houston - fixed the division reference.
Mitlen - look at the double plays. That's an awful lot of runs killed when you take another guy off the bases and hit into an out yourself. Easier for your team to score if you simply K rather than DP. DPs are the definition of unclutch / negative value.
As for average, it is close to a wash, and OPS+ tells you something about the rest of the slash line. As for runs, you may say that Pujols hit 2 slots behind Trout, but Fielder hit directly behind Cabrera, and Avila wasn't a slouch, either.
Saying Cabrera was never much of a base stealer is like saying Tiny Archibald was never tall so don't count ignore the rebounding difference between him and Kareem when discussing MVP. heck, I'm not even asking you to figure in how much Trout's running led to hitters after him getting more fastballs, pitches thrown from a slide step or a stretch (slower fastballs), and other stuff easier to hit.
I only deal in mindfacts.
I think Trout gets a lot of good free press because he's in LA and all that. I feel the same way about him being designated "a rookie". Trout is the chosen one. The triple crown is a special designation to this old guy. To me, that trumps all the WARs, etc. Why are there conditions for Cabrera and not Yaz or Williams or Robinson or Mantle? I'm bailin' on this thread before I get in trouble.
