MLB Trade Value

Dave Cameron, who writes for USS Mariner, Fangraphs, and the Wall Street Journal, among others, is concluding a fantastic series on Fangraphs. He is ranking the top 50 assets in Major League Baseball. Players amass Wins Above Replacement (WAR). A team composed entirely of replacement level players wins about 50 games, so it takes roughly 35-45 WAR to be a playoff team. This past offseason, teams paid roughly 4.5 millions per WAR on the free agent market. As you can see, teams cannot buy their way to the playoffs; their payroll would be at least 180 million. So players that are within their six years of team control and quite valuable. Taking into account WAR, projected WAR, current and projected salaries, date becoming eligible for arbitration, date becoming a free agent, risk, potential, and scarcity, Cameron is exposing the masses to a new way of valuing baseball players. No longer are Alex Rodriguez, CC Sabathia, and Manny Ramirez the most valuable players to their teams. Evan Longoria, Hanley Ramirez, David Wright, Albert Pujols, and Matt Wieters hold those spots now. I've included links to the series below. The top 5 will be revealed Monday on Fangraphs.

Introduction

#50-46

#45-41

#40-36

#35-31

#30-26

#25-21

#20-16

#15-11

#10-6

Players Who Will Improve

Fernando Martinez, OF, New York Mets
Matt Wieters, C, Baltimore Orioles
Garrett Atkins, 3B, Colorado Rockies
Rafael Furcal, SS, Los Angeles Dodgers
Adrian Beltre, 3B, Seattle Mariners
Alexei Ramirez, 2B, Chicago White Sox
Ian Stewart, 2B, Colorado Rockies
Troy Tulowitzki, SS, Colorado Rockies
Jhonny Peralta, SS, Cleveland Indians
BJ Upton, OF, Tampa Bay Rays
Elvis Andrus, SS, Texas Rangers
Alex Rodriguez, 3B, New York Yankees
Chris Iannetta, C, Colorado Rockies
JJ Hardy, SS, Milwaukee Brewers
Ricky Nolasco, SP, Florida Marlins
Andy Sonnanstine, SP, Tampa Bay Rays
Brett Anderson, SP, Oakland Athletics
Carlos Marmol, RP, Chicago Cubs
Scott Baker, SP, Minnesota Twins
Phil Hughes, SP, New York Yankees
Francisco Liriano, SP, Minnesota Twins
Jordan Zimmermann, SP, Washington Nationals
Trevor Cahill, SP, Oakland Athletics
Max Scherzer, SP, Arizona Diamondbacks
Rick Porcello, SP, Detroit Tigers
Ubaldo Jimenez, SP, Colorado Rockies