The Twins are off today, meaning that we'll have to make our own fun this afternoon and evening.
With that in mind: let's go into Coffee Talk Mode! We ARE getting a bit verklempt...
So we'll give you a discussion topic, especially you number-lovers out there: what are your current favorite stats? You're allowed to pick up to three, no more than one in each major category (fielding, batting, pitching).
Mine: on offense, it's OPS. I was unsure about this until I saw how strongly correlated OPS is with runs scored, and when you combine that with its simplicity to calculate, I'm sold. It is - dare I say - elegant.
For fielding, I'm enjoying the trend towards Ultimate Zone Rating, if only because it's a single number and it directly translates to runs. I can't claim to understand the mathematics. Maybe somebody else wants to take a crack at explaining them.
On the mound, I'm yet to be convinced in any direction. Fielding Independent Pitching, OPS Against, so on and so forth - anybody a convert one way or another?
(Baseball returns tomorrow. For now: discuss!)