I put together a way to rank players subjectively, as in, using the traditional old-hat indicators.

It’s called SSR.

Sportswriters, analysts, general old guys and subjective baseball people look at players — most of the time — with these things in mind: home runs, runs batted in, batting average (triple crown numbers), stolen bases and runs scored. Then there’s the five tool player, which, again, is geared toward subjective indicators (power = HR, contact = AVG, speed = SB, fielding = FPCT, arm = ASTS). Now, I don’t condone just these statistics, because new stats such as runs created, win shares, etc., are better indicators of a player’s abilities.

But for the subjective fan, there’s SSR. It is — as I have tested — a good way to figure out how players are looked at by most baseball fans and people because, as we statistically inclined fans know, we OPS-loving people are the minority, and may always be.

So SSR looks at power (HR), contact (AVG), production (RBI), scoring (R), speed (SB), fielding (FPCT) and team’s worth (TEAMW). Why team worth? Because the MVP is normally from a playoff team (or a team comparable). Because most baseball fans value a third-tier player on the Yankees more than a first-tier player on the Royals. They may be the same player, but who gets more attention?

Yes, this is very subjective, but ah, the rub! That’s the point of SSR. It may make you better understand what those who think they’re in the know are thinking.

Here’s a rundown of the ratings:

Hitting:
- Sum 1: AVG x 600
- Sum 2: HR x 3
- Sum 3: SB x 1.5
- Sum 4: FPCT x 40
- Sum 5: R
- Sum 6: RBI
- Sum 7: TEAMW x 1.5
- Add sums.
- Divide by 162.

Pitching:
- Sum 1: ERA x 650
- Sum 2: W x 6
- Sum 3: K x 0.5
- Sum 4: WHIP x 125
- Sum 5: TEAMW x 1.5
- Add sums.
- Divide by 162.

For those who look deeper, I weighed AVG and ERA higher than other stats, mainly because the discrepancy between a good AVG (and ERA) and a bad AVG (and ERA) in product is very small, so enlarging the product outlines the discrepancy better. I also weighed FPCT smaller because most pundits who think subjectively don’t actively account FPCT all the time.

One thing I attempted with these ratings is to make hitting and pitching compatible with each other, meaning, you can rank hitters and pitchers together in one grand list.

Let’s look at four samples: an elite SSR, a good SSR, an average SSR, and a bad SSR.

Elite:
Alex Rodriguez – .314 AVG / 54 HR /24 SB / .965 FPCT / 143 R / 156 RBI / 94 TEAMW —– 5.339 SSR
- Basically, an SSR above 5 is very elite, among the best seasons of all-time. You can see A-Rod was across-the-board elite, and the SSR shows.

Good:
Carlos Delgado – .258 AVG / 24 HR / 4 SB / .993 FPCT / 71 R / 87 RBI / 88 TEAMW —– 3.472 SSR
- Delgado’s production gives him a good season; really, 24 HR and 87 RBI is a good season for anyone, and despite the lower average, he still performed better than a good handful of first basemen.

Average:
Ryan Spillborghs – .299 AVG / 11 HR / 4 SB / .992 FPCT / 40 R / 51 RBI / 89 TEANW —– 2.960 SSR
- Spillborghs was the first bench player for Colorado. His SSR is below 3, making him just below a regular everyday player. He had average production, scoring and baserunning, and a better-than-average AVG. So he’s a bit better than “average,” but not by much.

Bad:
Rod Barajas – .230 AVG / 4 HR / 0 SB / 1.000 FPCT / 16 R / 10 RBI / 89 TEAMW —– 2.154 SSR
- Barajas was across-the-board bad for the Phillies, and it shows in his poor SSR. Anything below 2.25 is unacceptable, and for the Phils, he and Abraham Nunez were the only offensive players who scored below 2.25. Figures.

Here’s an average pitcher’s SSR:
Kyle Kendrick – 3.87 ERA / 10 W / 49 K / 1.273 WHIP / 89 TEAMW —– 2.988 SSR

With some ratings illustrated, here’s how to categorize players:

- Tier 1 (Elite): 4.500 and above
- Tier 2 (Star): 4.000 – 4.499
- Tier 3a (Above-average regular): 3.500 – 3.999
- Tier 3b (Average regular): 3.000-3.499
- Tier 4 (Platoon): 2.750 – 2.999
- Tier 5 (Bench): 2.250 – 2.749
- Tier 6 (Worthless): 2.249 and below

Here’s a sample — your 2007 Philadelphia Phillies:

Tier 1 (Elite)
Jimmy Rollins Philadelphia Phillies 4.537

Tier 2 (Star)
Ryan Howard Philadelphia Phillies 4.36
Chase Utley Philadelphia Phillies 4.065

Tier 3a (Above-average regular)
Aaron Rowand Philadelphia Phillies 3.967
Cole Hamels Philadelphia Phillies 3.795
JC Romero Philadelphia Phillies 3.667
Pat Burrell Philadelphia Phillies 3.635

Tier 3b (Average regular)
Shane Victorino Philadelphia Phillies 3.439
Jamie Moyer Philadelphia Phillies 3.087

Tier 4 (Platoon)
Kyle Kendrick Philadelphia Phillies 2.988
Kyle Lohse Philadelphia Phillies 2.965
Jayson Werth Philadelphia Phillies 2.951
Greg Dobbs Philadelphia Phillies 2.895
Brett Myers Philadelphia Phillies 2.793
Carlos Ruiz Philadelphia Phillies 2.788

Tier 5 (Bench)
Adam Eaton Philadelphia Phillies 2.605
Tadahito Iguchi Philadelphia Phillies 2.517
Michael Bourn Philadelphia Phillies 2.498
Geoff Geary Philadelphia Phillies 2.497
Tom Gordon Philadelphia Phillies 2.463
Wes Helms Philadelphia Phillies 2.429
Chris Coste Philadelphia Phillies 2.425

Tier 6 (Worthless)
Antonio Alfonseca Philadelphia Phillies 2.237
Abraham Nunez Philadelphia Phillies 2.193
Freddy Garcia Philadelphia Phillies 2.176
Rod Barajas Philadelphia Phillies 2.157

It’s fairly accurate. Hamels is the one glaring interest, as he could be in Tier 2; however, the time he missed this year cost him that rating (another three wins and thirty strikeouts would’ve easily put him over 4). And some may gripe about Eaton having a higher SSR than Bourn, Iguchi, etc.; however, if an everyday player or starting pitcher has an SSR below 2.75, that’s horrendous. Eaton’s SSR is mainly because of his durability; his production dropped him well below the norm for starting pitchers.

Look for the SSR throughout Pheeling Goosebumps.