Rosternomics
JM

Joe McDonald

Born Jul 5, 1929 · Staten Island, NY · age 96

General manager for the Mets, Cardinals, and Tigers (1975–1991).

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

Titles0
Pennants1
Playoffs1
Record185–139
Win %0.571
+19.9WAB — wins above budget37th/195 execs
+21.1Talent above budget — roster-construction alpha (talent your budget bought above expectation)37th/195 execs
2.16Acquisition leverage — playoff pts each bought win added, given the roster it joined (did you buy where wins matter?)15th/195 execs
+11.4WAR surplus (era-neutral, win-equiv)24th/195 execs
+3Roster surplus $M37th/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)+106.9
Trade+41.4
Free agency-13.4
Rule 5 / minor draft+0.3
Sourcing mix: 60% draft · 0% FA · 40% trade · 0% R5

Tenure breakdown

TeamRoleYearsSzns WAB WAB/yr TAB WAR surp HG Trade FA R5 AcqLev W-L% POPenWS Surp $M
Tigers GM 1991–1991 1 +1.7 +1.75 +4.6 +0.9 +11.6 +18.8 -2.6 +0.0 1.78 0.519 +0
Cardinals GM 1983–1985 1 +18.2 +18.18 +16.4 +10.5 +45.1 +18.1 -5.3 +0.0 2.46 0.623 11 +3
Mets GM 1975–1980 0 +0.0 +0.0 +0.0 +50.2 +4.6 -5.4 +0.3
Career total (1985+ data) 2 +19.9 +21.1 +11.4 +106.9 +41.4 -13.4 +0.3 2.16 0.571 11 +3

Players acquired — 66 players, by realized fWAR for the franchise (scroll for more)

PlayerPosTeam How Year fWAR
Darryl Strawberry OF NYM Draft 1980 +29.7
José Oquendo 2B/SS STL Trade 1985 +15.3
Joe Magrane P STL Draft 1985 +14.7
Mickey Tettleton C DET Trade 1991 +14.4
Bernard Gilkey OF STL Intl FA 1984 +12.6
John Tudor P STL Trade 1984 +12.0
Justin Thompson P DET Draft 1991 +11.0
Tom Pagnozzi C STL Draft 1983 +10.6
Jack Clark 1B/OF STL Trade 1985 +10.1
Mookie Wilson OF NYM Draft 1977 +9.9
Wally Backman 2B NYM Draft 1977 +7.7
Geronimo Pena 2B STL Intl FA 1984 +6.4
Ken Dayley P STL Trade 1984 +6.1
Greg Mathews P STL Draft 1984 +3.8
Mark Leiter P DET Trade 1991 +3.2
Jesse Orosco P NYM Trade 1979 +3.0
Kevin Mitchell OF NYM Intl FA 1980 +2.7
Darrell Porter C STL Trade 1985 +2.1
Ed Lynch P NYM Trade 1979 +1.6
Tito Landrum OF STL Trade 1984 +1.5
Dan Gladden OF DET Free agency 1991 +1.4
Skeeter Barnes 1B/3B/OF DET Free agency 1991 +1.3
Sean Bergman P DET Draft 1991 +1.2
John Gibbons C NYM Draft 1980 +0.6
Tim Conroy P STL Trade 1985 +0.6
Dan Gakeler P DET Trade 1991 +0.5
Rick Anderson P NYM Draft 1978 +0.5
John Morris OF STL Trade 1985 +0.5
Andy Allanson C DET Trade 1991 +0.4
Bill Campbell P STL Trade 1985 +0.3
Steve Braun 3B/OF STL Trade 1985 +0.2
Tim Jones 2B/SS STL Draft 1985 +0.2
Matt Keough P STL Trade 1985 +0.2
Tom Lawless 2B/3B STL Trade 1985 +0.2
Ronn Reynolds C NYM Draft 1980 +0.1
Scott Arnold P STL Draft 1984 +0.1
Rod Booker 2B/SS STL Trade 1983 +0.1
John Costello P STL Draft 1983 +0.1
Andy Hassler P STL Trade 1985 +0.1
Mike Jorgensen 1B STL Trade 1984 +0.1
Trever Miller P DET Draft 1991 -0.0
Billy Beane OF NYM Draft 1980 -0.0
Ron Gardenhire SS NYM Draft 1979 +0.0
Doug Sisk P NYM Intl FA 1980 -0.0
Neil Allen P STL Trade 1983 -0.0
Brian Harper C STL Trade 1984 -0.0
Howard Hilton P STL Draft 1985 -0.0
John Cerutti P DET Free agency 1991 -0.1
Mike Dalton P DET Trade 1991 -0.1
Art Howe 2B/3B STL Trade 1985 -0.1
Jeff Kaiser P DET Free agency 1991 -0.2
Phil Stidham P DET Draft 1991 -0.2
Lance Johnson OF STL Draft 1984 -0.2
Rick Ownbey P STL Trade 1983 -0.2
Iván de Jesús SS STL Trade 1985 -0.3
Matt Kinzer P STL Draft 1984 -0.3
Ray Stephens C STL Draft 1985 -0.3
John Moses OF DET Free agency 1991 -0.4
Clint Sodowsky P DET Draft 1991 -0.4
Mike Fitzgerald 1B STL Draft 1984 -0.4
Jim Lindeman 1B/OF STL Draft 1983 -0.6
Craig Wilson 3B STL Draft 1984 -0.7
Kelvin Chapman 2B NYM Intl FA 1975 -0.9
Mike Walker P DET Free agency 1991 -1.0
Steve Peters P STL Draft 1985 -1.0
Pete Incaviglia OF DET Free agency 1991 -1.1

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.