	17.6	11.4	5.8	4	Alex Rodriguez	16.5	9.5	7.0
5	Sammy Sosa	17.2	11.0	5.7	5	Todd Helton	18.1	10.9	6.8
6	Gary Sheffield	15.6	9.8	5.4	6	Manny Ramirez	14.0	7.9	6.1
7	Manny Ramirez	13.6	8.3	5.3	7	Jeff Kent	16.2	10.0	5.8
8	Vladimir Guerrero Sr.	16.7	11.1	5.2	8	Gary Sheffield	15.8	9.6	5.8
9	Alex Rodriguez	15.6	10.4	5.2	9	Frank E. Thomas	16.3	10.6	5.6
10	Frank E. Thomas	16.0	10.9	5.0	10	Jim Edmonds	15.7	9.7	5.6

Positional Average excludes pitcher offense


Baserunning
		Context-Neutral					Context-Dependent
	Player	eWins	eLoss	eWOPA		Player	pWins	pLoss	pWOPA
1	Johnny Damon	2.2	1.0	1.2	1	Tom Goodwin	2.2	1.2	1.0
2	Eric Young Sr.	1.9	1.0	0.9	2	Johnny Damon	2.1	1.2	0.9
3	Tom Goodwin	2.1	1.3	0.7	3	Eric Young Sr.	1.8	1.1	0.7
4	Rafael Furcal	1.9	1.2	0.7	4	Kenny Lofton	1.6	1.0	0.6
5	Kenny Lofton	1.6	1.0	0.6	5	Roberto Alomar	1.7	1.1	0.6
6	Chris Singleton	1.3	0.7	0.6	6	Miguel Cairo	1.2	0.6	0.6
7	Tony Womack	1.6	1.0	0.6	7	Derek Jeter	1.5	0.9	0.6
8	Derek Jeter	1.5	0.9	0.5	8	Mark Grudzielanek	1.6	1.0	0.6
9	Brian S. Giles	1.3	0.8	0.5	9	Pokey Reese	1.2	0.6	0.5
10	Roberto Alomar	1.7	1.2	0.5	10	Mike Cameron	1.5	1.0	0.5

Positional Average excludes pitcher offense


Pitching
		Context-Neutral					Context-Dependent
	Player	eWins	eLoss	Net eWins		Player	pWins	pLoss	Net pWins
1	Pedro J. Martinez	15.5	7.7	7.7	1	Pedro J. Martinez	16.1	7.0	9.1
2	Randy 'Big Unit' Johnson	16.7	12.1	4.6	2	J. Kevin Brown	14.6	8.5	6.1
3	J. Kevin Brown	13.7	9.4	4.3	3	Keith Foulke	8.9	2.8	6.1
4	Greg Maddux	14.5	10.7	3.8	4	Randy 'Big Unit' Johnson	17.3	11.5	5.8
5	David Wells	15.0	12.1	2.9	5	Greg Maddux	15.2	9.9	5.3
6	Keith Foulke	7.3	4.4	2.9	6	Al Leiter	14.5	10.2	4.3
7	Mike Mussina	14.3	11.6	2.8	7	Derek Lowe	8.7	4.4	4.3
8	Mariano Rivera	7.1	4.3	2.8	8	David Wells	15.7	11.4	4.3
9	Curt Schilling	12.8	10.1	2.7	9	Robb Nen	6.2	2.5	3.8
10	Gabe White	5.3	2.6	2.7	10	Tom Glavine	13.5	9.8	3.7

Fielding by Position


Fielding, P
		Context-Neutral					Context-Dependent
	Player	eWins	eLosses	Net eWins		Player	pWins	pLosses	Net pWins
1	Wade Miller	0.4	0.1	0.2	1	Wade Miller	0.4	0.1	0.3
2	Kirk Rueter	0.3	0.1	0.2	2	Frank Castillo	0.3	0.1	0.3
3	Greg Maddux	0.5	0.2	0.2	3	Darryl Kile	0.3	0.1	0.3
4	Frank Castillo	0.3	0.1	0.2	4	Brian Moehler	0.3	0.1	0.3
5	Tom Glavine	0.3	0.1	0.2	5	Russ Ortiz	0.3	0.1	0.2


Fielding, C
		Context-Neutral					Context-Dependent
	Player	eWins	eLosses	Net eWins		Player	pWins	pLosses	Net pWins
1	Damian Miller	1.3	1.0	0.3	1	Damian Miller	1.4	0.8	0.6
2	Mike Matheny	1.7	1.4	0.3	2	Mike Matheny	1.8	1.3	0.5
3	Brad Ausmus	1.5	1.2	0.2	3	Einar Diaz	1.0	0.6	0.4
4	Henry Blanco	1.3	1.0	0.2	4	Jorge Posada	1.8	1.6	0.2
5	Paul Lo Duca	0.3	0.1	0.2	5	Alberto T. Castillo	0.7	0.5	0.2


Fielding, 1B
		Context-Neutral					Context-Dependent
	Player	eWins	eLosses	Net eWins		Player	pWins	pLosses	Net pWins
1	Todd Helton	3.2	2.4	0.8	1	John Olerud	2.9	2.1	0.8
2	Tino Martinez	2.2	1.6	0.5	2	Todd Zeile	2.7	2.0	0.7
3	John Olerud	2.7	2.3	0.4	3	Todd Helton	3.1	2.5	0.7
4	Jeff Bagwell	2.6	2.3	0.3	4	David McCarty	1.2	0.7	0.5
5	Todd Zeile	2.5	2.2	0.3	5	Jim Thome	1.7	1.3	0.5


Fielding, 2B
		Context-Neutral					Context-Dependent
	Player	eWins	eLosses	Net eWins		Player	pWins	pLosses	Net pWins
1	Pokey Reese	4.9	3.7	1.2	1	Pokey Reese	5.0	3.7	1.3
2	Damion Easley	4.7	3.7	1.0	2	Randy Velarde	5.1	3.9	1.2
3	Fernando Vina	4.1	3.4	0.8	3	Damion Easley	4.7	3.7	1.0
4	Randy Velarde	4.9	4.2	0.7	4	Fernando Vina	4.2	3.3	0.9
5	Carlos Febles	3.1	2.7	0.4	5	Luis A. Castillo	4.6	3.9	0.7


Fielding, 3B
		Context-Neutral					Context-Dependent
	Player	eWins	eLosses	Net eWins		Player	pWins	pLosses	Net pWins
1	Scott Rolen	4.0	3.0	1.0	1	Cal Ripken	2.1	1.3	0.9
2	Adrian Beltre	4.1	3.6	0.6	2	Robin Ventura	4.2	3.4	0.8
3	Vinny Castilla	2.6	2.1	0.5	3	Vinny Castilla	2.7	1.9	0.8
4	Cal Ripken	2.0	1.4	0.5	4	Troy Glaus	5.0	4.2	0.8
5	Tony Batista	4.6	4.2	0.5	5	Willie Greene	2.3	1.7	0.6


Fielding, SS
		Context-Neutral					Context-Dependent
	Player	eWins	eLosses	Net eWins		Player	pWins	pLosses	Net pWins
1	Rey Sanchez	5.1	4.5	0.6	1	Alex Rodriguez	6.0	4.9	1.1
2	Alex Rodriguez	5.7	5.1	0.6	2	Jose Valentin	6.1	5.2	0.9
3	Felix Martinez	4.8	4.2	0.6	3	Neifi Perez	6.6	5.8	0.8
4	Alex Cora	3.4	2.8	0.6	4	Alex Cora	3.5	2.7	0.8
5	Deivi Cruz	6.0	5.5	0.4	5	Edgar Renteria	5.3	4.6	0.7


Fielding, LF
		Context-Neutral					Context-Dependent
	Player	eWins	eLosses	Net eWins		Player	pWins	pLosses	Net pWins
1	Darin Erstad	5.6	4.1	1.5	1	Darin Erstad	5.8	3.9	1.9
2	B.J. Surhoff	6.7	5.9	0.8	2	Geoff Jenkins	6.9	5.0	1.8
3	Geoff Jenkins	6.4	5.6	0.8	3	Carlos Lee	7.3	6.2	1.1
4	Eric Owens	2.6	1.9	0.7	4	B.J. Surhoff	6.8	5.8	1.0
5	Jacque Jones	4.0	3.4	0.7	5	Barry Bonds	7.0	6.0	0.9


Fielding, CF
		Context-Neutral					Context-Dependent
	Player	eWins	eLosses	Net eWins		Player	pWins	pLosses	Net pWins
1	Andruw Jones	6.1	5.0	1.1	1	Andruw Jones	6.1	4.9	1.2
2	Jim Edmonds	4.6	4.0	0.6	2	Jim Edmonds	4.8	3.7	1.1
3	Carlos Beltran	3.0	2.4	0.6	3	Todd Hollandsworth	2.3	1.5	0.8
4	Todd Hollandsworth	2.2	1.6	0.6	4	Mike Cameron	5.9	5.2	0.7
5	Jay Payton	5.1	4.6	0.5	5	Carlos Beltran	3.1	2.4	0.7


Fielding, RF
		Context-Neutral					Context-Dependent
	Player	eWins	eLosses	Net eWins		Player	pWins	pLosses	Net pWins
1	Trot Nixon	4.7	3.2	1.5	1	Mark Kotsay	7.2	5.2	2.0
2	Brian Jordan	5.6	4.4	1.2	2	Brian Jordan	6.0	4.1	1.9
3	Bobby Abreu	8.0	7.0	1.0	3	Trot Nixon	4.7	3.2	1.5
4	J.D. Drew	3.4	2.8	0.6	4	Bobby Abreu	8.2	6.7	1.5
5	Jermaine Dye	6.3	5.8	0.6	5	J.D. Drew	3.6	2.6	0.9

Best by Position

Next, we look at 2000 Major-League leaders by position. The figures shown here only include Player decisions earned while playing this particular position.


Catcher
		Context-Neutral					Context-Dependent
	Player	eWins	eLosses	eWOPA		Player	pWins	pLosses	pWOPA
1	Mike Piazza	15.8	11.8	4.4	1	Mike Piazza	16.3	11.3	5.4
2	Charles Johnson	12.0	9.3	3.2	2	Jorge Posada	14.6	11.1	4.1
3	Jorge Posada	14.1	11.6	3.1	3	Todd Hundley	10.6	7.4	3.4
4	Jason Kendall	16.5	14.4	2.5	4	Jason Kendall	16.9	13.9	3.3
5	Todd Hundley	10.0	7.9	2.3	5	Charles Johnson	12.0	9.3	3.2


First Base
		Context-Neutral					Context-Dependent
	Player	eWins	eLosses	eWOPA		Player	pWins	pLosses	pWOPA
1	Todd Helton	22.0	14.8	5.1	1	Jason Giambi	17.5	10.0	6.4
2	Carlos Delgado	21.0	14.5	5.1	2	Todd Helton	22.4	14.4	6.0
3	Jason Giambi	16.7	10.9	4.7	3	Carlos Delgado	20.6	14.9	4.2
4	Mark McGwire	9.6	5.7	3.1	4	Mark McGwire	9.9	5.5	3.6
5	Jeff Bagwell	19.7	14.6	3.0	5	Jim Thome	12.8	8.7	3.1


Second Base
		Context-Neutral					Context-Dependent
	Player	eWins	eLosses	eWOPA		Player	pWins	pLosses	pWOPA
1	Jeff Kent	20.1	16.2	4.2	1	Jeff Kent	21.1	15.2	6.1
2	Edgardo Alfonzo	19.3	15.4	4.1	2	Edgardo Alfonzo	19.6	15.2	4.6
3	Jose Vidro	20.5	17.8	3.0	3	Ray Durham	20.6	17.6	3.7
4	Luis A. Castillo	17.3	15.1	2.4	4	Jose Vidro	20.3	18.0	2.6
5	Ray Durham	19.5	18.7	1.5	5	Fernando Vina	15.6	13.8	2.0


Third Base
		Context-Neutral					Context-Dependent
	Player	eWins	eLosses	eWOPA		Player	pWins	pLosses	pWOPA
1	Troy Glaus	20.2	15.9	4.6	1	Chipper Jones	20.6	16.1	4.5
2	Chipper Jones	20.2	16.6	3.5	2	Troy Glaus	19.8	16.2	3.9
3	Scott Rolen	17.1	13.7	3.3	3	Adrian Beltre	17.6	14.7	2.9
4	Travis Fryman	18.1	15.9	2.5	4	Eric Chavez	15.4	12.9	2.8
5	Phil Nevin	18.8	16.2	2.5	5	Phil Nevin	18.8	16.2	2.5


Shortstop
		Context-Neutral					Context-Dependent
	Player	eWins	eLosses	eWOPA		Player	pWins	pLosses	pWOPA
1	Alex Rodriguez	22.3	16.2	7.0	1	Alex Rodriguez	23.5	15.1	9.3
2	Nomar Garciaparra	19.9	16.5	4.4	2	Derek Jeter	20.5	16.7	4.6
3	Derek Jeter	19.4	17.8	2.6	3	Jose Valentin	19.2	15.7	4.3
4	Miguel Tejada	20.1	19.3	1.8	4	Miguel Tejada	21.3	18.2	4.0
5	Jose Valentin	17.8	17.1	1.6	5	Nomar Garciaparra	19.6	16.8	3.8


Left Field
		Context-Neutral					Context-Dependent
	Player	eWins	eLosses	eWOPA		Player	pWins	pLosses	pWOPA
1	Barry Bonds	22.9	16.1	5.8	1	Barry Bonds	24.0	16.1	7.9
2	Gary Sheffield	21.0	16.0	3.8	2	Gary Sheffield	21.4	16.0	4.7
3	Darin Erstad	17.0	13.4	2.9	3	Darin Erstad	17.2	13.4	3.2
4	Geoff Jenkins	19.7	15.8	2.8	4	Geoff Jenkins	19.7	15.8	2.6
5	David Justice	9.9	7.4	2.1	5	David Justice	10.1	7.4	2.6


Center Field
		Context-Neutral					Context-Dependent
	Player	eWins	eLosses	eWOPA		Player	pWins	pLosses	pWOPA
1	Jim Edmonds	20.2	14.7	5.0	1	Jim Edmonds	21.0	13.9	6.7
2	Andruw Jones	23.6	18.7	4.3	2	Andruw Jones	24.1	18.2	5.3
3	Richard Hidalgo	17.0	13.2	3.3	3	Steve Finley	21.8	16.9	4.3
4	Ken Griffey Jr.	20.2	16.6	3.1	4	Carl Everett	18.2	14.8	3.3
5	Carl Everett	18.1	15.0	3.0	5	Mike Cameron	19.6	16.3	3.1


Right Field
		Context-Neutral					Context-Dependent
	Player	eWins	eLosses	eWOPA		Player	pWins	pLosses	pWOPA
1	Sammy Sosa	24.1	18.8	4.1	1	Ellis Burks	17.8	12.3	4.7
2	Vladimir Guerrero Sr.	24.9	19.6	4.1	2	Manny Ramirez	14.5	10.5	3.5
3	Manny Ramirez	14.5	10.6	3.5	3	Vladimir Guerrero Sr.	24.2	20.3	2.7
4	Bobby Abreu	23.1	18.7	3.2	4	Bobby Abreu	22.8	19.0	2.6
5	Ellis Burks	16.9	13.3	2.7	5	J.D. Drew	10.7	7.6	2.6


Starting Pitcher
		Context-Neutral					Context-Dependent
	Player	eWins	eLosses	eWOPA		Player	pWins	pLosses	pWOPA
1	Pedro J. Martinez	15.7	7.8	8.0	1	Pedro J. Martinez	16.4	7.1	9.5
2	Randy 'Big Unit' Johnson	16.9	12.4	4.7	2	J. Kevin Brown	14.8	8.7	6.2
3	J. Kevin Brown	13.9	9.7	4.4	3	Randy 'Big Unit' Johnson	17.4	11.8	5.8
4	Greg Maddux	14.9	10.9	4.2	4	Greg Maddux	15.7	10.2	5.6
5	Mike Mussina	14.5	11.7	3.0	5	Al Leiter	14.7	10.2	4.6
6	David Wells	15.1	12.4	2.9	6	David Wells	15.8	11.7	4.2
7	Curt Schilling	12.9	10.3	2.7	7	Tom Glavine	13.7	9.8	4.0
8	Mike Hampton	13.8	11.5	2.4	8	Dave Burba	12.8	9.1	3.8
9	Al Leiter	13.6	11.4	2.4	9	Jeff C. D'Amico	10.4	7.4	3.1
10	Livan Hernandez	14.9	12.9	2.2	10	Livan Hernandez	15.3	12.5	3.0


Relief Pitcher
		Context-Neutral					Context-Dependent
	Player	eWins	eLosses	eWOPA		Player	pWins	pLosses	pWOPA
1	Mariano Rivera	7.2	4.3	2.8	1	Keith Foulke	9.1	2.9	6.1
2	Keith Foulke	7.4	4.6	2.8	2	Derek Lowe	8.9	4.5	4.3
3	Gabe White	5.3	2.6	2.6	3	Billy Koch	7.4	3.7	3.6
4	Bob Wickman	5.9	4.1	1.8	4	Robb Nen	6.3	2.8	3.4
5	Robb Nen	5.5	3.6	1.8	5	Mariano Rivera	7.5	4.0	3.4
6	Dave Veres	7.2	5.4	1.7	6	Antonio Alfonseca	7.7	4.2	3.3
7	Jim Mecir	6.3	4.6	1.7	7	Armando Benitez	8.0	4.5	3.3
8	Steve Karsay	6.7	5.0	1.6	8	Danny Graves	8.9	5.7	3.1
9	Trevor Hoffman	7.1	5.4	1.6	9	Gabe White	5.4	2.5	2.9
10	Arthur Rhodes	5.5	4.0	1.5	10	Dave Veres	7.8	4.8	2.9


Designated Hitter
		Context-Neutral					Context-Dependent
	Player	eWins	eLosses	eWOPA		Player	pWins	pLosses	pWOPA
1	Edgar Martinez	15.6	10.8	4.0	1	Edgar Martinez	15.5	10.9	3.8
2	Frank E. Thomas	12.6	9.2	2.8	2	Frank E. Thomas	12.7	9.1	3.0
3	Brad Fullmer	11.6	10.0	1.0	3	Brad Fullmer	11.9	9.8	1.5

Finally, here are the best at three oft-forgotten positions that can nevertheless matter: pitcher offense, pinch hitting, and pinch running.


Pitcher Offense
		Context-Neutral					Context-Dependent
	Player	eWins	eLosses	eWOPA		Player	pWins	pLosses	pWOPA
1	Rick Ankiel	1.4	1.3	0.8	1	Rick Ankiel	1.5	1.2	0.9
2	Gregory 'Woody' Williams	1.1	1.1	0.6	2	Mike Hampton	1.3	1.4	0.6
3	Mike Hampton	1.2	1.5	0.5	3	Adam T. Eaton	0.9	0.6	0.6


Pinch Hitter
		Context-Neutral					Context-Dependent
	Player	eWins	eLosses	eWOPA		Player	pWins	pLosses	pWOPA
1	Dave Hansen	2.4	1.5	1.0	1	Dave Hansen	2.5	1.5	1.2
2	John Vander Wal	1.4	0.7	0.8	2	Midre Cummings	2.3	1.5	1.0
3	Cliff Floyd	0.9	0.4	0.6	3	Jeff Abbott	1.0	0.3	0.8


Pinch Runner
		Context-Neutral					Context-Dependent
	Player	eWins	eLosses	eWOPA		Player	pWins	pLosses	pWOPA
1	James Mouton	0.4	0.1	0.3	1	Chris Singleton	0.3	0.0	0.3
2	Chris Singleton	0.3	0.0	0.3	2	Miguel Cairo	0.3	0.1	0.2
3	Miguel Cairo	0.3	0.0	0.2	3	James Mouton	0.4	0.1	0.2

Noteworthy Players of 2000

Alex Rodriguez

The top player in major-league baseball in 2000, as measured by pWins replacement level (pWORL), was Seattle Mariners shortstop Alex Rodriguez. Alex Rodriguez's 2000 season is among the top 30 seasons in pWins over positional average (pWOPA) since MLB integration.

The top 30 seasons in pWOPA since 1947 are shown in the next table.

	Player	Season	pWins	pLosses	pWOPA	pWORL
			pWins over Positional Average Top 30 Single Seasons, since 1947
1	Barry Bonds	2001	28.3	15.2	12.1	14.4
2	Sandy Koufax	1965	25.0	14.5	11.7	14.1
3	Barry Bonds	2004	23.7	11.4	11.5	13.3
4	Mickey Mantle	1957	24.8	12.6	11.4	13.3
5	Dwight Gooden	1985	21.1	11.0	11.1	13.0
6	Barry Bonds	1993	27.5	15.4	11.1	13.3
7	Barry Bonds	2002	24.5	12.6	11.1	13.0
8	Steve Carlton	1972	25.0	14.9	11.0	13.4
9	Willie Mays	1962	29.6	18.1	10.6	13.1
10	Larry Doby	1954	27.0	15.0	10.5	13.0
11	Mickey Mantle	1961	26.0	14.6	10.5	12.7
12	Jackie Robinson	1951	25.6	15.5	10.2	12.4
13	Joe L. Morgan	1972	25.7	16.1	10.2	12.3
14	Sandy Koufax	1963	22.5	13.3	10.2	12.4
15	Roger Maris	1961	27.2	15.3	10.1	12.4
16	Jim Edmonds	2004	24.1	13.8	10.0	11.9
17	Greg Maddux	1995	16.5	7.4	10.0	11.4
18	Pedro J. Martinez	1999	16.3	6.5	9.9	11.4
19	Roy Campanella	1953	19.9	10.4	9.9	11.7
20	Bobby Avila	1954	24.8	15.3	9.7	12.0
21	Joe L. Morgan	1973	26.8	17.2	9.7	11.9
22	Mickey Mantle	1955	24.6	13.9	9.7	11.7
23	Randy 'Big Unit' Johnson	2002	19.0	10.5	9.6	11.5
24	Mickey Mantle	1956	25.2	14.7	9.5	11.6
25	Ted Williams	1948	25.9	15.2	9.5	11.7
26	Pedro J. Martinez	2000	16.4	7.1	9.5	11.0
27	Dick Allen	1972	23.3	12.1	9.4	11.1
28	Vern Stephens	1949	27.2	18.2	9.4	11.9
29	Duke Snider	1953	23.4	13.2	9.3	11.4
30	Alex Rodriguez	2000	23.5	15.1	9.3	11.1

Alex Rodriguez's career record, as measured by Player won-lost records, is presented in the next table.

Season	Team	Age	Games	pWins	pLosses	pWORL	pWOPA

Basic Player Won-Lost Records
						Value Decomposition
1994	SEA	18	17	0.9	2.0	-0.9	-1.0
1995	SEA	19	48	3.8	4.2	0.3	-0.1
1996	SEA	20	146	22.5	16.9	8.5	6.6
1997	SEA	21	141	20.0	17.2	5.7	4.0
1998	SEA	22	161	23.7	20.4	6.8	4.6
1999	SEA	23	129	18.3	16.4	4.4	2.7
2000	SEA	24	148	23.5	15.1	11.1	9.3
2001	TEX	25	162	22.8	17.6	8.2	6.1
2002	TEX	26	162	21.8	18.4	6.3	4.2
2003	TEX	27	161	21.2	18.3	5.6	3.6
2004	NYA	28	155	21.1	15.4	7.2	5.3
2005	NYA	29	162	25.5	17.2	10.1	8.2
2006	NYA	30	154	20.5	17.0	4.8	3.1
2007	NYA	31	158	25.3	16.3	10.6	8.8
2008	NYA	32	138	18.2	15.9	3.7	2.1
2009	NYA	33	124	17.7	13.0	6.2	4.7
2010	NYA	34	137	18.8	14.4	6.0	4.4
2011	NYA	35	99	12.1	9.9	3.5	2.4
2012	NYA	36	122	13.0	12.1	2.0	0.6
2013	NYA	37	44	4.5	4.3	0.7	0.2
2014	-	38	-	-	-	-	-
2015	NYA	39	151	14.4	11.5	4.1	2.3
2016	NYA	40	65	4.4	5.4	-0.5	-1.2
			------	------	------	------	------
CAREER (reg. season)			2,784	373.8	298.7	114.1	80.8
			------	------	------	------	------
PostSeason (career)			76	9.0	8.3	1.6	0.7
			------	------	------	------	------
COMBINED			2,860	382.8	307.0	115.7	81.5

Pedro Martinez

Alex Rodriguez's season was not the only 2000 season to show up among the top 30 seasons since 1947 as measured by pWOPA. He was joined there by Boston Red Sox pitcher Pedro Martinez. The 2000 season was the best season of Alex Rodriguez's career (as measured by pWOPA or pWORL). In contrast, for Pedro Martinez, the 2000 season was a slightly worse season than the one which immediately preceded it.

Pedro Martinez's peak was insanely good. Pedro Martinez led the American League in ERA in 2000 at 1.74. The second-best ERA in the 2000 American League was Roger Clemens at 3.70. Pedro Martinez allowed half as many earned runs per nine innings as any other pitcher in the American League. He had 72 more strikeouts than any other pitcher in the American League. He allowed 2.2 fewer hits per nine innings than any other AL pitcher. He had as many shutouts as any two other AL pitchers.

The next table shows the top 10 single-season pWin winning percentages for players who earned at least 10 pWins during the season.

	Player	Season	pWins	pLosses	pWinPct	pWOPA	pWORL
			pWin Percentage Top 10 Single Seasons (min. 10 pWins)
1	John Smoltz	2002	10.3	4.0	0.718	6.0	7.6
2	Pedro J. Martinez	1999	16.3	6.5	0.713	9.9	11.4
3	John Hiller	1973	12.2	5.1	0.703	7.1	8.9
4	Pedro J. Martinez	2000	16.4	7.1	0.698	9.5	11.0
5	Greg Maddux	1995	16.5	7.4	0.691	10.0	11.4
6	Babe Ruth	1923	28.4	12.8	0.689	14.7	17.0
7	Randy 'Big Unit' Johnson	1995	16.4	7.4	0.688	9.1	10.7
8	John Wetteland	1993	10.1	4.7	0.682	5.3	6.7
9	Babe Ruth	1927	31.4	14.8	0.680	15.6	18.1
10	Mark W. Davis	1989	10.7	5.1	0.676	5.1	6.5

Pedro Martinez is the only player to appear on this list who was not a relief pitcher and played a full 162-game season. And he appears twice.

Pedro Martinez's career record, as measured by Player won-lost records, is presented in the next table.

Season	Team	Age	Games	pWins	pLosses	pWORL	pWOPA

Basic Player Won-Lost Records
						Value Decomposition
1992	LAN	20	2	0.2	0.4	-0.0	-0.1
1993	LAN	21	65	7.3	5.5	3.0	1.8
1994	MON	22	24	9.6	8.0	3.3	2.2
1995	MON	23	30	11.5	11.4	2.4	1.0
1996	MON	24	33	13.1	13.2	2.6	1.0
1997	MON	25	31	17.8	12.0	8.7	6.8
1998	BOS	26	33	15.5	10.7	6.8	5.0
1999	BOS	27	31	16.3	6.5	11.4	9.9
2000	BOS	28	29	16.4	7.1	11.0	9.5
2001	BOS	29	18	7.4	4.0	4.3	3.6
2002	BOS	30	30	14.8	7.5	9.2	7.6
2003	BOS	31	29	13.7	7.3	8.0	6.6
2004	BOS	32	33	14.6	10.9	5.5	3.9
2005	NYN	33	31	13.3	11.0	4.7	3.3
2006	NYN	34	23	8.4	9.9	0.2	-0.9
2007	NYN	35	5	2.3	1.5	1.2	1.0
2008	NYN	36	20	6.5	8.0	-0.0	-0.9
2009	PHI	37	9	3.8	2.7	1.6	1.2
			------	------	------	------	------
CAREER (reg. season)			476	192.4	137.8	83.9	62.4
			------	------	------	------	------
PostSeason (career)			16	5.1	4.8	1.1	0.4
			------	------	------	------	------
COMBINED			492	197.6	142.6	85.0	62.8

NL MVP Race: Barry Bonds vs. Jeff Kent

Meanwhile, over in the National League, the MVP vote came down to two teammates on the San Francisco Giants, left fielder Barry Bonds and second baseman Jeff Kent. Measured by pWins over replacement level (pWORL), the NL MVP voters had the right top two, but they appear to have gotten the order wrong, as NL MVP voters chose Kent over Bonds.

The next two tables compare the 2000 seasons of Barry Bonds and Jeff Kent. The first table compares their overall Player won-lost records, in and out of context.

	Games	pWins	pLosses	pWin Pct.	pWOPA	pWORL	eWins	eLosses	eWin Pct.	eWOPA	eWORL
Barry Bonds	142	24.0	15.1	0.613	7.9	9.7	23.3	15.8	0.595	6.2	8.1
Jeff Kent	159	22.6	16.4	0.580	6.4	8.2	22.0	17.0	0.564	4.9	6.7

The next table decomposes Bonds's and Kent's (context-neutral, teammate-adjusted) records by factor.

	Decomposition of eWORL
	Wins over Average
	Batting	Baserunning	Fielding	Position	Replacement	eWORL
Barry Bonds	5.9	0.0	0.5	-0.2	1.8	8.1
Jeff Kent	4.2	-0.3	-0.0	1.0	1.8	6.7

Barry Bonds was a better batter than Jeff Kent. Bonds also had small advantages over Kent in terms of both baserunning and fielding. Fielding is measured here relative to position: i.e., Barry Bonds was an above-average defensive left fielder while Jeff Kent was essentially an average defensive second baseman. Jeff Kent gains back a good bit of lost ground on Bonds in the positional adjustment, which gives Kent credit for playing the more challenging defensive position (in effect, adding the "Fielding" and "Position" columns here produces something similar to Baseball-Reference's dWAR calculation). Adding it all up, I calculate that Barry Bonds was somewhat more valuable than Jeff Kent in 2000, although both of them obviously had outstanding seasons.

2000 Postseason

The 2000 postseason ended with the same winner as the two before: the New York Yankees, who defeated their cross-city rival, the New York Mets, in five games. The top performers in the 2000 postseason, as measured by pWins over replacement level were presented earlier, but are repeated here for convenience.

	2000 Postseason: Total
		pWins	pLosses	pWORL
Derek Jeter	NYA	3.0	1.5	1.8
Andy Pettitte	NYA	2.2	1.0	1.4
Mariano Rivera	NYA	1.5	0.4	1.4
Benny Agbayani	NYN	2.3	1.4	0.9
Orlando Hernandez	NYA	2.1	1.5	0.9

The top three names in the above table were key contributors as teammates for five World Series winners and two other pennant winners. I suspect a lot of people have forgotten this, but Andy Pettitte actually played in an eighth World Series as well, as a Houston Astro. The next table lists the top 10 players in career postseason pWins over replacement level, among those for whom I have calculated Player won-lost records. Not surprisingly, the list includes some familiar names from the 2000 postseason.

Player	Games	eWins	eLosses	eWinPct	eWORL
		Top Career Postseason Record (sorted by pWORL)
Mariano Rivera	96	12.9	3.5	0.785	10.9
Derek Jeter	158	21.3	18.4	0.536	5.8
Albert Pujols	77	12.2	6.9	0.641	5.6
Andy Pettitte	44	17.0	14.2	0.544	5.4
Curt Schilling	19	9.3	5.5	0.629	5.2
John Smoltz	42	12.3	9.3	0.570	5.1
Lou Gehrig	34	6.5	2.3	0.738	4.4
Paul O'Neill	85	11.8	7.9	0.600	4.4
David Ortiz	85	9.6	6.1	0.611	4.2
Bernie Williams	121	15.9	13.2	0.547	4.2

Obviously, the sheer number of postseason games played is a factor (nine of the ten names in the above list played at least part of their career in the Wild Card era), but it's hard to criticize the postseason success enjoyed by these players throughout their careers.

Keith Foulke

Keith Foulke's 2000 season was one of the best seasons by a relief pitcher for which I have calculated Player won-lost records. The next table shows the top 10 seasons, ranked by pWORL, for players for whom the majority of their value came as relief pitchers in the season in question.

Player	Season	pWins	pLosses	pWin Pct.	pWOPA	pWORL
John Hiller	1973	12.2	5.1	0.703	7.1	8.9
Wilcy Moore	1927	13.9	9.1	0.602	5.6	7.7
Willie Hernandez	1984	9.8	3.1	0.759	6.4	7.7
John Smoltz	2002	10.3	4.0	0.718	6.0	7.6
Dan Quisenberry	1980	11.9	5.8	0.672	5.7	7.5
Jim Kern	1979	12.4	6.6	0.651	5.6	7.4
Keith Foulke	2000	9.1	2.9	0.760	6.1	7.4
Mariano Rivera	1996	9.6	3.6	0.728	5.9	7.2
Rich Gossage	1975	12.0	6.9	0.637	5.1	7.1
Blake Treinen	2018	9.3	3.5	0.726	5.7	7.0

What's interesting is that, by traditional stats, Keith Foulke's 2000 season was no more remarkable than the surrounding years. His 2.97 ERA in 2000 was actually his highest seasonal ERA in any season between 1999 and 2004, his WHIP (1.000) was higher than all but one other season in that stretch (2002). He even had two other seasons with more saves than he had in 2000 (34).

But in context, Keith Foulke was unreal in 2000. In save situations, Foulke had an ERA in 2000 of 2.03. In games that were tied when he entered, he had an ERA of 0.00. In all other games, his ERA was 5.16. But none of the runs he gave up in any of those games ended up mattering: he didn't lose any of those games. When Keith Foulke's pitching mattered to the Chicago White Sox in 2000, he came through for them, time and time and time again.

Notable Debuts

Two pitchers debuted in 2000 who I think make an interesting comparison. Johan Santana won two Cy Young awards in three seasons from 2004 through 2006 and pitched the only no-hitter in New York Mets history. But he also last pitched 200 innings in 2008, and did not pitch at all in 2011 or after 2012.

In contrast, Mark Buehrle received Cy Young votes only once (finishing 5th in 2005). But, while Buerhle was never as good as Santana was at his peak, he was consistently good to very good for the better part of 15 seaasons. He pitched more than 200 innings every season from 2001 through 2014, missing a 15th consecutive 200-inning season by 1-1/3 innings in 2015. In terms of traditional numbers, Buerhle beat Santana in career innings pitched, 3,283.1 to 2,025.2, and in traditional pitcher wins 214 to 139. But Santana beat Buerhle in career strikeouts 1,988 to 1,870 (in, of course, far fewer innings) and in career ERA 3.20 to 3.81.

The resulting comparison becomes a somewhat classic case of peak vs. career.

Season	Games	pWins	pLoss	Win Pct.	pWOPA	pWORL	Games	pWins	pLoss	Win Pct.	pWOPA	pWORL
	Johan Santana						Mark Buehrle
2000	30	2.4	3.2	0.421	-0.9	-0.4	28	2.3	2.2	0.517	0.1	0.5
2001	15	1.5	1.3	0.538	0.2	0.5	32	13.3	9.5	0.582	4.0	5.6
2002	27	7.4	5.5	0.573	2.0	2.9	34	14.6	13.1	0.527	1.7	3.7
2003	45	10.3	6.1	0.629	4.3	5.5	35	13.9	13.1	0.514	1.0	2.8
2004	34	15.3	8.1	0.653	7.4	8.9	35	14.0	12.3	0.533	2.0	3.7
2005	33	14.5	8.5	0.629	6.2	7.6	33	14.7	10.8	0.577	4.1	5.7
2006	34	15.9	9.9	0.616	6.3	8.0	32	11.8	12.6	0.483	-0.6	1.0
2007	33	13.5	10.8	0.554	3.0	4.7	30	11.5	9.5	0.547	2.4	3.8
2008	34	15.1	11.8	0.562	4.3	6.0	34	14.8	12.6	0.540	2.5	4.4
2009	25	11.2	9.3	0.548	2.7	3.9	33	12.0	10.6	0.531	1.6	3.1
2010	29	12.5	12.7	0.497	0.6	2.1	33	12.6	11.1	0.531	1.6	3.1
2011							31	12.3	10.0	0.552	2.5	3.9
2012	21	8.4	10.1	0.455	-1.1	0.1	31	11.6	13.9	0.456	-1.1	0.4
2013							33	11.6	11.4	0.505	0.5	2.0
2014							32	13.1	10.7	0.550	2.6	4.2
2015							32	10.8	12.4	0.466	-1.3	0.2
------	------	------	------	------	------	------	------	------	------	------	------	------
CAREER RECORDS	360	128.0	97.3	0.568	35.0	49.7	518	195.0	175.8	0.526	23.7	48.0

Last Hurrahs

Finally, 2000 was the final season for two pitchers who are in neither the Hall of Fame nor the Hall of Merit, but who were viewed, at one time in the 1980s, to be the best pitcher in major-league baseball by many: Orel Hershiser and Dwight Gooden. I actually think that both Gooden and Hershiser have strong peak-based Hall-of-Fame cases.

Hershiser's and Gooden's careers, as measured by Player won-lost records, are compared in the final table here.

Season	Games	pWins	pLoss	Win Pct.	pWOPA	pWORL	Games	pWins	pLoss	Win Pct.	pWOPA	pWORL
	Orel Hershiser						Dwight Gooden
1983	8	0.5	0.3	0.621	0.2	0.2
1984	45	10.8	8.1	0.570	3.3	4.4	31	16.3	11.6	0.583	5.7	7.2
1985	37	13.7	10.4	0.567	4.0	5.4	35	21.1	11.0	0.657	11.1	13.0
1986	37	15.5	15.3	0.504	1.2	2.9	33	16.2	12.4	0.566	4.8	6.4
1987	40	16.5	15.3	0.519	2.6	4.3	25	12.6	10.3	0.550	3.1	4.4
1988	36	20.1	13.4	0.600	7.8	9.7	34	14.9	12.8	0.537	3.0	4.5
1989	35	14.5	14.3	0.504	1.3	3.0	19	8.0	7.7	0.511	0.9	1.8
1990	4	1.4	1.7	0.445	-0.2	-0.0	35	15.5	12.2	0.560	4.2	5.8
1991	21	7.0	4.3	0.618	3.0	3.6	27	12.8	10.9	0.541	2.9	4.2
1992	35	12.0	12.9	0.482	-0.1	1.4	33	13.0	13.0	0.501	1.1	2.6
1993	33	13.6	13.7	0.499	1.0	2.5	30	13.6	14.2	0.490	0.5	2.0
1994	21	7.6	9.0	0.459	-0.9	0.2	7	3.0	3.7	0.448	-0.5	-0.1
1995	26	9.8	8.3	0.541	1.5	2.8
1996	33	14.0	10.4	0.572	3.7	5.3	29	9.9	9.4	0.513	0.6	1.9
1997	32	10.8	10.8	0.501	0.2	1.6	20	7.1	7.1	0.503	0.2	1.1
1998	34	12.6	12.5	0.502	0.9	2.5	23	7.3	6.9	0.514	0.5	1.4
1999	32	11.5	12.6	0.477	-0.1	1.3	26	5.8	6.3	0.480	-0.4	0.4
2000	10	1.4	3.7	0.268	-2.3	-1.9	27	5.9	6.9	0.461	-0.9	0.0
------	------	------	------	------	------	------	------	------	------	------	------	------
CAREER RECORDS	519	193.3	177.1	0.522	27.0	49.2	434	183.1	156.3	0.539	36.6	56.7

Article last updated: October 29, 2019

Wins over positional average and replacement level are calculated using data only for the 2000 season. Positional averages for starting pitching and relief pitching are calculated using single-year data for all starting pitchers and all relief pitchers.

All articles are written so that they pull data directly from the most recent version of the Player won-lost database. Hence, any numbers cited within these articles should automatically incorporate the most recent update to Player won-lost records. In some cases, however, the accompanying text may have been written based on previous versions of Player won-lost records. I apologize if this results in non-sensical text in any cases.

Home List of Articles