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We already know that the players chose Osvaldo Alonso as their team MVP. His consistent effort, defensive tenacity, and tidiness on the ball make Alonso an obvious choice. Lamar Neagle, DeAndre Yedlin, and Eddie Johnson all had standout years, as well. Is there a way we can quantitatively rank each squad player's effectiveness and value to the team? Let's look at a couple methods.
Here's the whoscored.com proprietary player ratings for the Sounders:
| R | Name | Rt |
| 1 | Osvaldo Alonso | 7.35 |
| 2 | Djimi Traore | 7.09 |
| 3 | Jhon Kennedy Hurtado | 7.09 |
| 4 | Leonardo Gonzalez | 7.09 |
| 5 | Eddie Johnson | 7.09 |
| 6 | Lamar Neagle | 7.08 |
| 7 | Patrick Ianni | 7.07 |
| 8 | DeAndre Yedlin | 7.06 |
| 9 | Brad Evans | 6.92 |
| 10 | Clint Dempsey | 6.82 |
| 11 | Mauro Rosales | 6.81 |
| 12 | Servando Carrasco | 6.79 |
| 13 | Zach Scott | 6.77 |
| 14 | Obafemi Martins | 6.68 |
| 15 | Steve Zakuani | 6.65 |
| 16 | Mario Roberto Martínez | 6.60 |
| 17 | Michael Gspurning | 6.60 |
| 18 | Andy Rose | 6.59 |
| 19 | Shalrie Joseph | 6.58 |
| 20 | Marc Burch | 6.50 |
| 21 | Marcus Hahnemann | 6.37 |
| 22 | Samuel Ochoa | 6.33 |
| 23 | Adam Moffat | 6.27 |
| 24 | Alex Caskey | 6.23 |
| 25 | David Estrada | 6.13 |
| 26 | Eriq Zavaleta | 6.02 |
| 27 | Andrew Weber | 6.01 |
| 28 | Dylan Remick | 5.97 |
| 29 | Philip Lund | 5.90 |
These ratings seem generally right, though they really don't give a full account of each player's contribution. With the help of Dave Laidig, who has a great "Points Above Replacement" website, I was able to calculate each Sounder's "points contributed" to the 52 accumulated on the season. The basis of these numbers is a modified Castrol Index rating.
| R | Name | Point Contribution | Point Contribution % | Point Contribution % / 90 min |
| 1 | Lamar Neagle | 5.11 | 9.8% | 12.5% |
| 2 | Eddie Johnson | 5.07 | 9.8% | 17.3% |
| 3 | Obafemi Martins | 3.77 | 7.2% | 15.1% |
| 4 | DeAndre Yedlin | 3.61 | 6.9% | 7.8% |
| 5 | Osvaldo Alonso | 3.25 | 6.3% | 8.8% |
| 6 | Djimi Traore | 3.23 | 6.2% | 8.5% |
| 7 | Michael Gspurning | 3.09 | 5.9% | 7.3% |
| 8 | Leonardo Gonzalez | 3.02 | 5.8% | 7.7% |
| 9 | Jhon Kennedy Hurtado | 2.88 | 5.5% | 7.5% |
| 10 | Mauro Rosales | 2.87 | 5.5% | 7.8% |
| 11 | Zach Scott | 2.80 | 5.4% | 11.3% |
| 12 | Brad Evans | 2.21 | 4.3% | 7.4% |
| 13 | Clint Dempsey | 1.91 | 3.7% | 14.1% |
| 14 | Marc Burch | 1.83 | 3.5% | 9.3% |
| 15 | Andy Rose | 1.82 | 3.5% | 12.1% |
| 16 | Steve Zakuani | 1.01 | 1.9% | 12.0% |
| 17 | Shalrie Joseph | 0.98 | 1.9% | 9.8% |
| 18 | Patrick Ianni | 0.93 | 1.8% | 7.7% |
| 19 | Mario Roberto Martínez | 0.87 | 1.7% | 10.2% |
| 20 | David Estrada | 0.68 | 1.3% | 8.1% |
| 21 | Adam Moffat | 0.34 | 0.7% | 5.2% |
| 22 | Marcus Hahnemann | 0.29 | 0.6% | 4.7% |
| 23 | Alex Caskey | 0.29 | 0.6% | 3.9% |
| 24 | Eriq Zavaleta | 0.05 | 0.1% | N/A |
| 25 | Dylan Remick | 0.05 | 0.1% | N/A |
| 26 | Philip Lund | 0.03 | 0.1% | N/A |
| Total | 52 |
What do you think of the player ratings? Could you make a case for Lamar Neagle as MVP? Does either rating system make any sense or would you rather stick to what you see with your eyes?