With Eaton added to lineup, WAR numbers for Nationals get boost

FanGraphs defines WAR (Wins Above Replacement) as "an attempt by the sabermetric baseball community to summarize a player's total contributions to their team in one statistic."

It comes as no shock that second baseman Daniel Murphy had the highest WAR rating for the Nationals in 2016 at 5.5. Third baseman Anthony Rendon is next at 4.7. Right fielder Bryce Harper, who admittedly had a down year, still came in at 3.5 WAR.

Even at just 73 games, Trea Turner's WAR was 3.3.

To gauge how good a season 2016 was for Murphy, his WAR number in 2015 regular season with the Mets was 2.5. Of course, Murphy tore up the National League playoffs which catapulted him to highly coveted free agent status. He turned into an incredible find for the Nationals.

Catcher Wilson Ramos, who had a career year, actually matched Harper with a 3.5 WAR. Even without the strongest offensive numbers, shortstop Danny Espinosa reached 1.7. And left fielder Jayson Werth even came in with a positive WAR number at 1.1.

The World Series-winning Cubs had Kris Bryant with an 8.4 WAR and Anthony Rizzo was a 5.2. Dexter Fowler had a 4.7 and Ben Zobrist a 4.0. Zobrist was a candidate for the Murphy spot with the Nationals in 2016. Murphy beat him by 1.5 WAR in the 2016 regular season.

How good were the Nationals WAR numbers in a year they win the National League East compared to a season they did not win their division? If you go back just one season to 2015, the numbers alter at a staggering rate.

NL MVP Harper had an amazing 9.5 WAR, but then it's a big dropoff. Yunel Escobar was 2.1, followed by Ian Desmond at 1.7. Michael A. Taylor at 1.0 and Ramos at just a 0.4.

In the 2014 division winning season, Rendon lead the way at 6.5 WAR. Werth was a 5.0 and Denard Span and Desmond were a 4.0. Adam LaRoche had a 1.6 WAR.

In the Nationals' non-division winning 2013 campaign, Desmond led the team with a 4.8 WAR, while Werth was 4.7.

And, by comparison, the Nationals' first division title in 2012 had Desmond at 4.7 and Harper with a 4.6 WAR. Ryan Zimmerman made the list at 3.9. with LaRoche at 3.6 and Espinosa at 3.5.

Pitching-wise, Max Scherzer's impact was similar to Murphy's on offense. Scherzer reached a 5.6 WAR. Stephen Strasburg was second at 3.9. Tanner Roark deserved a hat tip with a crucial 3.2 and Gio Gonzalez was a 2.9 WAR.

In 2015, Scherzer was very strong at 6.4, Gonzalez was 3.7 and Strasburg was at a 3.4 WAR. Jordan Zimmermann was a 3.0.

In the 2014 division-winning season, Zimmermann led at 5.3 and Strasburg was 4.5.

The strongest Nationals WAR numbers the last three calendar years were Harper (14.4) and Rendon at 12.1. On the pitching side, Scherzer has a 12.0 WAR in that span while Strasburg is 11.8. Gonzalez had a strong 9.8 WAR for that three-year period, ranking third.

The Nationals added catcher Derek Norris to replace Ramos. Norris had a tough 2016 by WAR standards at -0.4. But going back three calendar years, Norris's WAR number improved to 2.0.

Adam Eaton arrives from the White Sox. He had the best WAR number on the entire Chicago batting lineup with 6.0. If you go back three calendar years, it becomes even more impressive at 12.7.

Looking at the top 20 WAR on offense in 2016, Eaton was No. 11 and Murphy was No. 17. The Angels' Mike Trout had the highest WAR for 2016 at 9.4.

With Eaton added to center field, Turner moving to shortstop and Norris catching, there is a good chance this Nationals lineup could be its strongest since arriving back in D.C.