Rosternomics
JK

Joe Klein

Aug 22, 1942 (Baltimore, MD) – Aug 23, 2017 (Philadelphia, PA) · died at 75

General manager for the Rangers, Guardians, and Tigers (1983–1995).

3 seasons with salary-era data across 3 stints. All figures are franchise-level outcomes during the tenure, not solely attributable to one executive.

Titles0
Pennants0
Playoffs0
Record205–263
Win %0.438
-23.3WAB — wins above budget153rd/195 execs
-39.9Talent above budget — roster-construction alpha (talent your budget bought above expectation)174th/195 execs
0.16Acquisition leverage — playoff pts each bought win added, given the roster it joined (did you buy where wins matter?)174th/195 execs
-32.0WAR surplus (era-neutral, win-equiv)105th/195 execs
-25Roster surplus $M82nd/195 execs

How the roster was sourced

Share of gross-positive acquired fWAR by channel (vs. league average).

Build channels — net fWAR

Acquired minus surrendered / signed minus walked.

Home-grown (draft/intl)+81.4
Trade-16.2
Free agency-40.7
Rule 5 / minor draft+0.0
Sourcing mix: 92% draft · 4% FA · 4% trade · 0% R5

Tenure breakdown

TeamRoleYearsSzns WAB WAB/yr TAB WAR surp HG Trade FA R5 AcqLev W-L% POPenWS Surp $M
Tigers GM 1995–1995 1 -13.2 -13.17 -22.2 -23.6 +1.5 -3.4 +0.9 -0.1 0.06 0.417 -23
Guardians GM 1986–1987 2 -10.1 -5.07 -17.7 -8.4 +67.4 -1.7 -40.7 -0.0 0.18 0.448 -2
Rangers GM 1983–1984 0 +0.0 +0.0 +0.0 +12.5 -11.1 -0.9 +0.2
Career total (1985+ data) 3 -23.3 -39.9 -32.0 +81.4 -16.2 -40.7 +0.0 0.16 0.438 -25

Players acquired — 61 players, by realized fWAR for the franchise (scroll for more)

PlayerPosTeam How Year fWAR
Albert Belle OF CLE Draft 1987 +27.5
Greg Swindell P CLE Draft 1986 +20.5
Tom Candiotti P CLE Draft 1986 +16.8
Oddibe McDowell OF TEX Draft 1984 +8.5
Gary Ward OF TEX Trade 1983 +4.1
Steve Olin P CLE Draft 1987 +3.2
Paul Kilgus P TEX Draft 1984 +2.1
Omar Olivares P DET Free agency 1995 +2.0
A. J. Sager P DET Free agency 1995 +1.9
Gabe Kapler OF DET Draft 1995 +1.7
Jeff Kunkel SS TEX Draft 1983 +1.6
C. J. Nitkowski P DET Trade 1995 +1.4
Brian Bohanon P DET Free agency 1995 +1.2
Dickie Noles P TEX Trade 1984 +1.0
Beau Allred OF CLE Draft 1987 +0.9
Phil Niekro P CLE Free agency 1986 +0.8
Ken Schrom P CLE Trade 1986 +0.6
Kevin Wickander P CLE Draft 1986 +0.6
Jerry Browne 2B TEX Intl FA 1983 +0.6
Ricky Wright P TEX Trade 1983 +0.5
Ed Vande Berg P CLE Free agency 1987 +0.3
Dave Borkowski P DET Draft 1995 +0.2
Phil Nevin 1B/3B DET Trade 1995 +0.2
Mitch Williams P TEX Rule 5 1984 +0.2
Bruce Egloff P CLE Draft 1986 +0.1
Dwayne Henry P DET Free agency 1995 +0.1
Scott Anderson P TEX Draft 1984 +0.1
Brian Dorsett C CLE Trade 1987 -0.0
Ever Magallanes SS CLE Draft 1987 -0.0
Joe Skalski P CLE Draft 1986 +0.0
Mike Walker P CLE Draft 1986 +0.0
Ron Washington SS CLE Free agency 1987 -0.0
Frank Wills P CLE Free agency 1986 -0.0
Phil Hiatt 3B/OF DET Trade 1995 -0.0
Don Gordon P CLE Trade 1987 -0.1
Tom Lampkin C CLE Draft 1986 -0.1
Joe Hall OF DET Free agency 1995 -0.1
Greg Keagle P DET Rule 5 1995 -0.1
Brian Powell P DET Draft 1995 -0.1
Alan Bannister 2B/OF TEX Trade 1984 -0.1
Fran Mullins 3B/SS CLE Trade 1986 -0.2
Sammy Stewart P CLE Free agency 1987 -0.2
Víctor Santos P DET Intl FA 1995 -0.2
Chris Welsh P TEX Trade 1984 -0.2
Kevin Bearse P CLE Draft 1987 -0.3
Rick Dempsey C CLE Free agency 1987 -0.3
Jim Kern P CLE Free agency 1986 -0.3
Casey Parsons OF CLE Trade 1987 -0.3
Bob Sebra P TEX Draft 1983 -0.3
Mike Armstrong P CLE Free agency 1987 -0.4
Jeff Kaiser P CLE Trade 1987 -0.4
Tom Kramer P CLE Draft 1987 -0.4
Rudy Seánez P CLE Draft 1986 -0.4
Scott Fletcher 2B/SS DET Free agency 1995 -0.4
Doug Frobel OF CLE Free agency 1987 -0.5
Tommy Hinzo 2B CLE Draft 1986 -0.5
Jeff Shaw P CLE Draft 1986 -0.6
Shannon Penn 2B/DH DET Trade 1995 -0.6
Mark Lewis 2B/3B DET Trade 1995 -0.7
Dickie Noles P CLE Free agency 1986 -0.9
Bryan Oelkers P CLE Trade 1986 -1.3

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.