Every team needs starts to win. Each team pays a different amount of money to retain the services of their star players, however some franchises are getting more bang for their buck than others. For the purpose of this exercise we have used Fangraphs ZIP Projections for the projected amount of Wins Above Replacement that should produce and compared it to their salary to get a rating of how much an extra win costs each team. To meet the definition of a “Star Player”, a projection of 3.0 WAR or more is required to make this list.

Best Value

Corey Kluber
Indians RHP Corey Kluber

 

Rank Player Team 2015 Projected WAR 2015 Salary Cost Per WAR
1 Corey Kluber Indians 5.4 $601,000 $111,296
2 Jacob deGrom  Mets 3.1 $507,500 $163,710
3 Julio Teheran Braves 3.2 $1,000,000 $312,500
4 Garrett Richards Angels 3.4 $3,200,000 $941,176
5 Chris Sale White Sox 4.4 $6,000,000 $1,363,636
6 Hyun-Jin Ryu Dodgers 3.0 $4,833,000 $1,611,000
7 Phil Hughes Twins 5.2 $9,200,000 $1,769,231
8 Madison Bumgarner Giants 3.8 $6,750,000 $1,776,316
9 Stephen Strasburg Nationals 3.9 $7,400,000 $1,897,436
10 Lance Lynn Cardinals 3.1 $7,000,000 $2,258,065

Worst Value

MLB: Texas Rangers at Detroit Tigers
Tigers RHP Justin Verlander

 

Rank Player Team 2015 Projected WAR 2015 Salary Cost Per WAR
10 Adam Wainwright Cardinals 4.2 $19,500,000 $4,642,857
9 Jon Lester Cubs 4.3 $20,000,000 $4,651,163
8 Felix Hernandez Mariners 5.3 $24,857,000 $4,690,000
7 David Price Tigers 3.9 $19,750,000 $5,064,103
6 Clayton Kershaw Dodgers 6.3 $32,571,000 $5,170,000
5 Anibal Sanchez Tigers 3.0 $16,800,000 $5,600,000
4 Zack Greinke Dodgers 3.7 $25,000,000 $6,756,757
3 Masahiro Tanaka Yankees 3.1 $22,000,000 $7,096,774
2 Cole Hamels Phillies 3.3 $23,500,000 $7,121,212
1 Justin Verlander Tigers 3.6 $28,000,000 $7,777,778