[Mick]

8. A.J. Pierzynski (of all people).  Him, I don't get.  Apart from the fact that he was a crank, he was an average hitter (.739 OPS, .280 BA), and a terrible fielder (was in top five stolen bases allowed eight times, top five passed balls five times).  His only year with the Giants, he led the league in grounding into double plays, the only offensive category he ever led the league.  All-star twice in a 19 year career, silver slugger once.  4x as many passed balls as Posey.  Range factor below league average.

I agree that Pierzynski (together with Papelbon) is one of the weaker players on the ballot, although it doesn't really matter. But just out of curiosity, in what way does Range Factor measure a catcher's defensive ability?

It covers assists and putouts.  For catchers, strikeouts are credited to the catcher.

That's my point. Almost all of a catcher's putouts are strikeouts. If you are catching the Brewers staff then your "range" will be sky high and if you are  catching the Cardinals staff your "range" will be well below average. It's not relevant for catchers. There's plenty to ding Pierzynski with but that's a reach.

I don't know that it's all that much of a reach.  Catcher catches the pitches and frames the pitches and they have their own assists, putouts, double plays, etc.  But if it makes you feel better, AJP's fielding Sabrmetrics are almost uniformly negative (average is 0) across his career.  That's true for:

* Total Zone Fielding Runs Above Average (-36)
* Total Zone Catcher Runs Above Average (-36)
* Defensive Runs Saved Above Average (-57)
* +/- Fielding Runs Above Average (-4)
* Catcher Runs Above Average (-15)
* Catcher Strike Zone Runs Above Average (-16)

There are 15 career defensive metrics assigned to catchers.  AJP has two that are positive, three that are neutral (0) and ten that are negative.  Doesn't really scream Hall of Fame to me.

[Mick]

8. A.J. Pierzynski (of all people).  Him, I don't get.  Apart from the fact that he was a crank, he was an average hitter (.739 OPS, .280 BA), and a terrible fielder (was in top five stolen bases allowed eight times, top five passed balls five times).  His only year with the Giants, he led the league in grounding into double plays, the only offensive category he ever led the league.  All-star twice in a 19 year career, silver slugger once.  4x as many passed balls as Posey.  Range factor below league average.

I agree that Pierzynski (together with Papelbon) is one of the weaker players on the ballot, although it doesn't really matter. But just out of curiosity, in what way does Range Factor measure a catcher's defensive ability?

It covers assists and putouts.  For catchers, strikeouts are credited to the catcher.

That's my point. Almost all of a catcher's putouts are strikeouts. If you are catching the Brewers staff then your "range" will be sky high and if you are  catching the Cardinals staff your "range" will be well below average. It's not relevant for catchers. There's plenty to ding Pierzynski with but that's a reach.

I don't know that it's all that much of a reach.  Catcher catches the pitches and frames the pitches and they have their own assists, putouts, double plays, etc.  But if it makes you feel better, AJP's fielding Sabrmetrics are almost uniformly negative (average is 0) across his career.  That's true for:

* Total Zone Fielding Runs Above Average (-36)
* Total Zone Catcher Runs Above Average (-36)
* Defensive Runs Saved Above Average (-57)
* +/- Fielding Runs Above Average (-4)
* Catcher Runs Above Average (-15)
* Catcher Strike Zone Runs Above Average (-16)

There are 15 career defensive metrics assigned to catchers.  AJP has two that are positive, three that are neutral (0) and ten that are negative.  Doesn't really scream Hall of Fame to me.