We Got Wood - 42.63 - Crepin/Guerrer Decision for Top Hitter

[7teen]

We've reached the end. The last major award of the off-season. The top hitter! Finally, an award where I feel like there are some worthy candidates (no offense to Miguel Cortez who deservedly won the Top Rookie Award, but after doing two pitcher features I feel I've cheapened the thought of giving out "awards"). The top hitter award came down to two worthy candidates: Mario Guerrer and Lionnel Crepin.

First off, Cortez led the team in WAR. But a lot of his WAR was accumulated from elite defense and unlike the Sawyer Silk Award in the BBA which is handed out to the top player, this is a hitters award only so defense be damned! Secondly, shout out to Juan Mendoza who climbed out of an early season gutter to produce a solid season and finis the season with a 2.2 WAR which was 3rd on the team and ahead of Guerrer. But his offensive numbers just weren't that good. Plus he's still not earning his pay check but how can I complain about that since I'm the one that acquired the contract (I'm a sucker for charity cases, especially from San Fernando).

So, back to Crepin and Guerrer. The decision all hinges on what you value more really in a player. One led the team in Runs, Walks, Times on Base, OBP. The other led the team in Hits, Extra Base hits, HRs, Slugging, and OPS. Side by side, here is how they compared:

Crepin: .255/.392/.467
Guerrer: .297/.361/.579

Crepin: 127 Hits, 14 doubles, 1 triple, 30 homeruns
Guerrer: 161 Hits, 32 doubles, 2 triples, 39 homeruns

Crepin: 84 runs scored, 81 RBI, 109 Walks
Guerrer: 79 runs scored, 102 RBI, 54 Walks

So again, both are worthy candidates for this Portland team. Crepin did finish 2nd on the team in overall WAR with a 2.3 while Guerrer's 1.7 WAR was only 5th best in the lineup. But again, perhaps some position bias and defense as well as Guerrer plays 1B while Crepin patrols a COF spot. Not to mention 2 of the guys who out classed Guerrer in WAR were elite defenders.

So how do you choose? Well, in the end I'm going to go with OPS and that leans Guerrer!

While Crepin did win a larger portion of our Hitter of the Sim Awards and was 31 points higher in OBP than Guerrer, Guerrer did post a slugging percentage over well over 100 points higher than Crepin leading to an OPS that was 82 points better! Crepin, though with a lot of pop in his bat, can't find the gaps well enough to accumulate a lot of doubles while Guerrer's doubles nearly tripled the output of Lionel. The pop that Guerrer's bat provided just outweighs Crepin's ability to get on base and launch homeruns.

It was a close call, but we have to go with Guerrer.

Now, does either player return to Portland in 2043?

[usnspecialist]

im now paying alex ramirez less than i was paying juan mendoza, so im good with this.

[7teen]

im now paying alex ramirez less than i was paying juan mendoza, so im good with this.

Definitely worked in your favor for sure.

I still have a little hope in Barbosa and Galorean. Barbosa was looking solid but took a lump after his injury this season.

Galorean has the possibility of being a sneaky good 2B if he can produce 30 HRs with his power potential.

But clearly you got the favor by dumping that salary. Haha