The August WAR Figures of Certain Deadline Acquisitions

Last month, the present author utilized what a reader might have recognized as “the least possible amount of effort” to the end of compiling a pair of leaderboardsone for hitters, one for pitchers — of all the players who’d been traded both (a) during the month of July and (b) to a contending club, where contending was defined as a club that possessed better than 10% odds of qualifying for the divisional series as of July 31st.

What follows is a list of all those same players, sorted by their WAR totals from the month of August:

# Name Team WAR
1 Jon Lester Athletics 1.0
2 Chase Headley Yankees 1.0
3 Brandon McCarthy Yankees 0.9
4 David Price Tigers 0.8
5 Jeff Samardzija Athletics 0.8
6 Sam Fuld Athletics 0.7
7 Jake Peavy Giants 0.6
8 Andrew Miller Orioles 0.6
9 Asdrubal Cabrera Nationals 0.5
10 Danny Valencia Blue Jays 0.5
11 Martin Prado Yankees 0.5
12 Huston Street Angels 0.3
13 Austin Jackson Mariners 0.2
14 James Russell Braves 0.1
15 Joakim Soria Tigers 0.1
16 Darwin Barney Dodgers 0.1
17 Emilio Bonifacio Braves 0.1
18 John Lackey Cardinals 0.0
19 Joe Thatcher Angels 0.0
20 Jonny Gomes Athletics 0.0
21 Gerardo Parra Brewers -0.1
22 Kendrys Morales Mariners -0.1
23 Jason Hammel Athletics -0.3
24 Justin Masterson Cardinals -0.4
25 Chris Denorfia Mariners -0.5
26 Stephen Drew Yankees -0.6

Here are some observations regarding same:

  • Oakland batters and pitchers produced just a 5.3 WAR collectively in August, the 20th-best such mark in the league. Notably, the five acquisitions included here accounted for slightly more than two of those wins — or, roughly 40%. The remaining 25 or so members of the roster, meanwhile, to have recorded a plate appearance or inning — they produced just three wins collectively (and Josh Donaldson was responsible for nearly two of those).
  • Former Oakland outfielder Yoenis Cespedes recorded a 1.2 WAR for Boston in August — a better mark, that, than every Athletic besides the aforementioned Donaldson.
  • Right-hander Brandon McCarthy has produced nearly an identical park-adjusted xFIP with the Yankees as he did previously with Arizona (73 xFIP- with the former, 77 xFIP- with the latter). His park-adjusted ERAs, however, have been wildly different (70 ERA- with the former, 131 ERA- with the latter). According to WAR as calculated with ERA (and not FIP), McCarthy has been responsible for 1.3 wins with the Yankees after accounting for -0.2 (negative wins, that is) in Phoenix.





Carson Cistulli has published a book of aphorisms called Spirited Ejaculations of a New Enthusiast.

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Well-Beered Englishman
9 years ago

I really hope that after Chase gets a hit, everyone in the Yankee dugout shouts, “That’s Headley!”

a martsass
9 years ago

If Mel Brooks ran the Yankees…

hbar
9 years ago

Jon Miller’s way of occasionally saying “…Headley” in his radio call was always entertaining.

Pacoheadley
9 years ago

I loved when Chase got called up and someone in a major sport finally shared my last name. Poorly relevant comment over and out.