Eric Hosmer is slashing .268/.329/.434 with 23 home runs and 100 RBI’s in 2016. However, according to analytics-heavy website Fangraphs.com, Hosmer has been worth -0.4 fWAR (Wins Above Replacement as measured by Fangraphs.com). To the non-stat nerd, this number says the Royals cleanup hitter is worth less than a garden variety AAA first baseman.
The other major rating system available to the public is Baseball-Reference’s version of the Wins Above Replacement metric (bWAR). Baseball-Reference values Hosmer at 0.9 bWAR. While closer to reality, Baseball-Reference is still saying that Hosmer isn’t even an average major-league regular (usually around 2.