2021 MLB PAL Rating and Value Rating: performance and contract value

Two scores from 0 to 100. PAL Rating measures the season's performance against regulars in the same role (hitters, starters, relievers): 50 is the median regular. Salary never enters it. Value Rating answers a different question: for what the player costs, does the return come in more or less than expected?

WAR, in wins →Payrolls →

Top hitter

100PALJuan SotoWSH · Elite Top starter

100PALJacob deGromNYM · Elite Top reliever

100PALLiam HendriksCWS · Elite

Value Rating is only computed for the most recent season.

The scale — PAL Rating

90–100 Elite
80–89 Excellent
70–79 Very good
60–69 Above average
40–59 Around average
20–39 Below average
0–19 Very poor

The scale — Value Rating

90–100 Exceptional value
75–89 Very good contract
55–74 Good value
45–54 Fair value
25–44 Poor return
0–24 Very poor return

Regulars only

#	Player
1	Juan SotoWSH · LF · 22	100	—	—	6.8	99	88	100	29	64
2	Bryce HarperPHI · 1B · 28	99	—	—	6.7	100	97	98	65	16
3	Ronald Acuña Jr.ATL · RF · 23	99	—	—	4.4	98	98	81	97	74
4	Fernando Tatis Jr.SD · RF · 22	99	—	—	6.8	99	99	41	99	60
5	José RamírezCLE · 3B · 28	98	—	—	6.4	91	85	96	95	87
6	Shohei OhtaniLAA · TWP · 26	98	—	—	5.0	98	100	71	92	19
7	Vladimir Guerrero Jr.TOR · 1B · 22	98	—	—	6.3	99	99	97	36	14
8	Aaron JudgeNYY · RF · 29	97	—	—	5.5	98	98	64	57	41
9	Bryan ReynoldsPIT · LF · 26	97	—	—	6.3	93	67	90	73	93
10	Brandon CrawfordSF · SS · 34	96	—	—	6.2	89	72	77	27	98
11	Max MuncyLAD · 3B · 30	96	—	—	4.5	94	92	94	30	73
12	Tyler O'NeillSTL · RF · 26	96	—	—	5.3	93	96	3	93	83
13	Trea TurnerLAD · SS · 28	95	—	—	7.1	92	62	49	100	70
14	Kyle TuckerHOU · RF · 24	95	—	—	4.9	96	87	84	81	56
15	Joey VottoCIN · 1B · 37	94	—	—	3.5	96	97	88	9	43
16	Yasmani GrandalCWS · C · 32	94	—	—	3.6	97	91	99	0	43
17	Carlos CorreaHOU · SS · 26	94	—	—	6.3	88	69	91	33	94
18	Paul GoldschmidtSTL · 1B · 33	93	—	—	4.8	92	87	70	51	72
19	Freddie FreemanATL · 1B · 31	93	—	—	4.7	95	78	98	55	51
20	Cedric MullinsBAL · CF · 26	93	—	—	6.1	85	67	65	91	91
21	Brandon BeltSF · 1B · 33	92	—	—	3.6	96	94	60	25	47
22	Matt OlsonATH · 1B · 27	92	—	—	4.9	94	90	98	27	37
23	Darin RufSF · 1B · 34	91	—	—	2.9	90	88	73	27	78
24	Francisco LindorNYM · SS · 27	91	—	—	3.9	51	61	85	61	99
25	Joey GalloNYY · LF · 27	91	—	—	4.4	75	95	75	67	86
26	Buster PoseySF · C · 34	90	—	—	5.3	89	56	89	2	91
27	Marcus SemienTOR · 2B · 30	90	—	—	5.9	82	86	63	85	76
28	George SpringerTOR · DH · 31	90	—	—	2.6	88	89	62	74	56
29	Manny MachadoSD · 3B · 28	89	—	—	4.5	81	86	86	43	73
30	Will SmithLAD · C · 26	89	—	—	4.6	83	78	82	41	72
31	Josh DonaldsonMIN · 3B · 35	88	—	—	3.4	85	92	91	7	57
32	Corey SeagerLAD · SS · 27	88	—	—	3.8	94	75	93	35	18
33	Pete AlonsoNYM · 1B · 26	88	—	—	3.6	87	90	65	17	51
34	Teoscar HernándezTOR · LF · 28	87	—	—	4.0	87	88	9	82	44
35	Yordan AlvarezHOU · DH · 24	87	—	—	3.5	91	93	29	30	27
36	Salvador PerezKC · DH · 31	86	—	—	2.7	83	98	2	10	77
37	Mike ZuninoTB · C · 30	86	—	—	4.1	80	99	4	28	62
38	Nicky LopezKC · 2B · 26	86	—	—	5.5	36	2	87	94	100
39	Starling MarteATH · RF · 32	85	—	—	5.2	81	30	59	99	60
40	AJ PollockLAD · CF · 33	85	—	—	3.2	86	78	48	73	42
41	Mookie BettsLAD · SS · 28	85	—	—	3.9	83	69	96	60	46
42	Jesse WinkerCIN · LF · 27	84	—	—	3.2	97	81	92	6	9
43	Kyle SchwarberBOS · DH · 28	84	—	—	2.7	95	96	69	21	2
44	Jose AltuveHOU · 2B · 31	83	—	—	5.3	78	53	93	68	68
45	Brandon NimmoNYM · RF · 28	83	—	—	3.2	82	27	92	76	69
46	Austin RileyATL · 3B · 24	83	—	—	5.1	90	82	17	47	33
47	Giancarlo StantonNYY · DH · 31	82	—	—	3.1	88	96	41	3	25
48	Nick CastellanosCIN · RF · 29	82	—	—	3.7	93	84	35	53	7
49	Rafael DeversBOS · 1B · 24	81	—	—	4.2	91	93	56	44	3
50	Matt ChapmanATH · 3B · 28	81	—	—	3.7	38	75	31	52	98

How it's calculated

In MLB, salary follows service time (pre-arbitration, arbitration), not performance: a young player at the minimum can be a star. Value Rating therefore measures surplus, as baseball does. The price of a win comes from free-agent contracts (about $10M per win in 2026); the value produced is WAR × that price; the surplus, that value minus the contract's annual average. It is turned into a standard score within the role, then 0 to 100. Most recent season only.

Data: MLB (statsapi) and Baseball Savant; salaries updated daily.