Los Angeles Dodgers: Predicting position player WAR leaders for 2019
By Jason Reed
The Los Angeles Dodgers are arguably the deepest team in Major League Baseball and the internal competition for the best WAR will be fun to watch.
The Los Angeles Dodgers have arguably the deepest roster in baseball but sometimes do not get the credit they deserve. Although the team has had several all-stars over the last few years, the decline of Clayton Kershaw has led to the team not having a superstar in the limelight.
There are a few stars that should be considered superstars on the Los Angeles Dodgers and aren’t, which is really strange considering the Dodgers are a massive market team that has made the playoffs six years in a row.
Regardless, the Dodgers have put together some impressive single season WAR seasons and that should continue in 2019. Here are our predictions for the Dodgers’ top-five position players in terms of WAR.
Oh, and it should be mentioned, we are going off of FanGraphs‘ WAR totals, not Baseball-Reference.
5. Alex Verdugo
Yes, we are starting this list with a rookie, but why shouldn’t we? The Los Angeles Dodgers have had a great track record with rookies and homegrown talent the last several years and Verdugo is going to continue that trend.
Corey Seager started the trend in 2016 with a phenomenal rookie season in which he won the National League Rookie of the Year and finished third in MVP voting. Cody Bellinger followed it up with his own Rookie of the Year honors and the record for rookie home runs in the NL.
Walker Buehler completed the trifecta in 2018 with a fantastic season. Although he didn’t win the Rookie of the Year, likely because of his innings pitched, he is one of the best young players in baseball.
Alex Verdugo is still unproven but he has all the tools to succeed at the big league level. His constant on-base approach alongside with rangy defense and elite arm is naturally going to produce high WAR totals.