Jeff Kent

Baseball Player Won-Loss Records
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Jeff Kent

2016 Hall of Fame Ballot Series: Jeff Kent

The first table below presents Jeff Kent's career as measured by Player won-lost records.

Season	Team	Age	Games	pWins	pLosses	pWin Pct.	pWOPA	pWORL	eWins	eLosses	eWin Pct.	eWOPA	eWORL
Jeff Kent Basic Player Won-Lost Records
												Value Decomposition
+– 1992		24	102	10.0	9.4	0.516	0.3	1.0	10.0	9.4	0.514	0.2	1.0
	NYN		37	3.8	3.4	0.528	0.2	0.5	3.7	3.5	0.510	0.1	0.3
	TOR		65	6.2	6.0	0.509	0.1	0.6	6.3	5.9	0.517	0.2	0.7
1993	NYN	25	140	16.1	18.0	0.471	-0.9	0.4	17.0	17.1	0.498	-0.0	1.3
1994	NYN	26	107	14.9	12.7	0.541	1.2	2.3	14.7	12.9	0.532	1.0	2.1
1995	NYN	27	125	15.0	15.4	0.493	-0.0	1.2	15.8	14.7	0.518	0.7	1.9
+– 1996		28	127	13.6	13.2	0.507	-0.0	1.1	13.8	13.0	0.514	0.1	1.2
	CLE		38	3.2	2.8	0.530	0.1	0.4	3.1	2.9	0.513	0.0	0.3
	NYN		89	10.4	10.4	0.501	-0.2	0.7	10.7	10.1	0.514	0.1	0.9
1997	SFN	29	155	21.6	18.2	0.542	1.8	3.3	20.8	19.0	0.521	1.0	2.5
1998	SFN	30	137	20.8	16.7	0.556	2.2	3.6	20.6	16.9	0.549	1.9	3.4
1999	SFN	31	138	18.1	15.1	0.546	1.5	2.8	17.5	15.6	0.529	1.0	2.3
2000	SFN	32	159	22.8	16.3	0.584	3.4	4.9	22.0	17.0	0.564	2.6	4.2
2001	SFN	33	159	21.5	17.2	0.555	2.0	3.7	21.1	17.6	0.545	1.7	3.3
2002	SFN	34	152	23.6	16.8	0.585	3.6	5.2	22.6	17.8	0.559	2.6	4.2
2003	HOU	35	130	18.7	16.4	0.533	1.2	2.6	18.2	17.0	0.518	0.7	2.1
2004	HOU	36	145	20.1	16.9	0.544	1.7	3.2	19.0	18.0	0.513	0.6	2.0
2005	LAN	37	149	21.0	18.7	0.530	1.0	2.5	21.5	18.2	0.542	1.5	3.0
2006	LAN	38	115	14.3	12.8	0.527	0.8	1.8	14.1	13.1	0.519	0.6	1.6
2007	LAN	39	136	16.8	16.6	0.504	0.1	1.3	17.2	16.2	0.515	0.5	1.7
2008	LAN	40	121	13.4	14.4	0.482	-0.5	0.5	13.4	14.4	0.482	-0.5	0.5
------	------	------	------	------	------	------	------	------	------	------	------	------	------
CAREER (reg. season)			2,297	302.5	264.8	0.533	19.3	41.5	299.2	268.1	0.527	16.1	38.2
			------	------	------				------	------
PostSeason (career)			49	5.4	4.7	0.532		0.8	5.4	5.1	0.515		0.6
			------	------	------	------		------	------	------	------		------
COMBINED			2,346	307.8	269.6	0.533		42.3	304.6	273.2	0.527		38.8

This is Jeff Kent's third year on the Hall-of-Fame ballot. In my 2014 Hall-of-Fame ballot series, I compared Kent to the most recent second baseman to be elected to the Hall of Fame, Roberto Alomar. In my 2015 Hall-of-Fame ballot series, I looked at the players most similar to Jeff Kent in career value, as measured by Player won-lost records.

For this year's article, I am going to compare Jeff Kent with another Hall-of-Fame second baseman: Ryne Sandberg.

The first table below compares Jeff Kent and Ryne Sandberg, as measured by pWins (i.e., within context).

Age	Games	pWins	pLoss	Win Pct.	pWOPA	pWORL	Games	pWins	pLoss	Win Pct.	pWOPA	pWORL
	Jeff Kent						Ryne Sandberg
21							13	0.1	0.0	0.557	0.0	0.0
22							156	18.2	19.2	0.487	-0.8	0.6
23							158	19.5	20.7	0.485	-0.5	1.0
24	102	10.0	9.4	0.516	0.3	1.0	156	25.3	19.1	0.570	3.4	5.1
25	140	16.1	18.0	0.471	-0.9	0.4	153	24.0	19.2	0.556	2.3	3.9
26	107	14.9	12.7	0.541	1.2	2.3	154	19.5	18.5	0.514	0.8	2.2
27	125	15.0	15.4	0.493	-0.0	1.2	132	16.8	15.9	0.513	0.6	1.9
28	127	13.6	13.2	0.507	-0.0	1.1	155	20.4	18.6	0.523	1.1	2.6
29	155	21.6	18.2	0.542	1.8	3.3	157	21.6	18.1	0.545	1.6	3.0
30	137	20.8	16.7	0.556	2.2	3.6	155	22.0	18.7	0.540	1.7	3.1
31	138	18.1	15.1	0.546	1.5	2.8	158	23.1	17.1	0.575	2.8	4.4
32	159	22.8	16.3	0.584	3.4	4.9	158	24.8	18.8	0.568	2.8	4.5
33	159	21.5	17.2	0.555	2.0	3.7	117	13.2	13.7	0.491	-0.2	0.9
34	152	23.6	16.8	0.585	3.6	5.2	57	6.9	7.1	0.493	-0.1	0.5
35	130	18.7	16.4	0.533	1.2	2.6
36	145	20.1	16.9	0.544	1.7	3.2	150	19.6	16.7	0.540	1.8	3.3
37	149	21.0	18.7	0.530	1.0	2.5	135	12.7	13.7	0.481	-0.4	0.6
38	115	14.3	12.8	0.527	0.8	1.8
39	136	16.8	16.6	0.504	0.1	1.3
40	121	13.4	14.4	0.482	-0.5	0.5
------	------	------	------	------	------	------	------	------	------	------	------	------
CAREER RECORDS	2,297	302.5	264.8	0.533	19.3	41.5	2,164	287.7	255.1	0.530	17.1	37.7
CAREER RECORDS (common rows)	1,795	239.2	204.5	0.539	17.7	35.3	1,837	249.9	215.2	0.537	18.3	36.1

As measured by pWins over either positional average or replacement level, Jeff Kent was more valuable over the course of his career than Ryne Sandberg. Sandberg and Kent were equally valuable over the ages when both of them were active major leaguers (24-34, 36-37), but Kent remained an above-average player through age 39.

To be entirely fair to Sandberg, Kent's lead in the above table is entirely due to context - much of which was the fact that Jeff Kent tended to play on better teams through his career than Sandberg did (through no fault of Sandberg).

The next table compares Kent and Sandberg in (context-neutral, teammate-adjusted) eWins.

Age	Games	eWins	eLoss	Win Pct.	eWOPA	eWORL	Games	eWins	eLoss	Win Pct.	eWOPA	eWORL
	Jeff Kent						Ryne Sandberg
21							13	0.0	0.1	0.451	-0.0	-0.0
22							156	18.6	18.7	0.499	-0.4	1.1
23							158	20.5	19.8	0.509	0.5	2.0
24	102	10.0	9.4	0.514	0.2	1.0	156	24.5	19.9	0.552	2.6	4.3
25	140	17.0	17.1	0.498	-0.0	1.3	153	23.6	19.6	0.546	1.9	3.5
26	107	14.7	12.9	0.532	1.0	2.1	154	19.6	18.5	0.515	0.8	2.2
27	125	15.8	14.7	0.518	0.7	1.9	132	17.2	15.5	0.527	1.1	2.4
28	127	13.8	13.0	0.514	0.1	1.2	155	20.3	18.7	0.520	1.0	2.4
29	155	20.8	19.0	0.521	1.0	2.5	157	21.5	18.1	0.543	1.6	3.0
30	137	20.6	16.9	0.549	1.9	3.4	155	23.1	17.6	0.568	2.8	4.3
31	138	17.5	15.6	0.529	1.0	2.3	158	22.8	17.4	0.567	2.5	4.0
32	159	22.0	17.0	0.564	2.6	4.2	158	25.2	18.4	0.577	3.3	4.9
33	159	21.1	17.6	0.545	1.7	3.3	117	13.5	13.4	0.503	0.1	1.2
34	152	22.6	17.8	0.559	2.6	4.2	57	7.1	6.9	0.507	0.1	0.7
35	130	18.2	17.0	0.518	0.7	2.1
36	145	19.0	18.0	0.513	0.6	2.0	150	19.2	17.1	0.530	1.4	2.9
37	149	21.5	18.2	0.542	1.5	3.0	135	13.0	13.3	0.493	-0.1	1.0
38	115	14.1	13.1	0.519	0.6	1.6
39	136	17.2	16.2	0.515	0.5	1.7
40	121	13.4	14.4	0.482	-0.5	0.5
------	------	------	------	------	------	------	------	------	------	------	------	------
CAREER RECORDS	2,297	299.2	268.1	0.527	16.1	38.2	2,164	289.8	252.9	0.534	19.3	39.9
CAREER RECORDS (common rows)	1,795	236.3	207.4	0.533	14.8	32.4	1,837	250.7	214.4	0.539	19.1	36.9

When context is neutralized, Sandberg beats Kent. But still, Jeff Kent compares very favorably to Ryne Sandberg, as measured by Player won-lost records.

2016 Hall of Fame Ballot Series

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