Who will be each club’s best player in 2023?

Happy New Year! We made it! All told, 2022 was a pretty fantastic year — as close to “normal” as it has been around these parts in quite a while. But ’23 promises to be even better. Because new years always promise to be even better. That’s the point of a new year, after all.

And you know what’s as much a part of a new year as anything? Predictions! With that in mind, we take a stab at predicting who the best player on each team in 2023 will be (based on Baseball-Reference’s version of WAR). Some will be whom you might expect. Some will be emerging new talents. Some will come out of nowhere. That’s the fun of it. Here are your ’23 stars.

AMERICAN LEAGUE EAST

Blue Jays: Vladimir Guerrero Jr., 1BGuerrero took a step back after his monster season in 2021. But this is still one of the best pure hitters in baseball, and, more to the point, he is still just 23 years old.2022 Leader: Alek Manoah, 5.9 WAR

Orioles: Adley Rutschman, COrioles fans might have wanted a little bit more aggression this offseason. But let’s not forget how good this team was in the second half of the season, and particularly when it had Rutschman in the lineup. Get your sleeper AL MVP bets in on him while you can, folks.2022 Leader: Rutschman, 5.2 WAR

Rays: Wander Franco, SSWe can be more explicit about this: If the Rays are going to be the team they want to be, they need Franco to be the AL MVP candidate most thought he might be heading into 2022.2022 Leader: Shane McClanahan, 4.0 WAR

Red Sox: Rafael Devers, 3BThe real hope: We don’t spend a whole season discussing Devers trade rumors.2022 Leader: Xander Bogaerts, 5.8 WAR

Yankees: Aaron Judge, RFIs there any other possible choice here? Judge might have to reach his 2022 WAR number for the Yankees to win the AL East again.2022 Leader: Judge, 10.6 WAR

AL CENTRAL

Guardians: Jos? Ram?rez, 3BRam?rez faded a bit down the stretch, but he’s still one of the best players in baseball … and he just might be able to start building himself a Hall of Fame case soon.2022 Leader: Andr?s Gim?nez, 7.4 WAR

Royals: Bobby Witt Jr., SSWould you believe Witt was 10th in WAR on this team last year? That obviously needs to change.2022 Leader: Brady Singer, 4.5 WAR

Tigers: Riley Greene, CFIs there a more damning indictment of the 2022 Tigers than that Javier B?ez, having the worst year of his career, was their best player?2022 Leader: B?ez, 2.5 WAR

Twins: Byron Buxton, CFIf he’s healthy all year (and we all know how that goes), Buxton is the easiest call on this whole board.2022 Leader: Carlos Correa, 5.4 WAR

White Sox: Luis Robert Jr., CFHe is going to be only 25 this year. Maybe this is the explosion year?2022 Leader: Dylan Cease, 6.4 WAR

AL WEST

Angels: Mike Trout, CFOK, maybe this is the monster year he has when he’s healthy the whole time.2022 Leader: Shohei Ohtani, 9.6 WAR

Astros: Kyle Tucker, RFHe feels even more primed for a major breakout than he did last year.2022 Leader: Yordan Alvarez, 6.8 WAR

Athletics: Seth Brown, 1B/OFSomebody has to lead this team in WAR.2022 Leader: Sean Murphy, 3.5 WAR

Mariners: Julio Rodr?guez, CFIt sure feels like he’s going to go on a run of, like, 10 years in a row of being the best player on this team.2022 Leader: Rodr?guez, 6.2 WAR

Rangers: Jacob deGrom, RHPIf he can hit 150 innings, he might lead all of baseball in WAR. Also: Marcus Semien was better last year than you realized, wasn’t he?2022 Leader: Semien, 5.9 WAR

NATIONAL LEAGUE EAST

Braves: Ronald Acu?a Jr., RFThe knee should be rested and healthy. He’s surrounded by talent, but Acu?a has the skills to launch this team into the stratosphere.2022 Leader: Austin Riley, 6.5 WAR

Marlins: Sandy Alcantara, RHPHe’s as much of a throwback pitcher as you’ll find in baseball. There isn’t a team that wouldn’t move heaven and earth to get someone like him in its rotation.2022 Leader: Alcantara, 8.0 WAR

Mets: Justin Verlander, RHPIt is possible this is going to be Carlos Correa, but, well, let’s just say that’s still a little up in the air. In lieu of that, let’s go with the OTHER big free agent this team (officially, anyway) signed this offseason. Also: Shout out to Jeff McNeil, who was the best player on a 101-win team last year.2022 Leader: McNeil, 5.7 WAR

Nationals: CJ Abrams, SSThe fruits of the Juan Soto trade start revealing themselves immediately in Washington.2022 Leader: Soto, 3.8 WAR

Phillies: Trea Turner, SSIt’s not Bryce Harper only because he’ll miss the first few months of the season.2022 Leader: J.T. Realmuto, 6.5 WAR

NL CENTRAL

Brewers: Corbin Burnes, RHPThis assumes, of course, he’s still a Brewer.2022 Leader: Willy Adames, 4.4 WAR

Cardinals: Nolan Arenado, 3BMaybe being the best player on the Cardinals in 2023 will get him an NL MVP when being the best player on the Cardinals in ’22 didn’t.2022 Leader: Arenado, 7.9 WAR

Cubs: Dansby Swanson, SSNico Hoerner’s reward for being the best player on the 2022 Cubs was to get himself replaced at shortstop.2022 Leader: Hoerner, 4.5 WAR

Pirates: Oneil Cruz, SSWe’re going to have faith that he can translate his otherworldly skill set into some real-world on-field results.2022 Leader: Ke’Bryan Hayes, 4.3 WAR

Reds: Joey Votto, 1BOnce more, Joey, for old times’ sake.2022 Leader: Luis Castillo, 3.1 WAR

NL WEST

D-backs: Corbin Carroll, OFCarroll might take the NL West, and maybe the whole baseball world, by storm this year.2022 Leader: Christian Walker, 5.1 WAR

Dodgers: Mookie Betts, RFHe’s still the best player on this team of stars, and he might just remain that way for the next half-decade.2022 Leader: Betts, 6.4 WAR

Giants: Logan Webb, RHPWell, now that it’s not going to be Correa — argh, right? — the perpetually underappreciated Webb is as good a bet as anybody.2022 Leader: Carlos Rod?n, 5.4 WAR

Padres: Manny Machado, 3BWith all the stars on this team, it’s difficult to choose. But we’ll go with the most reliable guy out of all of them.2022 Leader: Machado, 6.8 WAR

Rockies: Kris Bryant, LFOK, well, Kris, let’s try this again.2022 Leader: Brendan Rodgers, 4.3 WAR