Morning Mound Visit: sabermetrics news - 2/22/19

FanGraphs | Jeff Sullivan: Bryce Harper and Manny Machado have been great thus far in their respective careers, but when comparing it to Mike Trout, it’s almost laughable. Trout has been just as good as both of them combined, and nearly a win better on a rate (WAR/600) basis. There’s almost no way for him to be overpaid when he hits free agency, because he could easily command a salary that is double that of Machado/Harper.

Baseball Prospectus | Robert Arthur ($): Rob Manfred claims that teams are more competitive, but the numbers show that parity is on the decline. The last few years have featured some of the worst bottom-feeders in baseball history, and while the Padres will get a near-term boost, it doesn’t change the fact that four teams project for fewer than 70 wins this year.

Bill James Online | Bill James: We all know Game Score, but there is also Game Score 2, which was created by Tom Tango. There’s only a difference of a few points between them over the course of a large data set, with the main difference that version one gives more credit to the best starts, and even less credit to the worst ones.