Numbers don't add up on trading Chris Yarran Liam Mannix
The Age
October 21, 2015 - 3:53PM Carlton have a 10.8 per cent chance of drafting a player as good as Chris Yarran even if they manage to trade him for a first-round pick.
While the Blues and Tigers haggle over his value, the reality is this: Carlton are unlikely to be able to draft a player of Yarran's ability with a first-round pick. And if he is traded for a second-rounder, Carlton's chances of getting fair replacement value seem to be falling even further.
What is Chris Yarran worth?Two measures available in evaluating an established player are games played and Brownlow Medal votes accrued.
Yarran is 24. He'll be 25 when next season starts. He's played 118 games in seven seasons with Carlton, only once playing 22 games or more. In that time he's accrued 10 Brownlow votes and kicked 90 goals.
If Yarran can maintain this consistency – and many would argue his career has been blighted with inconsistency – to 30, he will likely play at least another 100 games and earn at least another 10 Brownlow votes.
What is a draft pick worth?If Yarran is worth 100 games and 10 Brownlow votes, what are the odds of drafting a player who can better that?
Extremely low.
Between 1994 and 2008, only 32.69 per cent of first-round draft picks played more than 100 games.
Games played is a decent marker of the success and value of an AFL player, but it has some flaws. First, AFL clubs have to give their players games.
At poor clubs, poor players will still play a high number of games.
A better marker is Brownlow votes. How good is Yarran's tally of 10 Brownlow votes from 118 games?
Between 1994 and 2008, 56.81 per cent of all players drafted did not accrue a Brownlow vote. Another 17.33 per cent got between one and five.
Of players drafted in the first round, 65.83 per cent earn fewer than 10 votes in their career. Of players drafted in the second round, that number rises to 76.26 per cent.
Chris Yarran: Worth more than you thinkThe odds of Carlton drafting a player of Yarran's calibre with a first-round pick is very low: a roughly 30 per cent chance of playing 100 games, a roughly 30 per cent chance of earning 10 Brownlow votes.
The probability of drafting a player with both those characteristics with a first-round pick? 10.8 per cent.
Why we overvalue draft picksThe AFL community has grown to place a high value on draft picks because they represent potential rather than realised talent.
Every first-round draft pick is a potential Chris Judd – which is true, but this ignores the chances of drafting him are exactly 0.36 per cent.
HOW DRAFTED PLAYERS FARE0 games1st round: 6.47%
2nd round: 15.62%
3rd round: 19.42%
51+ games1st round: 71.92%
2nd round: 52.97%
3rd round: 44.54%
101+ games1st round: 50.38%
2nd round: 30.94%
3rd round: 28.38%
151+ games1st round: 37.39%
2nd round: 19.5%
3rd round: 13.97%
http://www.theage.com.au/afl/afl-trade-period-2015-numbers-dont-add-up-on-trading-chris-yarran-20151013-gk7u0r.html