I’d be interesting seeing the mediocrity of these teams compared to their overall team budgets. Is anyone getting a great deal vs a shit one for their mediocrity?
jrdubbleu on
It would be beautifuler if the team names didn’t overlap on the plot. But I like the data it’s fun!
eggs_and_bacon on
I was confused by the Pirates ranking until I realized we’re in the exclusive “Too Bad to Be Mediocre” tier with the Royals and Orioles
Danktizzle on
Baseball would still be the number one sport in America if they used promotion/relegation and gave every community in america a chance to earn a spot.
Instead they chose monopoly and I don’t understand why 80% of America isn’t up in arms about being shut out of the monopoly.
Can’t wait for the replies from the monopoly simps.
Gurgoth on
Looks like the mariners are close to the most medicore medicore team. Sounds right.
No-mames95 on
The giants have won 3 WS in the past 25 years. Most fan bases, mine included, would sacrifice their children for that “mediocracy.”
Naytosan on
I’m 42, been a Twins fan my whole life; still am. They’re right smack-dab in the middle of mediocre lolol! That fits perfectly.
wowaffles on
Calling the Giants, who are tied for the most WS wins by a team in the last 25 years with 3, the 6th most mediocre team during that time is something.
TheTattooOnR2D2sFace on
As a Phillies fan I’ll count it as a win cause we’re less mediocre than the Mets. Fuck the Mets.
MadRoboticist on
How on earth are the Giants so far to the left? They have 3 World Series.
56088 on
This is confusing. teams that are truly mediocre (closest to .500 over a number of seasons) are at the far left but teams that are either too good or too bad to be considered mediocre are bunched together at the far right? Took me a second to realize what I’m looking at.
The Rockies are so bad historically that even on a mediocrity list they place in the middle.
Jets237 on
So the rays are more bad than the yankees are good. interesting.
H_Lunulata on
> The Blue Jays are truly an incredibly mediocre team.
Do the Toronto Maple Leafs.
danstymusic on
Dang the Pirates can’t even win at being mediocre
stumpy_chica on
Toronto likes to have consistently mediocre teams. Sometimes it’s embarrassing being a leafs fan lol
polomarkopolo on
Don’t show Blue Jays fans this… every damn year they’re a player away from winning it all
mssngthvwls on
*We’re just okay! 👏🏻 We’re just okay! 🙌🏻 We’re just okay! 👏🏻*
– Jays fan
Splinterfight on
This graph ignores the fact that 1 great season outweighs many mediocre ones. It’s counting a 60% win rate season the same as a 90% win rate season. Maybe the sum of distance from the mean/middle of the pack for each season would be more agreeable to human psychology.
xHourglassx on
As a Cleveland sports fan, I feel like the Guardians should be higher. Sure they make a run at the division every year and make the occasional ALCS and a couple of WS but they’re never dominant and never bad. They’re pretty much at or just above .500 at all times. Isn’t that the definition of mediocre?
bradfo83 on
I love how Tigers are in the middle mediocre. The mediocre of the mediocre. It’s like being in the middle of the middle
mister2021 on
Why is the y axis different here than in the NFL one?
celluloidsandman on
I like the methodology, but I think you need to add championships / playoff performance to the mix.
That is to say, if a team wins a championship, or makes a World Series, or makes an AL/NLCS and so on, there’s some reasonable boost to the score on one of those axes (probably the mediocre season rate)
GarrusExMachina on
The blue jays are incredibly adept at acquiring just enough talent to be above average in at least 2 areas of the game but not being a marquee destination enough or paying enough to acquire enough talent to be elite and not being good enough at development to be the rays…
The pocket books have been better lately but history is history
blubblu on
Hey man this doesn’t make sense unless mediocre means average
How can the A’s rank so high when most seasons they suck?
So, what you’re saying isn’t mediocre is any team that isn’t near 500 every season.
This is interesting, but the data should read differently
zestypov on
The Mets can’t even win here.
NittanyOrange on
Mets and Bills fans… a tough combo.
reachedmylimit on
Follow the money. Or lack thereof.
atgrey24 on
These two graphs together tell me that the Rays are always great or terrible, with no middle ground. Yet they manage these extremes in roughly equal proportion.
Does that match reality?
HerpTurtleDoo on
Sir can you stop, as a chargers and blue jays fan, the pain is real.
Semperty on
.450 to .550 in baseball seems like such a wide gap. that includes all but 5 teams in the data set. even this year, there are 18 teams in that range. it feels like you’re going to get some wonky results when you have such a (relatively) big range.
Varithenes on
Being a mediocre team in the AL east means being a great team anywhere else lol (except NL west).
The_Baron___ on
The Blue Jays suffer from the same issue that all Toronto teams suffer from:
1) Massive fan-base that stretch across Canada
2) Fan loyalty and sales no matter their success
Some teams need to win for anyone to care, especially in the NHL (which, admittedly I’m more familiar with), but people across Canada tune into the games for the teams in Toronto, especially the Blue Jays, making them profitable without requiring performance.
They are wealthy enough to afford great players, but pulling American players into Canada is tough, and they will have a enough people watching and buying paraphernalia that they just have to do well enough to stay playing to keep attention.
Kitchen_Can_3555 on
Man my team is right in the middle… they’re even mediocre at being mediocre!
PertinentGlass on
Interesting choice of verbiage since mediocre hasn’t been used to mean average for a long time.
Worst_Username_Evar on
Not sure you know what mediocre means when it comes to sports.
slayer_of_idiots on
I was surprised that the Pirates were so high on the list. Then I saw the second graph that showed it was because they were just bad most of the time and not mediocre.
Wowarentyouugly on
Think about how bad the angels have been to erase all that dominance in the early 2000s. This with generational talent like Trout.
justinotherpeterson on
The second graph feels my exact thoughts on the Mariners. It’s never too terrible but too great, either. My baseball life is pain.
40 Comments
How do you define ‘mediocre’?
MLB should seriously have a relegation system.
I’d be interesting seeing the mediocrity of these teams compared to their overall team budgets. Is anyone getting a great deal vs a shit one for their mediocrity?
It would be beautifuler if the team names didn’t overlap on the plot. But I like the data it’s fun!
I was confused by the Pirates ranking until I realized we’re in the exclusive “Too Bad to Be Mediocre” tier with the Royals and Orioles
Baseball would still be the number one sport in America if they used promotion/relegation and gave every community in america a chance to earn a spot.
Instead they chose monopoly and I don’t understand why 80% of America isn’t up in arms about being shut out of the monopoly.
Can’t wait for the replies from the monopoly simps.
Looks like the mariners are close to the most medicore medicore team. Sounds right.
The giants have won 3 WS in the past 25 years. Most fan bases, mine included, would sacrifice their children for that “mediocracy.”
I’m 42, been a Twins fan my whole life; still am. They’re right smack-dab in the middle of mediocre lolol! That fits perfectly.
Calling the Giants, who are tied for the most WS wins by a team in the last 25 years with 3, the 6th most mediocre team during that time is something.
As a Phillies fan I’ll count it as a win cause we’re less mediocre than the Mets. Fuck the Mets.
How on earth are the Giants so far to the left? They have 3 World Series.
This is confusing. teams that are truly mediocre (closest to .500 over a number of seasons) are at the far left but teams that are either too good or too bad to be considered mediocre are bunched together at the far right? Took me a second to realize what I’m looking at.
The Rockies are so bad historically that even on a mediocrity list they place in the middle.
So the rays are more bad than the yankees are good. interesting.
> The Blue Jays are truly an incredibly mediocre team.
Do the Toronto Maple Leafs.
Dang the Pirates can’t even win at being mediocre
Toronto likes to have consistently mediocre teams. Sometimes it’s embarrassing being a leafs fan lol
Don’t show Blue Jays fans this… every damn year they’re a player away from winning it all
*We’re just okay! 👏🏻 We’re just okay! 🙌🏻 We’re just okay! 👏🏻*
– Jays fan
This graph ignores the fact that 1 great season outweighs many mediocre ones. It’s counting a 60% win rate season the same as a 90% win rate season. Maybe the sum of distance from the mean/middle of the pack for each season would be more agreeable to human psychology.
As a Cleveland sports fan, I feel like the Guardians should be higher. Sure they make a run at the division every year and make the occasional ALCS and a couple of WS but they’re never dominant and never bad. They’re pretty much at or just above .500 at all times. Isn’t that the definition of mediocre?
I love how Tigers are in the middle mediocre. The mediocre of the mediocre. It’s like being in the middle of the middle
Why is the y axis different here than in the NFL one?
I like the methodology, but I think you need to add championships / playoff performance to the mix.
That is to say, if a team wins a championship, or makes a World Series, or makes an AL/NLCS and so on, there’s some reasonable boost to the score on one of those axes (probably the mediocre season rate)
The blue jays are incredibly adept at acquiring just enough talent to be above average in at least 2 areas of the game but not being a marquee destination enough or paying enough to acquire enough talent to be elite and not being good enough at development to be the rays…
The pocket books have been better lately but history is history
Hey man this doesn’t make sense unless mediocre means average
How can the A’s rank so high when most seasons they suck?
So, what you’re saying isn’t mediocre is any team that isn’t near 500 every season.
This is interesting, but the data should read differently
The Mets can’t even win here.
Mets and Bills fans… a tough combo.
Follow the money. Or lack thereof.
These two graphs together tell me that the Rays are always great or terrible, with no middle ground. Yet they manage these extremes in roughly equal proportion.
Does that match reality?
Sir can you stop, as a chargers and blue jays fan, the pain is real.
.450 to .550 in baseball seems like such a wide gap. that includes all but 5 teams in the data set. even this year, there are 18 teams in that range. it feels like you’re going to get some wonky results when you have such a (relatively) big range.
Being a mediocre team in the AL east means being a great team anywhere else lol (except NL west).
The Blue Jays suffer from the same issue that all Toronto teams suffer from:
1) Massive fan-base that stretch across Canada
2) Fan loyalty and sales no matter their success
Some teams need to win for anyone to care, especially in the NHL (which, admittedly I’m more familiar with), but people across Canada tune into the games for the teams in Toronto, especially the Blue Jays, making them profitable without requiring performance.
They are wealthy enough to afford great players, but pulling American players into Canada is tough, and they will have a enough people watching and buying paraphernalia that they just have to do well enough to stay playing to keep attention.
Man my team is right in the middle… they’re even mediocre at being mediocre!
Interesting choice of verbiage since mediocre hasn’t been used to mean average for a long time.
Not sure you know what mediocre means when it comes to sports.
I was surprised that the Pirates were so high on the list. Then I saw the second graph that showed it was because they were just bad most of the time and not mediocre.
Think about how bad the angels have been to erase all that dominance in the early 2000s. This with generational talent like Trout.
The second graph feels my exact thoughts on the Mariners. It’s never too terrible but too great, either. My baseball life is pain.