My WAR calculation is a combination of Baseball-reference and Clay Davenport; I believe it to be the "best" WAR number available for historical comparison. 8 WAR is an MVP quality season. The record is pythagorean adjusted for 162 games.
1887 (90-62)
C William Brown -.9
1B Roger Connor 5.85
2B Danny Richardson 3.7
SS Monte Ward 6.2
3B Buck Ewing 2.9
LF Patrick Gillespie -.4
CF George Gore 1.65
RF Mike Tiernan 1
Uti/LF Jim O’Rourke 2.1
RF Mike Dorgan -.1
C Pat Deasley .05
P Tim Keefe 6.7
P Mickey Welch 4.3
P Bill George -1.55