As statheads wanted an all-inclusive stat to assess and determine a player’s value on the field, they came up with the concept of Wins Above Replacement (WAR).
WAR takes hitting, fielding, and baserunning performance and combines it into one number that provides a better idea of his performance relative to the “replacement level” player.
The higher the WAR is, the better the player is because he contributes more to his team.
With this in mind, Codify Baseball offered some WAR projections for the upcoming 2023 campaign.
Unsurprisingly, Los Angeles Angels star Shohei Ohtani leads all players because he is unique enough to accumulate stats (and WAR) by hitting and pitching.
“Highest projected 2023 WAR, mashup of ZiPS and Steamer: Shohei Ohtani, 7.50; Aaron Judge, 7.41; Juan Soto, 6.79; Adley Rutschman, 5.70; Yordan Alvarez, 5.69; Julio RodrÃguez, 5.64; Mookie Betts, 5.64; José RamÃrez, 5.62; Trea Turner, 5.49; Mike Trout, 5.45; Alex Bregman, 5.43,” they tweeted.
Highest projected 2023 WAR,
mashup of ZiPS and Steamer:Shohei Ohtani, 7.50
Aaron Judge, 7.41
Juan Soto, 6.79
Adley Rutschman, 5.70
Yordan Alvarez, 5.69
Julio RodrÃguez, 5.64
Mookie Betts, 5.64
José RamÃrez, 5.62
Trea Turner, 5.49
Mike Trout, 5.45
Alex Bregman, 5.43 pic.twitter.com/aDYEP1jIpC— Codify (@CodifyBaseball) February 3, 2023
When talking about WAR, anything over 5.0 is considered star-level, and 7.0 or more usually means MVP-like performance.
Last year, New York Yankees star Aaron Judge led all players with 11.4 WAR, according to FanGraphs.
Seasons with 10 or more WAR are very, very rare.
Ohtani has a chance to eclipse that threshold if he stays healthy enough to make 25 starts and take 550 plate appearances.
He will be motivated by the fact that 2023 is his last season under contract, and he is playing for his next deal.
Specialists say he has a chance to make more than $500 million in the open market, if the Angels don’t extend him first.
Every contender should be after his services because he can provide a unique profile: being an ace and a slugger while occupying just one roster spot is something that only he can do.
NEXT: The Angels Are Reportedly Targeting A Top Reliever
