It appears as though they are treating dollars as being equal in all markets for all teams, and then taking the mean. This could explain the extremely high $ values placed on players when compared to what they actually fetch on the open market. There are only so many huge market teams to go around, and the rest of the players are left to fight for mid to small market $$. Depending on the net income figures (not available and private for every MLB club), dollars are cheaper for some teams compared to others. Texiera, Sabathia, A-Rod type contracts are only affordable for certain teams, and the dollars spent on those players is not representative of the dollars spent for a win overall in free agency. This is where I see one flaw in the WAR $ computation. It should be weighted, but by not knowing each teams cost of cash through their finacial statements it is impossible to decipher. But... we still need a metric! I still find it interesting that Hardy's abysmal 2009 production would shoot his WAR $$ anywhere near his actual salary, much less 1/3 more than what he is making. But like others have said, it must be his plus defense driving up the value. The other flaw I see in WAR is how his defense has been quantified by Fangraphs. He is not compared to an actual average player, but instead an ideally average player. He could be +5 and another player +2. Or is he +3 and the other player Even? The starting point is subjective and ideal, not actual and measured by everyone else.