Measuring the cost of injuries over the last five seasons
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Measuring the cost of injuries over the last five seasons
David Murphy, Daily News Staff Writer
Hard to believe that I'll be flying down to Clearwater in a little over a week for this year's edition of spring training. I'm in the process of organizing my notes in an attempt to identify some of the plotlines that need to be explored early in camp.
Here's one:
Last year, nearly 1/5th of the money that the Phillies paid in player salaries went to somebody who was on the disabled list. Phillies players combined to log more than 1,400 days on the disabled list, at a combined cost of about $32.98 million. In other words, about 19.1 percent of the team's opening day payroll ended up as dead money. Ryan Howard spent 92 days on the disabled list while being paid about $109,000 per day in salary, for a total of about $10.1 million.
Teams can carry insurance on player contracts, but the practice is not as common as you might think because of the cost of the premiums that such policies usually require.
As you can see below, the percentage of payroll investment lost due to injury has increased in each of the last four seasons:
| Year | Total $ Lost | Opening Day Payroll | % Payroll Lost | Avg. Hitter Age | Avg. Pitcher Age |
| 2008 | $6.936 million | $95.200 million | 7.29 | 29.9 | 30.3 |
| 2009 | $10.938 million | $113.680 million | 9.62 | 31.2 | 31.0 |
| 2010 | $18.917 million | $135.398 million | 13.97 | 31.9 | 30.9 |
| 2011 | $31.573 million | $170.893 million | 18.48 | 31.6 | 29.4 |
| 2012 | $32.982 million | $172.535 million | 19.12 | 31.3 | 29.3 |
These numbers are based on the figures I have in my records. The average ages are from Baseball-Reference.com and are weighted for playing time. This year, the average age of the Phillies' eight projected regulars is 31, and the average age for the five projected starting pitchers is 31.
We keep hearing about how old the Phillies are; and how the Phillies are getting older. We've been hearing that for the past five years or so. Yet, it would seem that the average age of the Phillies hasn't changed that much in five years -- especially the average age of the hitters. It would be interesting to see a chart that lists the average ages of the other teams in the league. That would prove (or disprove) the notion that the Phillies are old and getting older.— raltman- ESPN has roster analysis stats that show average age but they don't offer any splits: http://espn.go.com/mlb/stats/rosters
I'm also not sure how up to date it is and how is accounts for multiple in-season moves.
The Phillies problem is they have all the position player age concentrated in the infield. Elite pitchers also generally age differently than position players (generally can play at a high level longer).— s - Whether the "Phightins" are getting older or not, the team is getting less talented. Replace Burrell with Mayberry, Werth with Brown, Victorino with Revere and then you take into account the reduced production from, Utley and Howard and you see why this is a .500 team. It's all about talent evaluation and thus far, Rube has not been up to task. Whether you like it or whether you don't like it, learn to love it because it's the truth according to the Tonner and it's the best thing going today.
- Your schtick is really old and played.
You got anything new?— The Truth Hurts - WOW this Murphy character must think people are stupid. Averages are only good when you do not have any outliers in your set. Take away Moyer from the 08 and 09 team and I am guessing the average drops by 2 years. Add Raul from 09-11 and see what happens. Why don't you try showing us the median (assuming you know how) so we can have a better picture. — vathi
- Possible investigative angle: Jesse Biddle and Chad Durbin are actually relatives. Sure it seems far fetched. But their resemblance is uncanny, or at least noncanny. Let's go with noncanny.— JayW
- These injury FACTS go against the whole THEORY that the Phillies are old, talentless and have the worst GM and manager in baseball. Get ready for the angry, insecure rants from Warbiscuit and his clueless minions....— The Pack Leader
- Well at least a few are gone on so we won't have to hear him rant on them anymore. Contreras is back in Cuba now taking advantage of the new rule allowing defectors to return home. Schneider has retired and Wiggy, Polly and Pierre signed elsewhere. Got younger but we have to see if we got better and healthier. As for the rants ending ,fargetaboutit. These guys live by the whine even when times were at there best or at least when most fans thought things were pretty darn good. But then again we are all fools and patsies, don't you know.
— DUDESKINS - ...and when the Phils go 72-90 this year, will you finally allow a thought that the team is over, done kaput?
If the Phils win the NL East, I'll be on here saying how I'm completely wrong and good for them.
If the Phils match my prediction, will you finally admit that management is not very good and the Phils are well and truly a below average?— fmMD - David the smart guys know this and appreciate this is philly's advantge along with LA, New York, Boston, and a few other similar markets...We can afford it, thank the lucky stars this isn't Pittsburgh where a mistake like that will set them back a decade.— robinlupe
- Good stuff Murph. The average ages of hitters and pitchers have come down some after 2010, with the losses of Raul, Moyer, and Oswalt. Howard and Utley last two years really skew the DL/salary number. What's the answer?... better conditioning? Subway as put money in Howard's pocket -- but has eating their subs kept him in better shape?— ExiledinFla
- Can't wait for the Florida State League to start again. Last year eight Phillies 40 man roster guys rehabbed while playing for the Clearwater Threshers during the regular season. The Threshers were used as a baseball MASH unit. The highlights were watching Michael Martinez rehab at third base for a game while Cody Asche sat and Laynce Nix got work at first base base while Jim Murphy, who still was able to lead the FSL in doubles, sat for three games.— Dull
- The average age of the roster has essentially remained constant, but I think if you would look at the average age of the highest paid players, it has increased. Oswalt, Howard, Utley, Contreras, Halladay -- all factor into this list.— dmurph003
- @robinlupe -- unfortunately, we have a GM that has set us back a decade. Can't imagine a big-market team being in worse shape. Even the Muts have a healthy superstar position player. Though he has been atrocious, I am pretty sure a real GM can get this straightened out fairly quickly. We do have Hamels!!— Copper34
