RRosternomics
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GM

Gene Michael

Jun 2, 1938 (Kent, OH) – Sep 7, 2017 (Oldsmar, FL) · died at 79

General manager for the Yankees (1980–1995).

5 seasons with salary-era data across 2 stints. All figures are franchise-level outcomes during the tenure, not solely attributable to one executive.

Overview

Titles0
Pennants0
Playoffs1
Record384–359
Win %0.517
+0.7GM WAR — wins above a replacement GM (org-adjusted, shrunk; per season) ±5.761st/195 execs
8.2Depth — 2+ WAR regulars per season (the breadth that drives TAB, not stars)21st/195 execs
-3.5Dead WAR — WAR/yr bled by sub-replacement players (closer to 0 = better)13th/195 execs
28%Dead money — payroll on <0.5-WAR players (lower = better)41st/195 execs
$6MCheap-talent surplus — $/yr of value from cost-controlled (pre-arb/arb) players above their pay; the selection engine, and the stickiest GM skill we track130th/195 execs
$2MDrafted surplus — cheap-talent surplus from his own draftees (the develop-from-the-draft engine)141st/195 execs
$0MTraded-for surplus — cheap-talent surplus from cost-controlled players he acquired via trade133rd/195 execs
$3MInt'l surplus — cheap-talent surplus from his own international signees46th/195 execs
+8.8TAB — talent above budget — roster-construction alpha (talent your budget bought above expectation), tenure total57th/195 execs
-7.7WAB — realized wins (TAB + the non-repeatable luck of converting talent to wins)103rd/195 execs
2.46Acquisition Leverage — playoff pts per acquired WAR, graded once in the year each deal's wins arrive (the repeatable decision skill)68th/195 execs
-50Roster surplus $M109th/195 execs

Tenure breakdown

TeamRoleYearsSzns WAB WAB/yr TAB WAR surp HG Trade FA R5 AcqLev W-L% POPenWS Surp $M
▸ Yankees GM 1991–1995 5 -7.7 -1.55 +8.8 -62.4 +82.7 +37.7 +18.2 +0.2 2.46 0.517 1–– -50
▸ Yankees GM 1980–1981 0 +0.0 – +0.0 +0.0 +8.1 -8.4 -2.4 +0.0 – – ––– –
Career total (1985+ data) 5 -7.7 +8.8 -62.4 +90.9 +29.4 +15.8 +0.2 2.46 0.517 1– – -50

Roster Construction

How the roster was sourced

by valueby volume

Share of acquired fWAR by channel vs. league average.

Build channels — net fWAR

Acquired minus surrendered / signed minus walked.

Home-grown (draft/intl)+90.9
Trade+29.4
Free agency+15.8
Rule 5 / minor draft+0.2
Sourcing mix: 42% draft · 31% FA · 26% trade · 0% R5

Roster value distribution — career average — depth vs. stars

Every roster slot ranked best→worst by WAR, averaged across Gene Michael's seasons. Bars = his rosters; the black line = the league-average player at each slot. Staying above the line deep into the roster is the depth edge.

Players acquired — 69 players, by realized fWAR for the franchise (scroll for more)

PlayerPosTeam How Year Szns fWAR WAR/yr Lev
Derek Jeter SS NYY Draft 1992 18 +73.0 +4.1 –
Paul O'Neill OF NYY Trade 1993 9 +26.7 +3.0 11.0
David Cone P NYY Trade 1995 6 +16.6 +2.8 7.4
Wade Boggs 3B NYY Free agency 1992 5 +16.5 +3.3 13.7
Tino Martinez 1B NYY Trade 1995 7 +15.8 +2.3 10.8
Mike Stanley C NYY Free agency 1992 5 +13.0 +2.6 1.4
Jimmy Key P NYY Free agency 1992 4 +12.4 +3.1 22.2
Melido Perez P NYY Trade 1992 4 +11.5 +2.9 4.4
Ramiro Mendoza P NYY Intl FA 1991 7 +10.1 +1.4 –
Mike Gallego 2B/SS NYY Free agency 1992 3 +7.7 +2.6 1.3
Danny Tartabull DH/OF NYY Free agency 1992 3 +7.3 +2.4 3.2
Mike Pagliarulo 3B NYY Draft 1981 3 +6.0 +2.0 –
Scott Sanderson P NYY Trade 1991 2 +5.2 +2.6 0.9
Jeff Nelson P NYY Trade 1995 6 +4.2 +0.7 5.8
Bob Wickman P NYY Trade 1992 5 +4.1 +0.8 –
Charlie Hayes 3B NYY Trade 1992 3 +3.8 +1.3 2.1
Jim Abbott P NYY Trade 1992 2 +3.6 +1.8 9.5
Jack McDowell P NYY Trade 1994 1 +3.5 +3.5 16.3
John Wetteland P NYY Trade 1995 2 +2.9 +1.4 7.9
Kenny Rogers P NYY Free agency 1995 2 +2.8 +1.4 10.2
Steve Howe P NYY Free agency 1991 4 +2.7 +0.7 0.3
Darryl Strawberry OF NYY Free agency 1995 4 +2.7 +0.7 2.4
Bob Tewksbury P NYY Draft 1981 2 +2.2 +1.1 –
Tim Raines OF NYY Trade 1995 3 +2.1 +0.7 5.1
Mariano Duncan 2B/SS NYY Free agency 1995 1 +2.0 +2.0 8.9
Steve Farr P NYY Trade 1991 2 +1.8 +0.9 0.3
Ken Griffey OF NYY Trade 1981 2 +1.6 +0.8 –
Dion James OF NYY Free agency 1992 2 +0.9 +0.4 0.3
Dave Pavlas P NYY Free agency 1995 2 +0.8 +0.4 0.7
Curt Young P NYY Trade 1992 1 +0.7 +0.7 0.7
Luis Polonia OF NYY Free agency 1993 2 +0.6 +0.3 0.5
Tony Fernández SS NYY Free agency 1994 1 +0.5 +0.5 2.3
Terry Mulholland P NYY Trade 1994 1 +0.5 +0.5 1.3
Brian Boehringer P NYY Trade 1994 3 +0.3 +0.1 –
D'Angelo Jimenez 2B NYY Intl FA 1994 1 +0.3 +0.3 –
Paul Assenmacher P NYY Trade 1993 1 +0.3 +0.3 1.1
Donn Pall P NYY Trade 1994 1 +0.3 +0.3 0.9
Frank Tanana P NYY Trade 1993 1 +0.3 +0.3 1.1
Phil Lombardi C/OF NYY Draft 1981 1 +0.2 +0.2 –
Spike Owen SS NYY Free agency 1992 1 +0.2 +0.2 0.9
Lee Smith P NYY Trade 1993 1 +0.2 +0.2 0.9
Orestes Destrade 1B NYY Intl FA 1981 1 +0.1 +0.1 –
Craig Dingman P NYY Draft 1993 1 +0.1 +0.1 –
Mike Buddie P NYY Draft 1992 1 +0.0 +0.0 –
Darrell Einertson P NYY Draft 1995 1 +0.0 +0.0 –
Domingo Jean P NYY Trade 1992 – -0.0 – –
Mike Lowell 3B NYY Draft 1995 1 +0.0 +0.0 –
Matt Luke OF NYY Draft 1992 – +0.0 – –
Bob Macdonald P NYY Free agency 1995 1 +0.0 +0.0 0.1
Donzell McDonald OF NYY Draft 1995 1 +0.0 +0.0 –
Mike Witt P NYY Free agency 1991 1 -0.0 -0.0 0.2
Josías Manzanillo P NYY Trade 1995 1 +0.0 +0.0 0.2
Jeff Patterson P NYY Trade 1994 – -0.1 – –
Paul Gibson P NYY Free agency 1993 2 -0.2 -0.1 1.0
Mike Humphreys OF NYY Trade 1991 1 -0.2 -0.2 –
Mike Jerzembeck P NYY Draft 1993 – -0.2 – –
Bob Ojeda P NYY Free agency 1994 – -0.2 – –
Jeff Reardon P NYY Free agency 1994 – -0.2 – –
Carlos Rodríguez 2B/SS NYY Draft 1991 – -0.2 – –
Jay Tessmer P NYY Draft 1995 1 -0.2 -0.2 –
Danny Rios P NYY Intl FA 1993 – -0.3 – –
Pat Sheridan OF NYY Free agency 1991 – -0.3 – –
Scott Bradley C NYY Draft 1981 – -0.4 – –
Joe Ausanio P NYY Rule 5 1993 1 -0.4 -0.4 –
Neal Heaton P NYY Free agency 1993 – -0.4 – –
Torey Lovullo 2B NYY Trade 1991 – -0.4 – –
Scott Bankhead P NYY Free agency 1994 – -0.5 – –
Kevin Elster SS NYY Free agency 1994 – -0.5 – –
Daryl Boston OF NYY Free agency 1994 – -0.6 – –

WAB = wins above what the team's payroll predicted (resource-controlled). WAR surplus = era-neutral value (WAR minus payroll in win-equivalents). Roster surplus $M = dollar value of WAR over cost. Build channels (realized fWAR): HG = home-grown via amateur draft / international signing; Trade = acquired minus surrendered (incl. purchases/waivers); FA = signed minus walked; R5 = Rule-5 / minor-league-draft pickups. Credit follows the acquisition year — home-grown to the regime at the player's draft/signing (not whoever was in the chair when he peaked), trade/FA/R5 to the GM who made the move. Players acquired as prospects before debuting (e.g. Smoltz, Bagwell; Rule-5 picks like Uggla) are counted as trade/R5, not home-grown. All are franchise-level outcomes during the stint, not solely attributable to one executive.

Graphs

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Rosternomics — quantifying front-office skill, attribution-clean. Follow @rosternomics on X. Decision-makers on record back to 1933; resource-controlled metrics (WAR & payroll) cover 1985–2026.
Data: FanGraphs (WAR), Baseball-Reference & the Chadwick Bureau register (rosters, IDs), the Lahman Database, Baseball America prospect rankings (via The Baseball Cube), and public payroll records. Transaction and trade data was obtained free of charge from and is copyrighted by Retrosheet. Executive birth/death data via Wikidata (CC0); bios are original. Emoji graphics by OpenMoji (CC BY-SA 4.0).
All figures are franchise-level outcomes credited to the decision-maker in the acquisition year — not solely attributable to one executive.