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 4.0 WAR or more is required to make this list.
Best Value
| Rank | Player | Team | 2015 Projected WAR | 2015 Salary |
Cost Per Win |
| 1 | Manny Machado | Orioles | 4.5 | $550,000* | $122,222* |
| 2 | Christian Yelich | Marlins | 4.0 | $570,000 | $142,500 |
| 3 | Jonathan Lucroy | Brewers | 5.3 | $3,000,000 | $566,038 |
| 4 | Anthony Rendon | Nationals | 4.4 | $2,500,000 | $568,182 |
| 5 | Mike Trout | Angels | 9.3 | $6,083,000 | $654,086 |
| 6 | Paul Goldschmidt | Diamondbacks | 4.4 | $3,100,000 | $704,545 |
| 7 | Josh Donaldson | Blue Jays | 5.4 | $4,300,000 | $796,296 |
| 8 | Kyle Seager | Mariners | 4.1 | $4,500,000 | $1,097,561 |
| 9 | Anthony Rizzo | Cubs | 4.2 | $5,000,000 | $1,190,476 |
| 10 | Yasiel Puig | Dodgers | 5.2 | $6,214,000 | $1,195,000 |
*Manny Machado is not yet arbitration eligible and the terms of his contract renewal by the Orioles were not made public. Since they were skimpy with the wallet for his 2014 renewal, it is assumed that his renewal will be around $550,000, just over $40,000 over Major League minimum.
Worst Value
| Rank | Player | Team | 2015 Projected WAR | 2015 Salary | Cost Per WAR |
| 10 | Dustin Pedroia | Red Sox | 4.1 | $12,500,000 | $3,048,780 |
| 9 | Chase Headley | Yankees | 4.1 | $13,000,000 | $3,170,732 |
| 8 | Adam Jones | Orioles | 4.2 | $13,333,333 | $3,174,603 |
| 7 | Yadier Molina | Cardinals | 4.6 | $15,000,000 | $3,260,870 |
| 6 | Adrian Beltre | Rangers | 4.5 | $16,000,000 | $3,555,556 |
| 5 | Ian Kinsler | Tigers | 4.2 | $16,000,000 | $3,809,524 |
| 4 | Troy Tulowitzki | Rockies | 5.2 | $20,000,000 | $3,846,154 |
| 3 | Miguel Cabrera | Tigers | 5.5 | $22,000,000 | $4,000,000 |
| 2 | Robinson Cano | Mariners | 5.3 | $24,000,000 | $4,528,302 |
| 1 | Jacoby Ellsbury | Yankees | 4.0 | $21,142,857 | $5,285,714 |