With Emilio Morales officially heading to the open market, James Monger becomes the immediate “active” leader in WAR for the Omaha franchise, but he has an outside shot at becoming the “all time” team leader if he plays out his remaining seasons.
Monger currently has 52.9 WAR, trailing Emilio Morales by just 2.6 WAR, after Morales has actually seen his WAR drop by 1.4 WAR over the past 4 seasons. Monger at age 36, has 3 years remaining on his contract, with a possible 4th season if he were to appear in 120 games.
Often overshadowed by Morales in years past, Monger has quickly put up a very good career with 446 career home runs, and a 111 OPS+. He has been a good fielder as well, with 36.5 ZR at the 2nd base position in the BBA. He played SS for a few seasons which had he not done, likely would have caused him to already jump Morales. Monger did take a step back in 2049, with just an 85 OPS+, the second lowest of his career after posting a 125 OPS+ in 2048.
Despite Monger's poor, 2049, he did still post a 1.5 WAR last season thanks to excellent defense. If he is able to put up the same for the next 2 years, he will find himself out of the shadows and maybe a bit more appreciated.
