Wednesday, June 1, 2016

Red Sox Have Three Of Top Ten Offensive WAR Players

As we enter the third month of the 2016 season, your Boston Red Sox have three players in MLB's Top Ten Offensive WAR rankings. The highest-ranking Sox player is Xander Bogaerts (2.73 WAR, 3rd place)—trailing only Mike Trout (3.21) and Jose Altuve (2.80). In the seventh slot is Jackie Bradley, Jr. (2.49), with David Ortiz placing ninth (2.39). Interestingly, seven of the top ten are American League players—with only Daniel Murphy (Nationals), Ben Zobrist (Cubs) and Dexter Fowler (Cubs) representing the Senior Circuit. It's also interesting to note that Trout is nearly a full win share higher than the tenth-ranked player (3.21 versus 2.32). Clearly, the Red Sox have the highest representation on the list (30%)—with only the Cubbies having more than one. Also, Bogaerts is within 'hailing distance' of second-place—just .07 wins behind Altuve. It will be interesting to see where these offensive WAR rankings end up at the conclusion of the 2016 season.