I answered your question succinctly. They apply the positional adjustment to oWAR. It doesn't make sense intuitively. Fan Graphs applies their positional adjustment to their fielding runs +- average calcuation, then just adds up the run values for fWAR. This is similar to Tom Tango's famous baseruns

Posted on August 13, 2026 at 05:48:33 PM by Daytripper

Tom Tango is a must read. He's about as easy to read as a it gets for a math guy. Just google him and baseruns. It's the foundation for all of modern sabermetric player values.

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Thread:

MLB WAR question. Do players at key defensive positions get more *offensive* WAR for the same numbers as a DH or 1B? - By jjwalker August 13, 2026 at 05:10:52 PM
- I believe fangraphs captures it within the defensive portion of WAR - By DoctorD August 13, 2026 at 06:16:53 PM
- Feels like this is the perfect question for Jeff or Steve* - By el fuego August 13, 2026 at 05:20:52 PM
  - Or Marty, who's also awesomel. I'm throwing the bait out there!* - By jjwalker August 13, 2026 at 05:46:31 PM
    - I answered your question succinctly. They apply the positional adjustment to oWAR. It doesn't make sense intuitively. Fan Graphs applies their positional adjustment to their fielding runs +- average calcuation, then just adds up the run values for fWAR. This is similar to Tom Tango's famous baseruns - By Daytripper August 13, 2026 at 05:48:33 PM
      - Yeah, that way seems better, just for clarity. Thanks, I'll check this guy out!* - By jjwalker August 13, 2026 at 07:24:31 PM
      - I read a bunch of his stuff with MGL like 20 or 25 years ago. Are they still putting out free material? They were great* - By DoctorD August 13, 2026 at 06:33:46 PM
  - jon was first through the door...* - By Nikos August 13, 2026 at 05:26:17 PM
- I don't like how B-Ref does it, I prefer Fangraph's methods. B-Ref yes, uses positional adjustment in oWAR. So PCA gets a massive boost as the best defender in MLB, at least in CF, over a DH only in Ohtani* - By Daytripper August 13, 2026 at 05:19:42 PM
  - Re: I don't like how B-Ref does it, I prefer Fangraph's methods. B-Ref yes, uses positional adjustment in oWAR. So PCA gets a massive boost as the best defender in MLB, at least in CF, over a DH only in Ohtani* - By KeiTh August 13, 2026 at 05:52:06 PM
    - Oh now I see you explained that above. Well said. * - By KeiTh August 13, 2026 at 05:53:15 PM

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