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JF

Jim Frey

May 26, 1931 (Cleveland, OH) – Apr 12, 2020 (Ponte Vedra Beach, FL) · died at 88

General manager for the Cubs (1988–1991).

4 seasons with salary-era data across 1 stint. All figures are franchise-level outcomes during the tenure, not solely attributable to one executive.

Overview

Titles0
Pennants0
Playoffs1
Record324–322
Win %0.502
-0.9GM WAR — wins above a replacement GM (org-adjusted, shrunk; per season) ±6.196th/195 execs
6.0Depth — 2+ WAR regulars per season (the breadth that drives TAB, not stars)108th/195 execs
-4.6Dead WAR — WAR/yr bled by sub-replacement players (closer to 0 = better)59th/195 execs
34%Dead money — payroll on <0.5-WAR players (lower = better)93rd/195 execs
$2MCheap-talent surplus — $/yr of value from cost-controlled (pre-arb/arb) players above their pay; the selection engine, and the stickiest GM skill we track160th/195 execs
$2MDrafted surplus — cheap-talent surplus from his own draftees (the develop-from-the-draft engine)139th/195 execs
$-0MTraded-for surplus — cheap-talent surplus from cost-controlled players he acquired via trade163rd/195 execs
$0MInt'l surplus — cheap-talent surplus from his own international signees103rd/195 execs
-11.1TAB — talent above budget — roster-construction alpha (talent your budget bought above expectation), tenure total119th/195 execs
+0.6WAB — realized wins (TAB + the non-repeatable luck of converting talent to wins)69th/195 execs
1.45Acquisition Leverage — playoff pts per acquired WAR, graded once in the year each deal's wins arrive (the repeatable decision skill)106th/195 execs
-15Roster surplus $M71st/195 execs

Tenure breakdown

TeamRoleYearsSzns WAB WAB/yr TAB WAR surp HG Trade FA R5 AcqLev W-L% POPenWS Surp $M
▸ Cubs GM 1988–1991 4 +0.6 +0.16 -11.1 -30.1 +14.9 -45.5 -37.1 -0.1 1.45 0.502 1–– -15
Career total (1985+ data) 4 +0.6 -11.1 -30.1 +14.9 -45.5 -37.1 -0.1 1.45 0.502 1– – -15

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)+14.9
Trade-45.5
Free agency-37.1
Rule 5 / minor draft-0.1
Sourcing mix: 36% draft · 9% FA · 55% trade · 0% R5

Roster value distribution — career average — depth vs. stars

Every roster slot ranked best→worst by WAR, averaged across Jim Frey'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 — 46 players, by realized fWAR for the franchise (scroll for more)

PlayerPosTeam How Year Szns fWAR WAR/yr Lev
Steve Trachsel P CHC Draft 1991 8 +10.8 +1.4 –
Mike Morgan P CHC Free agency 1991 4 +5.4 +1.4 2.5
Mike Bielecki P CHC Trade 1988 4 +4.4 +1.1 0.2
Paul Assenmacher P CHC Trade 1989 5 +4.2 +0.8 0.1
Rey Sánchez 2B/SS CHC Trade 1990 6 +3.9 +0.6 –
Terry Adams P CHC Draft 1991 5 +2.8 +0.6 –
Vance Law 2B/3B CHC Trade 1988 2 +2.3 +1.1 1.2
Steve Wilson P CHC Trade 1988 3 +2.2 +0.7 2.7
Geremi González P CHC Intl FA 1991 2 +2.1 +1.1 –
George Bell OF CHC Free agency 1990 1 +1.7 +1.7 2.5
Calvin Schiraldi P CHC Trade 1988 1 +1.7 +1.7 1.4
Doug Glanville OF CHC Draft 1991 2 +1.6 +0.8 –
Bob Scanlan P CHC Trade 1991 3 +1.6 +0.5 –
Chuck McElroy P CHC Trade 1991 2 +1.5 +0.8 1.2
José Vizcaíno 2B/SS CHC Trade 1990 1 +1.5 +1.5 5.4
Luis Salazar 3B CHC Trade 1989 3 +1.2 +0.4 0.2
Mitch Webster OF CHC Trade 1988 2 +1.2 +0.6 0.5
Paul Kilgus P CHC Trade 1988 1 +1.0 +1.0 2.8
Lloyd McClendon OF CHC Trade 1988 1 +1.0 +1.0 2.8
Ozzie Timmons OF CHC Draft 1991 2 +0.8 +0.4 –
Amaury Telemaco P CHC Intl FA 1991 1 +0.6 +0.6 –
José Núñez P CHC Trade 1989 1 +0.3 +0.3 0.1
Turk Wendell P CHC Trade 1991 3 +0.3 +0.1 –
Rich Gossage P CHC Trade 1988 1 +0.2 +0.2 0.1
Yorkis Pérez P CHC Trade 1991 1 +0.1 +0.1 –
Pat Perry P CHC Trade 1988 2 +0.1 +0.0 0.1
Domingo Ramos 3B/SS CHC Free agency 1988 1 +0.1 +0.1 2.6
Lance Dickson P CHC Draft 1990 – -0.0 – –
Bill Landrum P CHC Trade 1988 – -0.0 – –
Bill Long P CHC Trade 1990 – -0.0 – –
Scott May P CHC Free agency 1991 1 +0.0 +0.0 0.0
Dave Swartzbaugh P CHC Draft 1989 2 -0.0 -0.0 –
Kevin Coffman P CHC Trade 1988 – -0.1 – –
Dave Meier OF CHC Trade 1988 – -0.1 – –
Erik Pappas C CHC Rule 5 1988 – -0.1 – –
Pedro Valdés OF CHC Draft 1990 – -0.1 – –
Jeff Hartsock P CHC Trade 1991 – -0.2 – –
Jessie Hollins P CHC Draft 1988 – -0.2 – –
Angel Salazar SS CHC Free agency 1988 – -0.5 – –
Danny Jackson P CHC Free agency 1990 1 -0.6 -0.6 0.8
Robin Jennings OF CHC Draft 1991 – -1.0 – –
Kevin Roberson OF CHC Draft 1988 2 -1.0 -0.5 –
Dave Smith P CHC Free agency 1990 1 -1.1 -1.1 0.1
Doug Strange 2B/3B CHC Free agency 1990 – -1.3 – –
Curt Wilkerson 2B/SS CHC Trade 1988 – -1.3 – –
Gary Scott 3B CHC Draft 1989 – -1.5 – –

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.