The most valuable batters of 2011

The most valuable batter of 2011
Icon SMI

Following on from the top pitchers post, here are the top batters of 2011 using the same $WAR method I described in the previous post.

In 2011 there were 377 batters with at least 100 plate appearances and a salary appearing on Baseball-Reference's batting player values page. Those guys had a total of 527.5 WAR and a total salary of $1,533,803,248. That works out to $2.91 million per WAR.

The Dodgers make it a clean sweep with both the top pitcher and top batter in $WAR. Read through for the details.









Here are the top 20 batters of 2011 ranked by $WAR:

Rank  Player              WAR    Salary       $WAR
1     Matt Kemp           10     $7,100,000   7.6 
2     Jacoby Ellsbury     7.2    $2,400,000   6.4 
3     Ryan Braun          7.7    $4,287,500   6.2 
4     Pablo Sandoval      6.1      $500,000   5.9 
5     Jose Bautista       8.5    $8,000,000   5.7 
6     Evan Longoria       6.3    $2,000,000   5.6 
7     Mike Stanton        5.7      $416,000   5.6 
8     Alex Gordon         5.9    $1,400,000   5.4 
9     Andrew McCutchen    5.5      $452,500   5.3 
10    Alex Avila          5.4      $425,000   5.3 
11    Peter Bourjos       5        $414,000   4.9 
12    Dustin Pedroia      6.8    $5,750,000   4.8 
13    Adrian Gonzalez     6.9    $6,300,000   4.7 
14    Brett Gardner       4.4      $529,500   4.2 
15    Joey Votto          6.5    $7,410,655   4   
16    Troy Tulowitzki     5.8    $5,500,000   3.9 
17    Matt Wieters        4        $452,250   3.8 
18    Alberto Callaspo    4.5    $2,000,000   3.8 
19    Carlos Santana      3.9      $416,600   3.8 
20    Erick Aybar         4.7    $3,000,000   3.7 

The Red Sox got crushed on pitching with John Lackey and Daisuke Matsuzaka, but they come up roses here with Ellsbury, Pedroia, and Gonzalez all in the top 13.

Here are the top 20 players by salary:

Rank  Player              WAR   Salary        $WAR
1     Alex Rodriguez      2.7   $32,000,000   -8.3
2     Vernon Wells       -0.3   $26,187,500   -9.3
3     Mark Teixeira       2.4   $23,125,000   -5.6
4     Joe Mauer           1.7   $23,000,000   -6.2
5     Todd Helton         2.7   $20,275,000   -4.3
6     Miguel Cabrera      7.1   $20,000,000    0.2 
7     Ryan Howard         2.7   $20,000,000   -4.2
8     Carlos Beltran      4.4   $19,325,436   -2.2
9     Carlos Lee          4.6   $19,000,000   -1.9
10    Alfonso Soriano     1.3   $19,000,000   -5.2
11    Torii Hunter        2.2   $18,500,000   -4.2
12    Jason Bay           0.6   $18,125,000   -5.6
13    Ichiro Suzuki      -0.4   $18,000,000   -6.6
14    Matt Holliday       4.1   $16,317,774   -1.5
15    Michael Young       2.4   $16,174,974   -3.2
16    Prince Fielder      5.2   $15,500,000   -0.1
17    Chase Utley         3.6   $15,285,714   -1.7
18    Justin Morneau     -1.1   $15,000,000   -6.3
19    Carl Crawford       0     $14,857,142   -5.1
20    Derek Jeter         0.7   $14,729,364   -4.4

All underperformers relative to their salary, with the except of Miguel Cabrera. Prince Fielder's also close to 0.

And, oh, those Yankees: A-Rod, Teixeira, and Jeter are all among the top 20 in salary but combined for about -18 $WAR.

Finally, here are the worst $WAR values among batters for 2011:

Rank  Player              WAR   Salary       $WAR
1     Vernon Wells       -0.3   $26,187,500   -9.3
2     Alex Rodriguez      2.7   $32,000,000   -8.3
3     Adam Dunn          -2.7   $12,000,000   -6.8
4     Ichiro Suzuki      -0.4   $18,000,000   -6.6
5     Justin Morneau     -1.1   $15,000,000   -6.3
6     Joe Mauer           1.7   $23,000,000   -6.2
7     Alex Rios          -1.5   $12,500,000   -5.8
8     Jason Bay           0.6   $18,125,000   -5.6
9     Jorge Posada       -1.1   $13,100,000   -5.6
10    Mark Teixeira       2.4   $23,125,000   -5.6
11    Magglio Ordonez    -1.9   $10,000,000   -5.3
12    J.D. Drew          -0.5   $14,000,000   -5.3
13    Alfonso Soriano     1.3   $19,000,000   -5.2
14    Carl Crawford       0     $14,857,142   -5.1
15    Raul Ibanez        -0.4   $12,166,666   -4.6
16    Milton Bradley      0     $13,000,000   -4.5
17    Carlos Guillen      0     $12,922,231   -4.4
18    Derek Jeter         0.7   $14,729,364   -4.4
19    Aubrey Huff        -0.9   $10,000,000   -4.3
20    Todd Helton         2.7   $20,275,000   -4.3

Six out of the 20 worst are Red Sox or Yankees...