(In addition to appearing at The Captain’s Blog, this post is also being syndicated at TheYankeeAnalysts.)
Over the winter, much was made about how Theo Epstein and the Boston Red Sox won the offseason, while Brian Cashman and the New York Yankees were left out in the cold. Well, after only one month, the tables have been turned. At least in April, it’s Cashman who is now winning the WAR.
WAR Comparison of Yankees’ and Red Sox’ Off Season Additions
Yankees 2011 WAR | ||||
Player | B-Ref | Fangraphs | Average | Salary* |
Russell Martin | 0.8 | 1.1 | 1.0 | $ 4,000,000 |
Bartolo Colon | 0.6 | 0.6 | 0.6 | $ 900,000 |
Freddy Garcia | 0.6 | 0.4 | 0.5 | $ 1,500,000 |
Andruw Jones | 0.3 | 0.4 | 0.4 | $ 2,000,000 |
Eric Chavez | 0.3 | 0.2 | 0.3 | $ 1,500,000 |
Pedro Feliciano | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | $ 4,000,000 |
Rafael Soriano | -0.4 | -0.2 | -0.3 | $ 11,666,667 |
Total | 2.2 | 2.5 | 2.4 | $ 25,566,666 |
Red Sox 2011 WAR | ||||
Player | B-Ref | Fangraphs | Average | Salary* |
Adrian Gonzalez | 0.8 | 0.9 | 0.9 | $ 18,250,000 |
Matt Albers | 0.1 | 0.0 | 0.1 | $ 875,000 |
Alfredo Aceves | 0.2 | -0.1 | 0.1 | $ 650,000 |
Dan Wheeler | -0.2 | 0.0 | -0.1 | $ 3,000,000 |
Dennys Reyes | -0.1 | -0.1 | -0.1 | $ 900,000 |
Bobby Jenks | -0.4 | 0.1 | -0.2 | $ 6,000,000 |
Carl Crawford | -0.9 | -1.0 | -1.0 | $ 20,285,714 |
Total | -0.5 | -0.2 | -0.4 | $ 49,960,714 |
*Salary represents average guaranteed dollars owed to each player.
Source: baseball-reference.com, fangraphs.com and Cot’s Contracts
Despite spending half as much money as the Red Sox, the Yankees have enjoyed nearly three more wins above replacement from their offseason acquisitions. A good portion of that value has been contributed by Russell Martin, who has turned out to be one of the best steals of the offseason. In fact, according to fangraphs, only Jeff Francoeur and Lance Berkman have had higher WARs among position players who changed teams over the winter.
In addition to Martin, the Yankees have also had strong contributions from a group of players that most thought were better suited to an Old Timers team than a pennant contender. Andruw Jones, Eric Chavez, Bartolo Colon and Freddy Garcia have all seemingly turned back the clock 10 years by combining for approximately two wins above replacement. Even better, the quartet is only costing the Yankees $6 million.