"When last we left our exercise in optimism we were shooting for a team OPS of .750. Why? Well, while you can find all kinds of stats to prove different things, I focused on OPS for a pair of reasons.

First, it's easily understood and it's an accessible stat that translates across different times and places of measurement. A minor leaguer (I'm lookin' at you, Jimmy Paredes!) who consistently turns in an OPS of .720 then delivers a .713 OPS in two months in Houston can probably be counted on to get on base and slug his way to a .725-ish OPS as a full-time player.

Second, team OPS has a fairly direct correlation to runs scored. Houston's team OPS of .684 (24th) last year matches closely to its ranking in runs scored (26th, 615 runs). And, in fact, the top six teams in OPS last year were the top six teams in runs scored (though the order is changed a bit). And all but Boston with it's 22nd-ranked ERA made the playoffs."