A Comparison of MLB Shortstops By Drew Jack and Lauren McNulty

Salary over $10 million Derek Jeter $21,600,000 Miguel Tejada $14,811,415 Rafael Furcal $15,730,196

Salary over $1 million Michael Young $6,174,974 Bobby Crosby $3,550,000 David Eckstein $4,500,000

Salary under $1 million Troy Tulowitzki $750,000 Hanley Ramirez $439,000 Jason Bartlett $416,600

Statistics Used for Comparison Offensive Statistics: OPS = OBP + SLG RC/AB = [(H + BB)(TB)/(AB + BB)]/AB Defensive Statistics: Fielding Percentage DP/GP *Used two proportions test

OPS JeterFurcalTejadaYoungEcksteinCrosbyTulowitzkiRamirezBartlett Jeter*** Furcal*** Tejada*** Young1.0021*** Eckstein111*** Crosby111*** Tulowitzki *** Ramirez *** Bartlett *** Cumulative p-values: Ramirez – 0 Jeter – 1 Tejada – 1 Tulowitzki – Furcal – 2.9 Young – Bartlett – Eckstein – Crosby – 5.81

RC/AB JeterFurcalTejadaYoungEcksteinCrosbyTulowitskiRamirezBartlett Jeter*** Furcal*** Tejada*** Young *** Eckstein111*** Crosby111*** Tulowitzki *** Ramirez *** Bartlett *** Cumulative p-values: Ramirez – Jeter – Tejada – Furcal – Tulowitzki – Young – Bartlett – Eckstein – 5.37 Crosby – 5.602

Fielding Percentage JeterFurcalTejadaYoungEcksteinCrosbyTulowitzkiRamirezBartlett Jeter*** Furcal*** Tejada*** Young *** Eckstein *** Crosby *** Tulowitzki *** Ramirez *** Bartlett *** Cumulative p-values: Tulowitzki – Eckstein – Young – Crosby – Jeter – Tejada – Furcal – Bartlett – Ramirez – 5.586

DP/GP JeterFurcalTejadaYoungEcksteinCrosbyTulowitskiRamirezBartlett Jeter*** Furcal*** Tejada*** Young *** Eckstein *** Crosby *** Tulowitzki *** Ramirez *** Bartlett *** Cumulative p-values: Tulowitzki – Furcal – Young – 2.4 Crosby – Tejada – Ramirez – Eckstein – Bartlett – Jeter – 5.988

Combined p-values Our RankingsWashington Times Article 1.Troy Tulowitzki – Hanley Ramirez 2.Michael Young – Derek Jeter 3.Miguel Tejada – Michael Young 4.Hanley Ramirez – Miguel Tejada 5.Derek Jeter – Troy Tulowitzki 6.Rafael Furcal – Rafael Furcal 7.David Eckstein – Jason Bartlett 8.Bobby Crosby – David Eckstein 9.Jason Bartlett – Bobby Crosby

The Best Deal Percentage of Team’s Payroll 1.Tejada – 16.66% 2.Furcal – 13.27% 3.Jeter – 10.33% 4.Young – 9.05% 5.Crosby – 7.40% 6.Eckstein – 6.11% 7.Ramirez – 2.01% 8.Tulowitzki – 1.09% 9.Bartlett – 0.95% New Rankings 1.Tulowitzki – Ramirez – Young – Jeter – Eckstein – Crosby – Furcal – Bartlett – Tejada –

Derek Jeter’s salaries throughout his career $120, $540, $750, $5,000, $10,000, $12,600, $14,600, $15,600, $18,600, $19,600, $20,600, $21,600, $21,600,000 Recent Contracts January 2008 – Tulowitzki signed 6-year, $30 million dollar contract May 2008 – Ramirez signed 6-year, $70 million dollar contract Average MLB Service High Salary – seasons Middle Salary – 7.66 seasons Low Salary – 4 seasons

Conclusions There does not appear to be a great statistical significance between a player’s salary and their performance. Instead, it appears as if one’s salary is more closely tied to years of service in the league. More statistics would improve our rating system. It’s difficult to maintain a high level of performance for many years.

Works Cited Albert, Jim. Teaching Statistics Using Baseball. The Mathematical Association of America. Washington D.C.: baseball-reference.com cbssports.com espn.com ational-pastime/2009/Mar/04/fantasy- rankings---shortstops/ ational-pastime/2009/Mar/04/fantasy- rankings---shortstops/