RRosternomics
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Angels ANA

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GM: Bill Bavasi

Overview

REBUILD ↘ cooling
cheap & losing · year 2 in this regime · payroll 0.89× league · TAB -0.3
-0.3TAB — talent above budget16th/28
+3.6WAB — realized wins (TAB + luck)13th/28
8.0depth — 2+ WAR regulars7th/28
-2.8dead WAR — sub-replacement drag3rd/28
38%dead money %23rd/28
0.519win %10th/28
32.5roster fWAR13th/28
-2surplus $M (value vs cost)10th/28
$35Mpayroll $M20th/28

Roster

CFJim Edmonds 115GOrlando Palmeiro 45GGarret Anderson 27G
LFGarret Anderson 130GRickey Henderson 66GTony Phillips 31G
RFTim Salmon 153GTony Phillips 31GGarret Anderson 4G
SSGary Disarcina 153GCraig Grebeck 20GRobert Eenhoorn 2G
2BLuis Alicea 105GTony Phillips 43GCraig Grebeck 26G
3BDave Hollins 135GJack Howell 24GCraig Grebeck 15G
1BDarin Erstad 126GDave Hollins 14GJack Howell 12G
STARTERSChuck Finley 2.8WARJason Dickson 1.7WARAllen Watson 1.1WARKen Hill 0.8WARShigetoshi Hasegawa 0.7WAR
CChad Kreuter 80GTodd Greene 26GAngelo Encarnacion 11G
DHEddie Murray 43GTony Phillips 26GJack Howell 21G
BULLPEN★ Troy Percival 27svMike Holtz 0hPep Harris 0hMike James 0hRich DeLucia 0hDarrell May 0hGreg Cadaret 0hKevin Gross 0h
CChad Kreuter 80 · Todd Greene 26 · Angelo Encarnacion 11
1BDarin Erstad 126 · Dave Hollins 14 · Jack Howell 12
2BLuis Alicea 105 · Tony Phillips 43 · Craig Grebeck 26
3BDave Hollins 135 · Jack Howell 24 · Craig Grebeck 15
SSGary Disarcina 153 · Craig Grebeck 20 · Robert Eenhoorn 2
LFGarret Anderson 130 · Rickey Henderson 66 · Tony Phillips 31
CFJim Edmonds 115 · Orlando Palmeiro 45 · Garret Anderson 27
RFTim Salmon 153 · Tony Phillips 31 · Garret Anderson 4
DHEddie Murray 43 · Tony Phillips 26 · Jack Howell 21
SPChuck Finley 2.8 · Jason Dickson 1.7 · Allen Watson 1.1 · Ken Hill 0.8 · Shigetoshi Hasegawa 0.7
BP★ Troy Percival 27 · Mike Holtz 0 · Pep Harris 0 · Mike James 0 · Rich DeLucia 0 · Darrell May 0 · Greg Cadaret 0 · Kevin Gross 0

Each position lists its starter then backups by games (so platoons & bench show). Starters (mound) & bullpen (left, foul territory) are ranked by WAR; ★ marks the closer (most save chances). MLB Stats API.

1997 roster — value & surplus

PlayerAgeServiceGfWARSalary $MSurplus $M
Tim Salmon 28 arb 1574.6 3.5 +1.2
Jim Edmonds 27 arb 1334.0 2.0 +2.0
Chuck Finley 34 FA-elig 252.8 4.0 -1.1
Darin Erstad 23 pre-arb 1392.8 0.2 +2.7
Garret Anderson 25 arb 1542.8 0.6 +2.2
Dave Hollins 31 FA-elig 1492.6 2.0 +0.6
Luis Alicea 31 FA-elig 1282.6 0.7 +2.0
Jim Leyritz↔ TEX 33 FA-elig 842.1 1.3 +0.8
Jason Dickson 24 pre-arb 331.7 0.2 +1.5
Mike James 29 pre-arb 581.3 0.3 +1.0
Troy Percival 27 pre-arb 551.1 0.7 +0.5
Allen Watson 26 arb 351.1 1.3 -0.2
Tony Phillips↔ CHW 38 FA-elig 1051.0 1.6 -0.6
Ken Hill↔ TEX 31 FA-elig 120.8 1.9 -1.1
Todd Greene 26 pre-arb 340.8 0.2 +0.6
Shigetoshi Hasegawa 28 pre-arb 500.7 0.6 +0.2
Chad Kreuter↔ CHW 32 FA-elig 700.5 0.5 +0.0
Pep Harris 24 pre-arb 610.5 0.2 +0.4
Chuck McElroy↔ CHW 29 FA-elig 130.4 0.2 +0.2
Darrell May 25 pre-arb 290.3 0.1 +0.1
Jack Howell 35 FA-elig 770.2 0.4 -0.2
Mike Holtz 24 pre-arb 660.2 0.2 +0.0
Chris Turner 28 arb 130.2 0.2 +0.0
Robert Eenhoorn 29 – 110.1 – –
Rich DeLucia↔ SFG 32 FA-elig 330.1 0.6 -0.4
Matt Perisho 22 – 110.1 – –
Anthony Chavez 26 – 70.1 – –
Dennis Springer 32 pre-arb 320.0 0.2 -0.2
Greg Cadaret 35 – 150.0 – –
Craig Grebeck 32 FA-elig 630.0 0.4 -0.4
Randy Velarde 34 FA-elig 10.0 0.8 -0.8
Mike Bovee 23 – 3-0.0 – –
Angelo Encarnacion 28 pre-arb 11-0.0 0.2 -0.2
George Arias↔ SDP 25 – 3-0.0 – –
Shad Williams 26 – 1-0.0 – –
Mark Langston 36 FA-elig 9-0.0 4.0 -4.0
Gary Disarcina 29 FA-elig 154-0.1 2.7 -2.8
Mark Gubicza 34 FA-elig 2-0.1 1.6 -1.7
Rickey Henderson↔ SDP 38 FA-elig 32-0.2 0.8 -1.0
Kevin Gross 36 – 12-0.2 – –
Jorge Fabregas↔ CHW 27 arb 21-0.4 0.0 -0.5
Orlando Palmeiro 28 pre-arb 74-0.8 0.2 -1.0
Eddie Murray↔ LAD 41 FA-elig 46-0.9 0.6 -1.5

Key additions (new vs 1996)

PlayerfWAR
Dave Hollins2.6
Luis Alicea2.6
Jim Leyritz2.1
Allen Watson1.1
Tony Phillips1.0
Ken Hill0.8

Key subtractions (gone from 1996)

Player1996 fWAR
Rex Hudler2.6
Chili Davis2.4
Jason Grimsley0.9
Don Slaught0.8
Shawn Boskie0.7
Mark Eichhorn0.4

Current & Historical Payroll

1997 payroll
$34.8M

What the front office was committed to as of 1997, 1997–2003. Pre-2015 has no contract-terms data — forward italic $ are realized actuals (hindsight, not commitments known then). Control labels (ARB/FA) are point-in-time.

current $ guaranteed $ actual $ (hindsight) arbitration (proj) pre-arb (proj) free agent

Guaranteed / signed (19)

PlayerAgeSvc1997199819992000200120022003
Chuck Finley3411.000$4.0M$5.0M$5.8MFREE AGENT
Mark Langston3613.000$4.0MFREE AGENT
Gary Disarcina298.000$2.7M$2.8M$3.1M$3.2MFREE AGENT
Dave Hollins317.000$2.0M$1.9MFREE AGENT
Ken Hill319.000$1.9M$5.0M$5.5M$5.0MFREE AGENT
Tony Phillips3815.000$1.6MFREE AGENT
Mark Gubicza3413.000$1.6MFREE AGENT
Jim Leyritz337.000$1.3MFREE AGENT
Rickey Henderson3818.000$812kFREE AGENT
Randy Velarde3410.000$800k$850k$974kFREE AGENT
Luis Alicea319.000$650kFREE AGENT
Eddie Murray4120.000$627kFREE AGENT
Rich DeLucia327.000$573k$400kFREE AGENT
Chad Kreuter329.000$509k$688kFREE AGENT
Jack Howell3512.000$400kFREE AGENT
Craig Grebeck327.000$400kFREE AGENT
Chuck McElroy298.000$171kFREE AGENT
Greg Cadaret3510.000—$257kFREE AGENT
Kevin Gross3614.000—FREE AGENT

Arbitration-eligible (7)

PlayerAgeSvc1997199819992000200120022003
Tim Salmon285.000$3.5MFREE AGENT
Jim Edmonds274.000$2.0MARB 3FREE AGENT
Allen Watson264.000$1.3MARB 3FREE AGENT
Garret Anderson253.000$600kARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Chris Turner284.000$155kARB 3FREE AGENT
Jorge Fabregas273.000$48kARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Robert Eenhoorn293.000—ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT

Pre-arbitration (17)

PlayerAgeSvc1997199819992000200120022003
Troy Percival272.000$650kARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Shigetoshi Hasegawa280.000$575kPre-ArbPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Mike James292.000$330kARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Dennis Springer322.000$195kARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Darin Erstad231.000$175kPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Angelo Encarnacion282.000$175kARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Jason Dickson241.000$162kPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Orlando Palmeiro282.000$160kARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Mike Holtz241.000$160kPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Pep Harris241.000$158kPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Todd Greene261.000$153kPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Darrell May252.000$150kARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
George Arias251.000—Pre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Mike Bovee23–—
Anthony Chavez26–—
Matt Perisho220.000—Pre-ArbPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Shad Williams26–—

Graphs

Every roster slot ranked best→worst by WAR. Bars = Angels 1997; the black line = the league-average player at each slot that season. Staying above the line deep into the roster is the depth edge; dropping below it = holes & dead weight.

What each regime is worth — every settled team-season since 1985

RegimeSeasonsWin %Playoff %Pennant %WS %
WINDOW 28152.131.05.01.1
CONTEND 30056.964.719.710.3
FORCED-SPEND 25648.09.81.61.6
REBUILD 32143.31.20.30.3
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.