WAR: What Is It Good For?

Absolutely nothing, if you want to measure baseball talent (though still a great song done by Edwin Starr).  I read a Washington Post story in the Tribune yesterday that said, according to FanGraphs, Mike Trout has the highest-ever WAR through age 26.  And Babe Ruth?  He ranks 13^th, with 45.9.

 

It seems that pitching lowered Ruth’s score.  Oh, give me a break.  We can’t even begin to comprehend Ruth’s accomplishments in real time.  Who else was doing what he was back then?  For instance, at age 25 Ruth hit 54 homeruns with 135 RBIs and a .376 BA.  And let’s not forget his OBP of .532.  In other words, the Bambino got on base more often than not.  At age 26, Ruth upped his homer total to 59, RBIs to 168 and BA to .378 while his OBP “slipped” to .512.  How much would those stats be worth today?

 

Here’s another WAR headscratcher: HOF pitcher Jim Palmer amassed a 268-152 record with a career 2.86 ERA; that comes out to a WAR of 68.4.  In comparison, Rick Reuschel went 214-191 with a 3.37 ERA, yet, somehow, Reuschel’s WAR figures out to 69.5.  Palmer recorded 53 shutouts to Reuschel’s 26 and had a 8-3 mark in the postseason—including 4-2 in World Series games—to a

1-4 postseason record for Reuschel.I ask again:  WAR, what is it good for?