The 2017 Houston Astros have a better offense than the 1927 New York Yankees
Number 9
2007 New York Yankees, 119 wRC+
94-68, .580, AL wild card, lost in ALDS
.290/.366/.463, .361 wOBA—Yankees
.271/.338/.423, .333 wOBA—League Average
The 2007 Yankees didn’t have a hitter as productive as Babe Ruth on the 1932 Yankees, but they did have the equivalent of 1932 Lou Gehrig in Alex Rodriguez (175 wRC+). By this metric, the 2007 season was peak A-Rod as a hitter. He hit .314/.422/.645, with 143 runs scored, 54 home runs, and 156 RBI. He even added 24 steals at an 86% success rate and won the third of his three AL MVP Awards.
Alex Rodriguez was 31 years old in 2007 and had averaged 159 games played and 47 home runs per year over the previous seven years. Over the next five years, he would average 124 games and 26 home runs per year. Here he is hitting his 53rd home run of the year.
Other strong hitters on this team were Jorge Posada (157 wRC+), Derek Jeter (125 wRC+), Hideki Matsui (124 wRC+), and third-year player Robinson Cano (119 wRC+). As a team, the Yankees scored 81 more runs than the next-best team and out-homered the next-closest team by 11 big flies. They weren’t just sluggers, either, as they finished fourth in the AL in steals.
Despite their stellar offense, the 2007 Yankees lost to Cleveland in the ALDS. The next year, they failed to make the playoffs for the first time in 14 seasons (excluding the 1994 season that ended in with a work stoppage in August).