?
53.2 bWAR for Koufax (one of us is looking at the wrong column)
30 wins above average (WAA)
Don Sutton has 23 WAA (to pick someone with the opposite career arc)
Drysdale at 28
or how about Nolan Ryan with 35
WAR isn't a straight measure of value. WAA isn't either. It's more important to a team to get production all at once than it is to get it spread out (because winning a pennant requires above average performance; in general someone who is inconsistently great will win you more pennants than someone who is consistently good). Koufax's WAR total is low for the hall of fame, but since he squeezed that WAR into so few seasons, I'm fairly comfortable saying that it produced as much value as Don Sutton's much higher 68. Koufax isn't the greatest pitcher in the hall, but he's not a terrible mistake either.
|