Team Value Rankings After 1 Week

FanGraphs is amazing for a lot of reasons.  One of the many is that they are tracking value (in terms of $) at the individual and team levels in nearly real time.  With this we can get a small sample sized feel for who's getting off on the right foot with the glove, the stick, or the arm.

First lets take a look at the pitching side:

Surely some surprises in their so far.  The Royals have an under-the-radar staff, but the Cards, seemingly, have a weak bullpen, but good performances from Carpenter and Lohse have sent them up the charts.  Felix and Bedard have gotten off to good starts, but Washburn came through with a nice start to prove he does have a pulse.  Dodgers and Pads should not really surprise anyone when you hear names like Kershaw, Peavy, Chris Young (the pitcher), and a couple of solid starts from Randy Wolf to start the year.

Now onto the batters (For this I am looking solely at Batting Win Values:

Continuing with Small Sample Size Theatre we see the Rays perched at the top after the offensive explosion of the last 2 days.  The Jays are surprisingly #2, bear in mind this takes fielding out of the equation, with Lind and Scutaro their top producers.  Kelly Johnson and Yunel Escobar are leading a balanced Braves attack that also features good starts by McCann and Schafer.  Pujols is carrying the Cards, but Ludwick has also gotten off to an incinerating start.  The Tigers better hit if their pitching continues to be as putrid as it's been.  Miggy and Inge lead the attack over there. 

Lets see the best Fielding teams now:

The first two should not be a surprise.  The Jays and M's make a conscious effort to put a good to great defensive team on the field every game.  Helton and Barmes lead for the Rockies, with Utley carrying the Phils, and Stephen Drew holding down SS for the D-Backs.

Lastly lets look at total value in dollars:

It shouldn't be a surprise that the Cards are the winner here with a good balance of hitting and pitching.  The Rays offense has helped carry an, at times, spotty pitching staff.  The Dodgers, Jays, and Braves round it out.  To see a spreadsheet of all the numbers click HERE.  Interestingly, the only team with negative team value is the Astros, who took off Spring Training and still don't seem to have it going yet.  Spend a few minutes looking this over as there is a ton of other information I don't have the time or space to tell you about.

All numbers taken from FanGraphs leaderboards.