TWO 10 WAR teammates same year?

WAR (Wins Above Replacement) is a total.

https://www.baseball-reference.com/about/war_explained.shtml

Data is from stathead.com via baseball-reference.com American League and National League 1903-2021. Click this link to view all the data.

This post uses but does not endorse WAR.

MVP: should money be considered? Thursday, November 8, 2012

Miguel Cabrera v. Mike Trout.  Cabrera is a classic great hitter who does not contribute in any other significant way.  Trout is a rookie whom I've compared to Mickey Mantle.

Wednesday, August 8, 2012
Mike Trout: Mickey Mantle 1952? ...

In 2012 Cabrera became the first player in 45 years ... the traditional triple crown...

But here's the point that none of us has considered: money.  How much money did their respective teams allocate to each of these individuals and what players could have been on the Tiger and Angel rosters because of that difference in money spent to pay Cabrera and Trout...

salary / WAR = $$$ per WAR:
Trout $500,000 / 10.7 = $46,729
Cano $14,000,000 / 8.2 = $1,707,317
Cabrera $21,000,000 / 6.9  = $3,043,478

Well, that puts MVP into an entirely different perspective.

______________________

Start each inning with the top of the order, at least in EXTRA innings. Make Mike Trout's salary worth it. Friday, May 27, 2022

Mike Trout was a 10 WAR (Wins Above Replacement) player when he was a 2012 rookie being paid the minimum of about half a million dollars. Now that he is getting $37 million and can't be much more than a 10 WAR player, Trout is one 74th as valuable. As a rookie 10 WAR player, that $36.5 million difference could have been paid to teammates. As much as I like Trout, there is no way to justify his receiving so much of his team's payroll for such a limited impact. He could go days without an impact PA.

______________________________

Mike Trout's highest WAR:
2012: 10.5
2016: 10.5
2018: 9.9
2015: 9.6
2013: 8.9

In 2012 Trout's Angels team had Albert Pujols, so maybe they thought that they already had another 10 WAR player. Pujols was in his first year of a long term contract with the Angels. But in 2012 Pujols OPS+ was 138, the highest it would be with the Angels. In 12 years with the Cardinals, Pujols had an OPS+ 170. In his entire career Pujols highest WAR was 9.7 with the Cardinals in 2009; second highest: 9.2 in 2008. Pujols highest WAR with the Angels: 2012: 4.8; negative WAR in 2017 and 2021. Pujols Angels contract went from $12 million in 2012 (24 times Trout's) to $30 million in 2021.

You've got to be able to afford two players who actually achieve 10 WAR.

Order of ties in WAR is from stathead.com and presumably reflects unseen digits. 

Since 1903 number of seasons with WAR at least 10:

Batters: 58: high Babe Ruth 14.2; three did not lead league (5%):

AL Gehrig 1927 11.9, second to Ruth 12.6
AL Collins 1910 10.5, second to Cobb 10.5
NL Sosa 2001 10.3, second to Bonds 11.9

Pitchers: 53; high Walter Johnson 15.1; nine did not lead league (17%):

AL Chesbro 1904 10.4, second to Waddell 11.3
NL Mathewson 1903 10.5, second to McGinnity 12.3
AL Walsh 1910 11.1, second to Russ Ford 11.4
AL Walter Johnson 1910 10.4, third to Russ Ford 11.4
AL Walsh 1912 11.4, second to Walter Johnson 13.2
AL Smokey Joe Wood 1912 10.1, third to Walter Johnson 13.2
NL Ellsworth 1963 10.3, second to Koufax 10.7
NL Jenkins 1971 10.1, second to Seaver 10.2
AL Wilbur Wood 1972 10.7, second to Gaylord Perry 10.8

Multiple times in rough chronological order:

Batters 13:
Ruth 9
Hornsby 6
Mays 6
Cobb 3
Ted Williams 3
Mantle 3
Bonds 3
Wagner 2
Speaker 2
Gehrig 2
Yastrzemski 2
Ripken 2
Trout 2

Note: Hank Aaron 0; high 9.4 1961.

1961 Yankees: Mantle 10.4, Maris 6.9

Pitchers 13:
Walter Johnson 8
Walsh 3
Alexander 3
Grove 3
Mathewson 2
Vance 2
Koufax 2
Gibson 2
Seaver 2
Wilbur Wood 2
Carlton 2
Clemens 2
Randy Johnson 2

Teammates:

Babe Ruth and Lou Gehrig at
United States Military Academy, West Point, NY
May 6, 1927
USMA, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

Batters: Ruth 12.6 and Gehrig 11.9 1927.

Pitchers: none in the same year.

I didn't notice any year in which a batter and pitcher were on the same team.

For fields other than WAR for batters: BOLD is high, RED is low for the entire set of records.

Tops:

Batters:

Rk	Player	WAR	Season	Age	Team	Lg	G	PA	AB	R	H	1B	2B	3B	HR	RBI	SB	CS	BB	SO	BA	OBP	SLG	OPS	OPS+	TB
1	Babe Ruth	14.2	1923	28	NYY	AL	152	699	522	151	205	106	45	13	41	130	17	21	170	93	.393	.545	.764	1.309	239	399
2	Babe Ruth	12.9	1921	26	NYY	AL	152	693	540	177	204	85	44	16	59	168	17	13	145	81	.378	.512	.846	1.359	239	457
3	Babe Ruth	12.6	1927	32	NYY	AL	151	691	540	158	192	95	29	8	60	165	7	6	137	89	.356	.486	.772	1.258	225	417
4	Carl Yastrzemski	12.5	1967	27	BOS	AL	161	680	579	112	189	110	31	4	44	121	10	8	91	69	.326	.418	.622	1.040	193	360
5	Rogers Hornsby	12.3	1924	28	STL	NL	143	642	536	121	227	145	43	14	25	94	5	12	89	32	.424	.507	.696	1.203	222	373
6	Lou Gehrig	11.9	1927	24	NYY	AL	155	717	584	149	218	101	52	18	47	173	10	8	109	84	.373	.474	.765	1.240	220	447
7	Babe Ruth	11.9	1920	25	NYY	AL	142	617	458	158	172	73	36	9	54	135	14	14	150	80	.376	.532	.847	1.379	255	388
8	Barry Bonds	11.9	2001	36	SFG	NL	153	664	476	129	156	49	32	2	73	137	13	3	177	93	.328	.515	.863	1.379	259	411
9	Babe Ruth	11.8	1924	29	NYY	AL	153	681	529	143	200	108	39	7	46	124	9	13	142	81	.378	.513	.739	1.252	220	391
10	Barry Bonds	11.8	2002	37	SFG	NL	143	612	403	117	149	70	31	2	46	110	9	2	198	47	.370	.582	.799	1.381	268	322
11	Babe Ruth	11.6	1926	31	NYY	AL	152	652	495	139	184	102	30	5	47	153	11	9	144	76	.372	.516	.737	1.253	226	365

Pitchers:

Rk	Player	WAR	Season	Age	Team	Lg	W	L	W-L%	Dec	ERA	G	GS	CG	SHO	SV	IP	H	R	ER	HR	BB	IBB	SO	HBP	BK	WP	BF	ERA+
1	Walter Johnson	15.1	1913	25	WSH	AL	36	7	.837	43	1.14	48	36	29	11	2	346.0	232	56	44	9	38		243	9	0	2	1,281	259
2	Walter Johnson	13.2	1912	24	WSH	AL	33	12	.733	45	1.39	50	37	34	7	2	369.0	259	89	57	2	76		303	16	0	11	1,413	243
3	Dwight Gooden	12.2	1985	20	NYM	NL	24	4	.857	28	1.53	35	35	16	8	0	276.2	198	51	47	13	69	4	268	2	2	6	1,065	229
4	Joe McGinnity	12.2	1903	32	NYG	NL	31	20	.608	51	2.43	55	48	44	3	2	434.0	391	162	117	4	109		171	19	0	5	1,786	140
5	Steve Carlton	12.1	1972	27	PHI	NL	27	10	.730	37	1.98	41	41	30	8	0	346.1	257	84	76	17	87	8	310	1	2	8	1,351	182
6	Roger Clemens	11.9	1997	34	TOR	AL	21	7	.750	28	2.05	34	34	9	3	0	264.0	204	65	60	9	68	1	292	12	0	4	1,044	222
7	Pete Alexander	11.9	1920	33	CHC	NL	27	14	.659	41	1.91	46	40	33	7	5	363.1	335	96	77	8	69		173	1	0	3	1,447	166
8	Christy Mathewson	11.8	1908	27	NYG	NL	37	11	.771	48	1.43	56	44	34	11	5	390.2	281	85	62	5	42		259	3	0	2	1,485	169
9	Eddie Cicotte	11.8	1917	33	CHW	AL	28	12	.700	40	1.53	49	35	29	7	4	346.2	246	76	59	2	70		150	3	2	1	1,287	174
10	Wilbur Wood	11.8	1971	29	CHW	AL	22	13	.629	35	1.91	44	42	22	7	1	334.0	272	95	71	21	62	2	210	7	0	6	1,316	189
11	Pedro Martínez	11.7	2000	28	BOS	AL	18	6	.750	24	1.74	29	29	7	4	0	217.0	128	44	42	17	32	0	284	14	0	1	817	291
12	Walter Johnson	11.7	1914	26	WSH	AL	28	18	.609	46	1.72	51	40	33	9	1	371.2	287	88	71	3	74		225	11	1	14	1,406	164
13	Walter Johnson	11.6	1915	27	WSH	AL	27	13	.675	40	1.55	47	39	35	7	4	336.2	258	83	58	1	56		203	19	0	7	1,280	191

Most recent:

Batters:

Rk	Player	WAR	Season	Age	Team	Lg	G	PA	AB	R	H	1B	2B	3B	HR	RBI	SB	CS	BB	SO	BA	OBP	SLG	OPS	OPS+	TB
22	Mookie Betts	10.7	2018	25	BOS	AL	136	614	520	129	180	96	47	5	32	80	30	6	81	91	.346	.438	.640	1.078	186	333
34	Mike Trout	10.5	2016	24	LAA	AL	159	681	549	123	173	107	32	5	29	100	30	7	116	137	.315	.441	.550	.991	173	302
29	Mike Trout	10.5	2012	20	LAA	AL	139	639	559	129	182	117	27	8	30	83	49	5	67	139	.326	.399	.564	.963	168	315
24	Barry Bonds	10.6	2004	39	SFG	NL	147	617	373	129	135	60	27	3	45	101	6	1	232	41	.362	.609	.812	1.422	263	303
10	Barry Bonds	11.8	2002	37	SFG	NL	143	612	403	117	149	70	31	2	46	110	9	2	198	47	.370	.582	.799	1.381	268	322
8	Barry Bonds	11.9	2001	36	SFG	NL	153	664	476	129	156	49	32	2	73	137	13	3	177	93	.328	.515	.863	1.379	259	411
43	Sammy Sosa	10.3	2001	32	CHC	NL	160	711	577	146	189	86	34	5	64	160	0	2	116	153	.328	.437	.737	1.174	203	425
41	Álex Rodríguez	10.4	2000	24	SEA	AL	148	672	554	134	175	98	34	2	41	132	15	4	100	121	.316	.420	.606	1.026	163	336
12	Cal Ripken Jr.	11.5	1991	30	BAL	AL	162	717	650	99	210	125	46	5	34	114	6	1	53	46	.323	.374	.566	.940	162	368
55	Cal Ripken Jr.	10.0	1984	23	BAL	AL	162	716	641	103	195	124	37	7	27	86	2	1	71	89	.304	.374	.510	.884	146	327
27	Robin Yount	10.6	1982	26	MIL	AL	156	704	635	129	210	123	46	12	29	114	14	3	54	63	.331	.379	.578	.957	166	367

Pitchers:

Rk	Player	WAR	Season	Age	Team	Lg	W	L	W-L%	Dec	ERA	G	GS	CG	SHO	SV	IP	H	R	ER	HR	BB	IBB	SO	HBP	BK	WP	BF	ERA+
36	Zack Greinke	10.4	2009	25	KCR	AL	16	8	.667	24	2.16	33	33	6	3	0	229.1	195	64	55	11	51	0	242	4	0	5	915	205
25	Randy Johnson	10.7	2002	38	ARI	NL	24	5	.828	29	2.32	35	35	8	4	0	260.0	197	78	67	26	71	1	334	13	2	3	1,035	195
47	Randy Johnson	10.1	2001	37	ARI	NL	21	6	.778	27	2.49	35	34	3	2	0	249.2	181	74	69	19	71	2	372	18	1	8	994	188
11	Pedro Martínez	11.7	2000	28	BOS	AL	18	6	.750	24	1.74	29	29	7	4	0	217.0	128	44	42	17	32	0	284	14	0	1	817	291
6	Roger Clemens	11.9	1997	34	TOR	AL	21	7	.750	28	2.05	34	34	9	3	0	264.0	204	65	60	9	68	1	292	12	0	4	1,044	222
35	Roger Clemens	10.4	1990	27	BOS	AL	21	6	.778	27	1.93	31	31	7	4	0	228.1	193	59	49	7	54	3	209	7	0	8	920	211
3	Dwight Gooden	12.2	1985	20	NYM	NL	24	4	.857	28	1.53	35	35	16	8	0	276.2	198	51	47	13	69	4	268	2	2	6	1,065	229
45	Steve Carlton	10.2	1980	35	PHI	NL	24	9	.727	33	2.34	38	38	13	3	0	304.0	243	87	79	15	90	12	286	2	7	17	1,228	162
53	Phil Niekro	10.0	1978	39	ATL	NL	19	18	.514	37	2.88	44	42	22	4	1	334.1	295	129	107	16	102	5	248	13	3	11	1,389	142

Click this link to view all the data.