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Braves ATL

198672–89 (0.447)
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GM: Bobby Cox

Overview

Ranks vs the 30 teams in 1986, or a custom range (defaults to every team-season since 1985, when our data starts).

to

Front Office

PoorAverageGreat
Value
Payroll $M
$16M
Surplus $M
-8
Win %
0.447
TAB
-14.5
WAB
-13.7
Roster composition
Roster fWAR
23.7
Dead money %
47%
Depth Players
7.0
Dead WAR
-4.5

Offense

PoorAverageGreat

Pitching & Defense

PoorAverageGreat

Roster

1986 depth chart — stacked by playing time

C

ROzzie Virgil Jr.111
RBruce Benedict57
BTed Simmons10

1B

RBob Horner139
LChris Chambliss20
BTed Simmons14
LGerald Perry1
LKen Griffey Sr.⇄1

2B

RGlenn Hubbard142
LKen Oberkfell41
RPaul Runge6
RBill Sample1

3B

LKen Oberkfell130
RRafael Ramirez58
BTed Simmons9
RBrad Komminsk2

SS

RAndres Thomas97
RRafael Ramirez87

LF

LKen Griffey Sr.⇄79
RTerry Harper66
LGerald Perry21
LOmar Moreno18
RBill Sample10
RRafael Ramirez2
LJeff Dedmon1

CF

RDale Murphy155
LOmar Moreno12

RF

LOmar Moreno71
RBill Sample48
RTerry Harper25
BAlbert Hall14
RDale Murphy6
RDarryl Motley⇄5
RBrad Komminsk2
LGerald Perry1
RRafael Ramirez1

DH

—

Starters

RDavid Palmer3.3 WAR
LZane Smith2.9 WAR
RDoyle Alexander⇄2.9 WAR
RRick Mahler2.4 WAR
RJim Acker⇄1.0 WAR
RJoe Johnson⇄0.7 WAR
RCliff Speck0.1 WAR
RCraig McMurtry0.1 WAR
RCharlie Puleo0.0 WAR

Bullpen

★ RGene Garber24 sv
LPaul Assenmacher0 h
RJeff Dedmon0 h
LEd Olwine0 h
RBruce Sutter0 h
RCliff Speck0 h
RDuane Ward⇄0 h
RSteve Shields⇄0 h

Each position shows its top 3 by games (top = starter) — click "+more" for the rest. The letter is bats/throws; ⇄ marks a player traded mid-season. Starters are ranked by WAR, bullpen by holds; ★ marks the closer (most save chances). MLB Stats API.

Key additions (new vs 1985)

PlayerfWAR
David Palmer3.3
Doyle Alexander2.9
Ozzie Virgil Jr.1.7
Ken Griffey Sr.1.4
Jim Acker1.0
Paul Assenmacher0.9

Key subtractions (gone from 1985)

Player1985 fWAR
Steve Bedrosian1.2
Milt Thompson0.6
Pascual Perez0.2
John Rabb-0.0
Len Barker-0.1
Rick Camp-0.1

Contract Value

WAR translated into tier-adjusted market value, then compared with what the player was paid by Braves. Guaranteed contracts from the 2015-present contract-data period use the known contract period through 1986; everyone else is shown as a 1986 season snapshot.

PlayerPeriodfWARTier Market $MPaid $MSurplus $M$ / WARTierContract
David Palmer 1986 +3.3 +51.1 0.4 +50.7 $0.1M 1.96× –
Doyle Alexander↔ 1986 +2.9 +45.9 0.4 +45.6 $0.1M 1.96× –
Zane Smith 1986 +2.9 +45.7 0.2 +45.5 $0.1M 1.96× –
Gene Garber 1986 +2.0 +31.4 0.8 +30.7 $0.4M 1.95× –
Rick Mahler 1986 +2.4 +29.1 0.7 +28.4 $0.3M 1.49× –
Ken Oberkfell 1986 +2.9 +26.3 0.8 +25.5 $0.3M 1.12× –
Dale Murphy 1986 +2.2 +21.0 1.8 +19.2 $0.8M 1.22× –
Ozzie Virgil Jr. 1986 +1.7 +10.1 0.6 +9.5 $0.3M 0.76× –
Paul Assenmacher 1986 +0.9 +9.1 0.1 +9.1 $0.1M 1.34× –
Ken Griffey Sr.↔ 1986 +1.4 +9.1 0.6 +8.5 $0.4M 0.83× –
Jim Acker↔ 1986 +1.0 +8.3 0.2 +8.1 $0.2M 1.02× –
Joe Johnson↔ 1986 +0.7 +5.9 0.1 +5.9 $0.1M 1.02× –
Bob Horner 1986 +1.1 +4.9 1.8 +3.1 $1.6M 0.56× –
Bill Sample 1986 +0.5 +3.3 0.5 +2.8 $1.0M 0.83× –
Andres Thomas 1986 +0.4 +1.8 0.1 +1.8 $0.2M 0.61× –
Ed Olwine 1986 +0.3 +1.4 0.1 +1.4 $0.2M 0.67× –
Glenn Hubbard 1986 +0.4 +1.8 0.5 +1.3 $1.3M 0.56× –
Bruce Benedict 1986 +0.4 +1.5 0.6 +1.0 $1.6M 0.52× –
Jeff Dedmon 1986 +0.2 +1.1 0.2 +0.9 $1.0M 0.67× –
Chris Chambliss 1986 +0.3 +1.5 0.8 +0.8 $2.2M 0.56× –
Cliff Speck 1986 +0.1 +0.7 0.1 +0.6 $0.5M 0.67× –
Craig McMurtry 1986 +0.1 +0.5 0.2 +0.3 $2.2M 0.67× –
Darryl Motley↔ 1986 -0.1 -0.5 0.0 -0.5 – 0.83× –
Claudell Washington↔ 1986 -0.2 -1.3 0.3 -1.7 – 0.83× –
Rafael Ramirez 1986 -0.3 -1.4 0.8 -2.2 – 0.61× –
Bruce Sutter 1986 -0.1 -0.7 1.7 -2.5 – 0.67× –
Ted Simmons 1986 -0.5 -2.4 1.0 -3.4 – 0.56× –
Terry Harper 1986 -0.7 -4.7 0.4 -5.1 – 0.83× –
Omar Moreno 1986 -1.6 -10.4 0.1 -10.5 – 0.83× –
Albert Hall 1986 -0.1 -0.6 – – – 0.83× –
Brad Komminsk 1986 -0.0 -0.1 – – – 0.58× –
Charlie Puleo 1986 +0.0 +0.1 – – – 1.02× –
Duane Ward↔ 1986 -0.1 -0.7 – – – 0.67× –
Gerald Perry 1986 -0.4 -2.7 – – – 0.83× –
Paul Runge 1986 +0.0 +0.2 – – – 0.56× –
Steve Shields↔ 1986 -0.3 -1.8 – – – 0.67× –
Total—+23.7+284.515.9+274.8—

Trades

Every graded 1986 deal involving the Braves — best expected value first. Surplus is realized value in $M; 6 total.

1986 · TOR / ATL
TOR · Pat Gillick +$48.8M
Duane Ward
ATL · Bobby Cox −$48.8M
Doyle Alexander
TOR came out ahead by $48.8M
1986 · NYY / ATL
NYY · Clyde King +$16.8M
Claudell Washington, Paul Zuvella
ATL · Bobby Cox −$16.8M
Ken Griffey, Andre Robertson
NYY came out ahead by $16.8M
1986 · MIL / ATL
MIL · Harry Dalton +$29.6M
Rick Cerone, Dave Clay, Flavio Alfaro
ATL · Bobby Cox −$29.6M
Ted Simmons
MIL came out ahead by $29.6M
1986 · KCR / ATL
KCR · John Schuerholz +$7.2M
Steve Shields
ATL · Bobby Cox −$7.2M
Darryl Motley
KCR came out ahead by $7.2M
1986 · NYM / ATL
NYM · Frank Cashen +$4.8M
Mike Santiago
ATL · Bobby Cox −$4.8M
Ed Olwine
NYM came out ahead by $4.8M
1986 · TOR / ATL
TOR · Pat Gillick +$28.8M
Joe Johnson
ATL · Bobby Cox −$28.8M
Jim Acker
TOR came out ahead by $28.8M

Current & Historical Payroll

1986 payroll
$15.7M

What the front office was committed to as of 1986, 1986–1992. 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)

PlayerAgeSvc1986198719881989199019911992
Dale Murphy3010.000$1.8M$1.9M$2.0M$2.0M$1.3MFREE AGENT
Bob Horner288.000$1.8MFREE AGENT
Bruce Sutter3310.000$1.7MFREE AGENT$1.7M
Ted Simmons3618.000$1.0M$500k$470kFREE AGENT
Ken Oberkfell309.000$825k$725k$621kFREE AGENT
Rafael Ramirez286.000$825k$875kFREE AGENT
Gene Garber3817.000$787k$622kFREE AGENT
Chris Chambliss3715.000$769kFREE AGENT
Rick Mahler327.000$688k$695k$738kFREE AGENT
Ken Griffey Sr.3613.000$604k$1.1M$367kFREE AGENT
Ozzie Virgil Jr.296.000$575k$760k$900kFREE AGENT
Bruce Benedict308.000$565k$615k$665k$395kFREE AGENT
Glenn Hubbard288.000$505k$555kFREE AGENT
Bill Sample318.000$470kFREE AGENT
Terry Harper306.000$425kFREE AGENT
David Palmer288.000$390k$725kFREE AGENT
Doyle Alexander3515.000$360k$385kFREE AGENT
Claudell Washington3112.000$319kFREE AGENT
Omar Moreno3311.000$100kFREE AGENT

Arbitration-eligible (9)

PlayerAgeSvc1986198719881989199019911992
Craig McMurtry263.000$225kARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Jeff Dedmon263.000$200kARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Jim Acker273.000$175kARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Darryl Motley265.000$17kFREE AGENT
Albert Hall285.000—FREE AGENT
Brad Komminsk253.000—ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Gerald Perry253.000—ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Charlie Puleo315.000—FREE AGENT
Paul Runge285.000—FREE AGENT

Pre-arbitration (8)

PlayerAgeSvc1986198719881989199019911992
Zane Smith252.000$200kARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Cliff Speck290.000$60kPre-ArbPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Paul Assenmacher250.000$60kPre-ArbPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Andres Thomas221.000$60kPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Ed Olwine280.000$60kPre-ArbPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Joe Johnson241.000$54kPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Steve Shields271.000—Pre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Duane Ward220.000—Pre-ArbPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT

Graphs

How each 1986 acquisition stacked onto Braves's playoff-odds curve. The side table is ranked by PPA.

Rosternomics — front-office performance, roster value, and transaction history. Follow @rosternomics on X.
Decision-maker records extend to 1933; resource-controlled WAR and payroll metrics cover 1985–2026. Data sources include FanGraphs, Baseball-Reference, the Chadwick Bureau register, the Lahman Database, prospect rankings from Baseball America, MLB Pipeline, and FanGraphs, 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).
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