Steamer projects the current 40-man, minus Webster and Rubby and plus Miley, for 42.4 WAR. Add a token 2.0 WAR for Castillo (who isn't projected) and you get 44.4.
That figure would have made us the second-best team in the AL last year, trailing only the Angels, and the fourth-best team in MLB.
This is without adding an "ace", and in fact the highest WAR projection on the pitching staff is Porcello's 3.1. The team projects for 13.2 pitching WAR, slightly below average in 2014--we would have ranked 17th, just behind the White Sox and just ahead of the Cardinals. But the position-player WAR projection of 31.2 (including that 2.0 figure for Castillo) would have tied the Dodgers for the best in baseball.
Projections and $2 will buy you a coffee at Starbucks, of course. What does SoSH think? Are we really this good? Would acquiring another frontline starter push us to the head of the class?
That figure would have made us the second-best team in the AL last year, trailing only the Angels, and the fourth-best team in MLB.
This is without adding an "ace", and in fact the highest WAR projection on the pitching staff is Porcello's 3.1. The team projects for 13.2 pitching WAR, slightly below average in 2014--we would have ranked 17th, just behind the White Sox and just ahead of the Cardinals. But the position-player WAR projection of 31.2 (including that 2.0 figure for Castillo) would have tied the Dodgers for the best in baseball.
Projections and $2 will buy you a coffee at Starbucks, of course. What does SoSH think? Are we really this good? Would acquiring another frontline starter push us to the head of the class?