The MLB trade deadline for 2019 is in the rear-view mirror. The dust has settled and the winners have been crowned and the losers have been flogged by the various pundits and talking heads. Rather than add an additional voice to the already cacophonous crowd, I wanted to examine the trade deadline in a different way. I wanted to measure the type of team that could be created using only players that changed teams.
Measuring a player’s value for this exercise could be done in a variety of ways. I chose a quick and dirty approach – using Fangraphs measure of WAR. Using WAR allowed for the opportunity to gauge the effectiveness of each player during 2019 relative to each other, to those players who did not get traded, and (essential to this exercise) to overall team performance during the 2019 season. Based on the accumulated WAR of all players traded, I was able to assemble the following team.
Starting Pitching (12.9 total WAR)
(Zack Greinke)
Zack Greinke 3.7 WAR
Marcus Stroman 2.9 WAR
Trevor Bauer 2.7 WAR
Tanner Roark 1.8 WAR
Andrew Cashner 1.8 WAR
Relief Pitching (6.5 total WAR)
(Shane Greene)
Ryan Stanek Opener/RP 1.1 WAR
Sam Dyson 1.1 WAR
Nick Anderson 1.0 WAR
Jake Diekman 0.7 WAR
Shane Greene 0.7 WAR
Mark Melancon 0.5 WAR
Sergio Romo 0.5 WAR
Chris Martin 0.5 WAR
Daniel Hudson 0.4 WAR
Catcher (0.3 total WAR)
(Martin Maldonado)
Martin Maldonado 0.4 WAR
Max Stassi -0.1 WAR
Infield (1.8 total WAR)
(Eric Sogard)
1B: Jesus Aguilar -0.2 WAR
2B: Tony Kemp 2B/OF 0.5 WAR
3B: Jedd Gyorko – 1B, 2B, 3B -0.3 WAR
SS: Eric Sogard – 2B, 3B, SS 2.2 WAR
Bench: Scooter Gennett – 2B -0.4 WAR
Outfield (4.3 total WAR)
(Yasiel Puig)
Franmil Reyes 1.4 WAR
Nicolas Castellanos 1.0 WAR
Yasiel Puig 0.9 WAR
Cory Dickerson 1.0 WAR
Total Team WAR: 25.8 WAR
How does a 25.8 WAR team compare to other teams in 2019? To help put the WAR total into context, the WAR totals for teams within two divisions are listed below.
AL EAST
Rays 34 WAR
Red Sox 33.7 WAR
Yankees 30.8 WAR
Blue Jays 13.2 WAR
Orioles 4.0 WAR
NL WEST
Dodgers 40.8 WAR
Diamondbacks 28.3 WAR
Padres 21.6 WAR
Rockies 13.4
Giants 13.3 WAR
The ‘real team’ closest to the 25.8 WAR of my ‘traded’ team is the Milwaukee Brewers. The Brewers, as a team, have amassed 26.0 WAR and are currently slugging it out with the Cubs and Cardinals for the lead in the NL Central. Although the offensive WAR and pitching WAR totals are not proportional when the Brewers and the ‘traded’ team are compared, the general competitiveness of the two teams is a fair comparison. Thus, a team with a WAR total of almost 26 would be considered competitive in 2019 and quite possibly in the hunt for a playoff spot as a wild card.
A few points to note:
The composition of my team was limited based on the players that were traded. I ended up being short on position players. I would have liked to have had at least one additional utility infielder and an additional outfielder or third catcher. However, there were no candidates that played enough innings to be included at the above mentioned spots. Thus, I substituted two additional bullpen arms rather than leave the 24th and 25th roster spots empty or artificially inflate my team’s WAR by including additional starting pitching. The two bullpen arms allowed for an additional .9 WAR to the team’s total rather than adding starters Homer Bailey (1.5 WAR) and Mike Leake (1.3 WAR) which would have artificially inflated my team’s WAR by 2.8.
Although Tony Kemp has primarily played in the outfield, he has logged a few innings at second base during 2019. Based on the limited pool of players that were available for this exercise, I made the executive decision to have him play at second base which in turn allowed me to staff an outfield with players who have earned more WAR than Kemp. Playing Kemp a second allowed Gennett and his -0.4 WAR to move to a bench/utility role.
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