Red Sox mOPS and OPS+

I'd like to introduce a stat to you: mOPS and mOPS+.

Marc Normandin from Beyond the Boxscore describes mOPS (modified OPS) as this:

(2.2*OBP)+Isolated Power

To explain quickly, the 2.2 is to weight OBP, since it is realistically worth 4 times as much as slugging. How can we put such a large figure to that? Simple. OBP only goes to 1.000, while slugging goes to 4.000. Using Isolated Power (Slugging Percentage - Batting Average) eliminates the problem of double counting singles OPS has.

Sal B., a writer for BtB, invented the stat and it has been tweaked since it's introduction here on July 1 of this year. Thanks to Marc, I've got the spreadsheets for every player in the past three seasons.

I'm going to present the 2005 numbers for the Red Sox and give you some comparisons. I'll do my best to promote this new stat, and inform on a thing or two.

First things first: Here are the numbers for the 2005 Boston Red Sox.

2005 League Average: .874

As you can see, and might expect, David Ortiz tops the list in both mOPS and mOPS+. Manny Ramirez is right behind him (-21 mOPS, -3 mOPS+ compared to Ortiz) by a short margin, and Jason Varitek comes in at third with really solid numbers.

With the league average being .874, the Red Sox fair well with above-average players. The only every-day player that falls below that mark is Edgar Renteria who, sadly, received the second most at-bats this season (order is based on number of at-bats).

I didn't include everyone, but I threw Roberto Petagine in there just for kicks. He racked up some good numbers, but wouldn't stick over a full season.

Here's another list that I made to show you some other players' mOPS that you may be interested in:

I put five former Red Sox on that list, and Roberts doubles as a player we may get this off-season. Compare Roberts's mOPS and OPS+ to Damon's. Roberts trumps Damon with his mOPS, and Damon only has a single point higher in the OPS+ category. Then compare Damon's ten or 11 million, to Roberts' two. Take that as you will. Personally, I'm one of the first people on the "Don't Sign Damon" boat.

Hopefully it takes off and we save ourselves 30+ million dollars.