Tal Smith
Born Sep 27, 1933 · Framingham, MA · age 93
General manager for the Astros and Yankees (1965–2007).
Across the full 1-season sample, the measured profile stands out most for future-foundation returns (94th percentile), avoidance of negative WAR (84th percentile), and net WAR per trade (81st percentile). The clearest contrast is drafted-player surplus (0th percentile): drafted players have created less surplus value than for most peers. Because the sample covers fewer than five seasons, those comparisons are descriptive rather than stable.
1 seasons with salary-era data across 4 stints. All figures are franchise-level outcomes during the tenure, not solely attributable to one executive.
0 pennants · 0 playoff appearances · 73–89 (0.451)
Overview
| Team | Role | Year | Pay $M |
Rel Pay |
Surp $M |
Surp WAR |
Dead % |
Cheap $M |
Draft $M |
Trd $M |
Int'l $M |
$ / WAR |
WAR | Depth | Dead WAR |
HG | Trade | Net/ Trd |
FA | R5 | RFA | PPA | CPA | WAB | TAB | W-L% | PO | Pen | WS |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 Astros |
GM | 2007 73–89 | $87 | 106 | -39 | -18.1 | 39% | +5 | -6 | +5 | +6 | $3.1M | 24.3 | 6.0 | -4.2 | +61.0 | -2.7 | -0.67 | +1.6 | -0.4 | +0.74 | 0.15 | 0.05 | -9.7 | -10.7 | 0.451 | |||
| Career total (1985+ data) | $87 | 106 | -39 | -18.1 | 39% | +5 | -6 | +5 | +6 | $3.1M | 24.3 | 6.0 | -4.2 | +83.4 | +32.4 | +0.72 | +1.6 | -0.4 | +0.74 | 0.15 | 0.05 | -9.7 | -10.7 | 0.451 | – | – | – | ||
Roster Construction
Build channels — net fWAR
Acquired minus surrendered / signed minus walked.
Trades
Trades made — 6 deals credited to Tal Smith, best expected value first; surplus is realized value in $M
HOU · Tal Smith
+$121.6M
PHI · Pat Gillick
−$121.6M
WSN · Jim Bowden
+$0.0M
HOU · Tal Smith
+$0.0M
HOU · Tal Smith
+$15.2M
TBR · Andrew Friedman
−$15.2M
ATL · John Schuerholz
+$11.2M
HOU · Tal Smith
−$11.2M
HOU · Tal Smith
+$0.8M
ARI · Josh Byrnes
−$0.8M
BAL · Mike Flanagan
+$70.4M
HOU · Tal Smith
−$70.4M
Players acquired — 41 players, by realized fWAR for the franchise (scroll for more)
| Player | Pos | Team | How | Year | Szns | fWAR | WAR/yr | RFA | PPA | CPA |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| José Altuve | 2B | HOU |
Intl FA | 2007 | 15 | +61.0 | +4.1 | – | – | – |
| Bill Doran | 2B | HOU |
Draft | 1979 | 6 | +16.6 | +2.8 | – | – | – |
| Willie Randolph | 2B |  NYY |
Trade | 1975 | 4 | +14.7 | +3.7 | – | – | – |
| Carlos Lee | OF | HOU |
Trade | 2007 | 5 | +8.5 | +1.7 | – | 0.4% | 0.13% |
| Bob Knepper | P | HOU |
Trade | 1980 | 3 | +7.0 | +2.3 | – | – | – |
| Dave Smith | P | HOU |
Draft | 1976 | 6 | +6.9 | +1.1 | – | – | – |
| Denny Walling | 1B/3B/OF | HOU |
Trade | 1977 | 5 | +6.6 | +1.3 | – | – | – |
| Alan Ashby | C | HOU |
Trade | 1978 | 4 | +5.0 | +1.2 | – | – | – |
| Ty Wigginton | 1B/3B | HOU |
Trade | 2007 | 2 | +3.4 | +1.7 | +0.00 | 0.1% | 0.03% |
| Mark Loretta | 2B | HOU |
Free agency | 2007 | 3 | +2.1 | +0.7 | – | 1.5% | 0.10% |
| Craig Reynolds | SS | HOU |
Trade | 1978 | 2 | +2.0 | +1.0 | – | – | – |
| Kazuo Matsui | 2B | HOU |
Free agency | 2007 | 2 | +1.8 | +0.9 | – | 2.6% | 0.26% |
| José Valverde | P | HOU |
Trade | 2007 | 2 | +1.8 | +0.9 | -1.55 | 1.5% | 0.16% |
| Brian Moehler | P | HOU |
Trade | 2007 | 4 | +1.5 | +0.4 | – | 0.0% | 0.00% |
| Geoff Blum | 3B | HOU |
Free agency | 2007 | 5 | +1.4 | +0.3 | – | 4.7% | 0.34% |
| Jim Pankovits | 2B/OF | HOU |
Draft | 1976 | 3 | +0.8 | +0.3 | – | – | – |
| Jeff Calhoun | P | HOU |
Draft | 1980 | 1 | +0.5 | +0.5 | – | – | – |
| Dennis Sarfate | P | HOU |
Trade | 2007 | 1 | +0.4 | +0.4 | – | 0.1% | 0.02% |
| Manny Hernández | P | HOU |
Intl FA | 1978 | 1 | +0.3 | +0.3 | – | – | – |
| Woody Williams | P | HOU |
Trade | 2007 | 1 | +0.3 | +0.3 | – | 0.0% | 0.02% |
| Jason Jennings | P | HOU |
Trade | 2007 | 1 | +0.3 | +0.3 | -9.37 | 0.0% | 0.02% |
| John Mizerock | C | HOU |
Draft | 1979 | 1 | +0.2 | +0.2 | – | – | – |
| Doug Brocail | P | HOU |
Free agency | 2007 | 2 | +0.2 | +0.1 | – | 0.0% | 0.00% |
| Darin Erstad | 1B/OF | HOU |
Free agency | 2007 | 1 | +0.2 | +0.2 | – | 0.9% | 0.09% |
| Cody Ransom | 3B/SS | HOU |
Trade | 2007 | 1 | +0.2 | +0.2 | – | 0.0% | 0.01% |
| Ty Gainey | OF | HOU |
Draft | 1979 | 1 | +0.1 | +0.1 | – | – | – |
| Geoff Geary | P | HOU |
Trade | 2007 | 1 | +0.1 | +0.1 | +2.92 | 0.8% | 0.08% |
| Chris Jones | OF | HOU |
Draft | 1979 | 1 | +0.0 | +0.0 | – | – | – |
| Jack Cassel | P | HOU |
Free agency | 2007 | – | -0.0 | – | – | – | – |
| José Cisnero | P | HOU |
Intl FA | 2007 | 1 | -0.0 | -0.0 | – | – | – |
| José Cruz | OF | HOU |
Free agency | 2007 | – | -0.1 | – | – | – | – |
| Mark Ross | P | HOU |
Draft | 1979 | – | -0.2 | – | – | – | – |
| Tim Tolman | 1B/OF | HOU |
Draft | 1978 | – | -0.2 | – | – | – | – |
| Tomás Pérez | 2B/3B/SS | HOU |
Free agency | 2007 | – | -0.2 | – | – | – | – |
| Chad Paronto | P | HOU |
Free agency | 2007 | – | -0.3 | – | – | – | – |
| Bert Peña | SS | HOU |
Intl FA | 1977 | 1 | -0.4 | -0.4 | – | – | – |
| Steve Randolph | P | HOU |
Free agency | 2007 | – | -0.4 | – | – | – | – |
| Wesley Wright | P | HOU |
Rule 5 | 2007 | 2 | -0.4 | -0.2 | – | – | – |
| Jeff Heathcock | P | HOU |
Draft | 1980 | 1 | -0.5 | -0.5 | – | – | – |
| Óscar Villarreal | P | HOU |
Trade | 2007 | – | -1.0 | – | -1.53 | – | – |
| Julio Solano | P | HOU |
Intl FA | 1979 | – | -1.6 | – | – | – | – |
Trade-side columns: RFA is playoff-readiness percentage points added to the future roster foundation. It grades the franchise's entire side of a trade, so the same score repeats for every player acquired in that package. PPA/CPA remain player-level arrival-year probability points.
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.