The Post-Trade WAR Figures of Notable Deadline Acquisitions

At the beginning of August, 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 August and September combined — which is to say, the two-month period since the trade deadline:

# Name Team Aug Sep Tot
1 David Price Tigers 0.8 1.6 2.4
2 Chase Headley Yankees 1.0 1.3 2.3
3 Jeff Samardzija Athletics 0.8 1.0 1.8
4 Jon Lester Athletics 1.0 0.6 1.6
5 Martin Prado Yankees 0.7 0.7 1.4
6 Brandon McCarthy Yankees 0.9 0.5 1.4
7 Jake Peavy Giants 0.6 0.5 1.1
8 Andrew Miller Orioles 0.6 0.4 1.0
9 Sam Fuld Athletics 0.6 0.2 0.8
10 Asdrubal Cabrera Nationals 0.4 0.1 0.5
11 Darwin Barney Dodgers 0.1 0.4 0.5
12 Gerardo Parra Brewers 0.1 0.3 0.4
13 John Lackey Cardinals 0.0 0.4 0.4
14 James Russell Braves 0.1 0.2 0.3
15 Danny Valencia Blue Jays 0.5 -0.2 0.3
16 Huston Street Angels 0.3 0.0 0.3
17 Jason Hammel Athletics -0.3 0.5 0.2
18 Joakim Soria Tigers 0.1 0.1 0.2
19 Emilio Bonifacio Braves 0.1 -0.1 0.0
20 Joe Thatcher Angels 0.0 0.0 0.0
21 Jonny Gomes Athletics 0.0 -0.1 -0.1
22 Tony Campana Angels 0.0 -0.2 -0.2
23 Austin Jackson Mariners 0.3 -0.6 -0.3
24 Chris Denorfia Mariners -0.4 0.0 -0.4
25 Kendrys Morales Mariners -0.1 -0.3 -0.4
26 Justin Masterson Cardinals -0.5 0.0 -0.5
27 Stephen Drew Yankees -0.5 -0.6 -1.1
  • One, with some ease, could make the argument that left-hander David Price was the best player traded at/around the July 31st deadline. Perhaps with even more ease, one could make the argument that left-hander David Price produced the most wins for his club of all players traded at the aforementioned deadline — notable, that, considering how the Tigers won their division by merely a single game.
  • Notable for a club that missed a postseason berth only on the last day of the season is how Seattle acquired three of the five players to have produced the worst post-trade WAR figures — namely, Chris Denorfia, Austin Jackson, and Kendrys Morales, whose contributions amounted to something along the lines of a negative win.
  • Atop all batters on the traded-player leaderboard is Chase Headley, who produced a 121 wRC+ and 2.7 WAR in 224 plate appearances following his mid-July trade to the Yankees. That will likely have positive consequences for his near future as a major-league free agent. Less positive are the consequences for teammate Stephen Drew.





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

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Jim
9 years ago

Cespedes?

Thaps
9 years ago
Reply to  Jim

Contending clubs

Jason B
9 years ago
Reply to  Thaps

Your big red X was all that needed to be shown!

Yirmiyahu
9 years ago
Reply to  Jim

1.3 WAR with the Red Sox, who were not a “contending club”

Jim
9 years ago
Reply to  Yirmiyahu

Damn it… sorry.