re: Trout has .1 more WAR than Derek Jeter

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What exactly goes into WAR? I've tried looking it up before but I can never find a conclusive way they come up with these numbers. And because of that I have a hard time buying into it

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The basis of WAR is the Run Created stat. About 30 years ago, it was discovered that a formula could predict the number of runs a team scored amazingly well.

The original formula was ((Hits + Walks) x Total Bases)/(At Bats + Walks). Modern formulas are weighted by year, ballpark, ect., but this formula is extremely accurate.

So if you can take these basic stats to predict how many runs a team scores, you can apply them to individuals to see how many runs they create for their team.

It has also been observed that you can predict the number of wins a team has by looking at the runs it creates and allows. So by applying that to individuals, you can determine the number of wins a player is worth.

The numbers are extremely accurate for offense and pitching, and are usually close among all the different types of WAR. The big problem is how to quantify defense, and many times the disparity in WAR is due to the inscrutable nature of compiling defensive stats by different statisticians.