Who was the best offensive Met in 2006? In order to figure this out we need to dive into sabermetrics, crunch some numbers, and see who is carrying the weight over at Shea.

For our analysis we are going to use OPS (On Base % + Slugging %), Runs Created [(H + BB + HBP - CS - GIDP) TIMES (Total bases + .26[BB - IBB + HBP] + .52[SH + SF + SB])] DIVIDED BY (AB + BB + HBP + SH+ SF), and Runs Created per 27 outs (Estimates how many runs per game a team made up of nine of the same player would score). I've also added At Bats just so we have an idea of how often these guys play. I'll paste the chart below, but I'll also attach my spreadsheet.

Why do we use Runs Created? This formula, conceived by Bill James in Bill James Historical Baseball Abstract, says Runs Created is the essential offensive metric:

"With regard to an offensive player, the first key question is how many runs have resulted from what he has done with the bat and on the basepaths. Willie McCovey hit .270 in his career, with 353 doubles, 46 triples, 521 home runs and 1,345 walks -- but his job was not to hit doubles, nor to hit singles, nor to hit triples, nor to draw walks or even hit home runs, but rather to put runs on the scoreboard. How many runs resulted from all of these things?"

RC give the total runs that player created during the season. A very basic formula for Runs Created is OBP times TB. You are trying to measure how often a batter gets on base while taking his power numbers into consideration. RC27 estimates how may runs per game a team made up of nine of the same player would score - which I find a fun statistic. Players who have more at bats tend to have a higher RC (on average) so the RC27 will also bring everyone to an equal playing field in turns of games played.

Lets take a look at who had the best offensive stat for the Mets, which are provided by ESPN:

PLAYER	AB	RC	RC27	OPS
Carlos Beltran	510	120.2	8.39	0.982
David Wright	582	115.5	7.27	0.912
Carlos Delgado	524	103.1	6.84	0.909
Jose Reyes	647	116.1	6.56	0.841
Jose Valentin	384	63.2	5.73	0.820
Xavier Nady	265	40.7	5.36	0.813
Paul Lo Duca	512	74.5	5.40	0.783
Endy Chavez	353	53.4	5.38	0.779
Shawn Green	113	14.1	4.10	0.768
Cliff Floyd	332	46.4	4.84	0.731
Ramon Castro	126	16.2	4.38	0.711
Michael Tucker	56	8.5	4.81	0.700
Julio Franco	165	17.6	3.60	0.699
Lastings Milledge	166	18.7	3.77	0.689
Chris Woodward	222	20.8	3.06	0.600
Kazuo Matsui	130	7.8	1.94	0.505
Tom Glavine	53	2.5	1.18	0.455
Anderson Hernandez	66	0.4	0.19	0.407

#1) Carlos Beltran's .982 OPS was tops for the Mets and 5th in the National League, only behind Pujols, Howard, Berkman and Cabrera. Beltran was 10th in Runs Created in the NL but he only had 510 Abs. His RC27 is in the top 5 of the NL and #1 on the Mets.

#2) David Wright's .918 OPC was 2nd best on the Mets and 11th in the NL. Wright was 12th in the NL for RC and 13th for RC27. Wright was solidly the 2nd best Met in 2006 and in the top 15 offensive players in the National League. And that was with his slump in the second half of the season!

#3) This is tough one. Carlos Delgado or Jose Reyes. Delgado had the higher OPS (.909 vs .841) and the better RC27 (6.84 vs 6.56). Reyes was the most productive with 116.1 Runs Created to Delgado's 103.1. I have to give the advantage to Delgado, but I can understand if you want to give the nod to Reyes. If you are wondering if Stolen Bases are calculated into Runs Created, let me assure you they are. In the end I had to defer to Delgado because of the 68 pt difference in OPS. In my opinion, that difference is too much for Reyes to overcome with his advantage in RC. If Delgado was healthy for a few more games this probably wouldn't even be an argument.

Some quick notes: Take a look Jose Valentin and Xavier Nady being more productive (on average) then Paul Lo Duca. How about Endy Chavez - not much difference between him and Nady. 2B was a problem for the Mets in 2006. Everyone but Valentin struggled. Take a look at Woodward, Matsui and Hernandez. It isn't pretty. Not only do they lag behind Castro, Tucker, Franco and Milledge, but Matsui and Hernandez are in Tommy Glavine territory.

Be sure to check back Monday for our 2006 SaberMETric pitching review.

In his blog for the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, David O'Brien discusses how new Pittsburgh Pirates and former Atlanta Braves 1B Adam LaRoche feels out about being a Pirate and of his time as a Braves player.

Regarding last season's 3rd place finish:
“We got absolutely thumped in that division race last year.”

Regarding the complacency of Braves' fans:
“That’s hard for 14 years when you get in the playoffs and it’s like, ‘Let’s hurry up and get season over, get back in the playoffs.’ Now I think they realize it’s not that easy, like ‘What they did there was pretty incredible and we need to back them more.’”

As much as I hate discussing anything Braves-related, this is just an example of how the fans down there got lazy and it took the Mets to wake them up.

However, Atlanta's not and will never be a big sports town so you can't blame them...in 2005 they were probably just realizing that the Braves won the division in 2004, so we need to give them a year to adjust.

Ok enough hating... for now

...in addition to this post, on 2/2,  the AP reports that the ever-cocky Adam LaRoche said the following:

In an interview with Newsday's Ken Davidoff, Tom Glavine makes it clear he will consider retirement at the end of the season if he gets his 300th win. 

Here is an excerpt:

"If I had to guess right now, I think I'm 50-50. Knock on wood, if I stay healthy and I win my 300th game, I think it becomes really hard for me to pitch next year," Glavine said at Henry Viscardi School in Albertson, where he, Julio Franco and John Maine participated in a game of wheelchair Wiffle ball. "But if I do that - like last year, if I win 15 games - it's going to be hard to walk away.

I don't think Tommy Glavine is going to pull a Mr. 3000, but if gets his 300th win in 2007 it sure looks like he'll hang 'em up and wait for the call from Cooperstown.