Final capstone: the who's-better argument
Two stars, one roster spot. Make the call the way a front office would — in three sentences.
The graduation exercise. A complete 'who's better' argument has exactly three sentences: (1) the bats, adjusted (wRC+ / xwOBA, with any luck-gap noted); (2) everything else (position, OAA, speed, durability); (3) the verdict with its biggest uncertainty named out loud.
Pick any two players from the table below, open both player pages side by side (the Compare tool does this), and write your three sentences. If you can defend them against each level of this course — sample size? park? luck? position? — you're done. There is no more course. There's just baseball, which you now watch with better eyes.
How this stat lies to you
- Even a perfect three-sentence argument is a probability statement, not a prophecy. The error bars never go away — respecting them IS the skill.
Check yourself
1. Player A: 145 wRC+, DH, 0 OAA. Player B: 125 wRC+, SS, +10 OAA. Who's more valuable?
2. Your three-sentence argument cites single-season defensive metrics. What's the mandatory caveat?
3. What did this course actually teach you?