| WAR is sometimes hard to comprehend, but the best explanation I was given is to imagine that a "replacement level" team would win 40 games. Therefore, the number of wins a team has (say the Tigers with 88 wins) over 40 (48 in our example) has to be distributed among the entire team. So Verlander and Cabrera combine for 14 of the 48 extra wins. That is quite significant, as the rest of the 25 man roster averaged just about 1.5 wins a piece. And that doesn't include the numerous callups throughout the season, nor the expansion to the 40 man roster in September, lowering the average further. As for Dickey, his Mets team only won 34 games over 40, so his 7.8 WAR accounts for almost a quarter of their extra wins! And considering good pitchers only start ~33/162 games a season, that's a very high number. I know that was a long explanation but I hope it helps! |