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Braves ATL

198769–92 (0.429)
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GM: Bobby Cox

Overview

Ranks vs the 30 teams in 1987, or a custom range (defaults to every team-season since 1985, when our data starts).

to

Front Office

PoorAverageGreat
Value
Payroll $M
$14M
Surplus $M
-7
Win %
0.429
TAB
-13.5
WAB
-15.5
Roster composition
Roster fWAR
23.5
Dead money %
46%
Depth Players
6.0
Dead WAR
-4.0

Offense

PoorAverageGreat

Pitching & Defense

PoorAverageGreat

Roster

1987 depth chart — stacked by playing time

C

ROzzie Virgil Jr.122
RBruce Benedict35
BTed Simmons15
RTerry Bell1

1B

LGerald Perry136
BTed Simmons28
RGary Roenicke9
LGraig Nettles6
LKen Griffey Sr.3

2B

RGlenn Hubbard139
RRon Gant20
LKen Oberkfell11
RPaul Runge2
RMike Fischlin1

3B

LKen Oberkfell126
LGraig Nettles40
RRafael Ramirez12
RPaul Runge10
BTed Simmons2

SS

RAndres Thomas81
RJeff Blauser50
RRafael Ramirez38
RPaul Runge9

LF

LKen Griffey Sr.107
RGary Roenicke40
LDion James29
LGerald Perry7
RDarryl Motley2

CF

LDion James99
BAlbert Hall68
LKen Griffey Sr.1

RF

RDale Murphy159
RGary Roenicke4
BAlbert Hall1

DH

—

Starters

LZane Smith3.6 WAR
RCharlie Puleo2.4 WAR
RDavid Palmer1.8 WAR
RRick Mahler1.1 WAR
RDoyle Alexander⇄0.3 WAR
RJeff Dedmon0.3 WAR
RPete Smith0.1 WAR
LLarry McWilliams0.1 WAR
RMarty Clary-0.0 WAR
LTom Glavine-0.1 WAR
RKevin Coffman-0.1 WAR
RPhil Niekro⇄-0.1 WAR
RRandy O'Neal⇄-0.3 WAR

Bullpen

★ RJim Acker14 sv
RJeff Dedmon0 h
LPaul Assenmacher0 h
RGene Garber⇄0 h
LEd Olwine0 h
RJoe Boever0 h
LChuck Cary0 h
LLarry McWilliams0 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 1986)

PlayerfWAR
Dion James2.5
Gary Roenicke0.7
Pete Smith0.1
Larry McWilliams0.1
Chuck Cary0.0
Steve Ziem0.0

Key subtractions (gone from 1986)

Player1986 fWAR
Bob Horner1.1
Joe Johnson0.7
Bill Sample0.5
Chris Chambliss0.3
Cliff Speck0.1
Craig McMurtry0.1

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 1987; everyone else is shown as a 1987 season snapshot.

PlayerPeriodfWARTier Market $MPaid $MSurplus $M$ / WARTierContract
Dale Murphy 1987 +7.1 +115.9 1.9 +114.0 $0.3M 2.05× –
Zane Smith 1987 +3.6 +63.7 0.2 +63.4 $0.1M 2.19× –
Dion James 1987 +2.5 +24.1 0.1 +24.0 $0.0M 1.22× –
David Palmer 1987 +1.8 +21.6 0.7 +20.9 $0.4M 1.49× –
Charlie Puleo 1987 +2.4 +18.4 0.1 +18.3 $0.0M 0.98× –
Glenn Hubbard 1987 +2.4 +15.9 0.6 +15.3 $0.2M 0.82× –
Ozzie Virgil Jr. 1987 +2.1 +12.7 0.8 +12.0 $0.4M 0.76× –
Rick Mahler 1987 +1.1 +9.2 0.7 +8.5 $0.6M 1.02× –
Ken Griffey Sr. 1987 +1.0 +6.5 1.1 +5.3 $1.2M 0.83× –
Albert Hall 1987 +0.7 +4.9 0.1 +4.7 $0.2M 0.83× –
Gary Roenicke 1987 +0.7 +4.3 0.4 +4.0 $0.6M 0.83× –
Jim Acker 1987 +0.3 +2.7 0.3 +2.4 $1.4M 1.34× –
Doyle Alexander↔ 1987 +0.3 +2.6 0.4 +2.2 $1.2M 1.02× –
Gene Garber↔ 1987 +0.5 +2.8 0.6 +2.2 $1.2M 0.67× –
Jeff Dedmon 1987 +0.3 +1.7 0.3 +1.4 $1.0M 0.67× –
Ken Oberkfell 1987 +0.4 +1.7 0.7 +0.9 $2.0M 0.58× –
Gerald Perry 1987 +0.1 +0.4 0.1 +0.3 $1.7M 0.56× –
Jeff Blauser 1987 -0.0 -0.0 0.1 -0.1 – 0.61× –
Larry McWilliams 1987 +0.1 +0.7 0.9 -0.2 $6.5M 0.67× –
Paul Runge 1987 -0.1 -0.2 0.1 -0.3 – 0.58× –
Ted Simmons 1987 +0.0 +0.0 0.5 -0.5 $59.3M 0.56× –
Tom Glavine 1987 -0.1 -0.4 0.1 -0.5 – 1.02× –
Phil Niekro↔ 1987 -0.1 -0.9 0.0 -0.9 – 1.02× –
Paul Assenmacher 1987 -0.2 -1.0 0.1 -1.0 – 0.67× –
Graig Nettles 1987 -0.2 -0.9 0.2 -1.1 – 0.58× –
Ed Olwine 1987 -0.2 -1.1 0.1 -1.2 – 0.67× –
Darryl Motley 1987 -0.2 -1.3 0.2 -1.5 – 0.83× –
Joe Boever 1987 -0.2 -0.9 0.6 -1.5 – 0.67× –
Bruce Benedict 1987 -0.6 -2.4 0.6 -3.0 – 0.52× –
Rafael Ramirez 1987 -0.5 -2.4 0.9 -3.3 – 0.61× –
Andres Thomas 1987 -1.1 -5.6 0.1 -5.7 – 0.61× –
Chuck Cary 1987 +0.0 +0.1 – – – 0.67× –
Kevin Coffman 1987 -0.1 -0.8 – – – 1.02× –
Marty Clary 1987 -0.0 -0.1 – – – 0.67× –
Mike Fischlin 1987 +0.0 +0.0 – – – 0.56× –
Pete Smith 1987 +0.1 +1.2 – – – 1.02× –
Randy O'Neal↔ 1987 -0.3 -2.1 – – – 1.02× –
Ron Gant 1987 -0.1 -0.7 – – – 0.56× –
Steve Ziem 1987 +0.0 +0.0 – – – 0.67× –
Terry Bell 1987 -0.0 -0.1 – – – 0.52× –
Trench Davis 1987 -0.1 -0.5 – – – 0.83× –
Total—+23.4+289.713.6+279.0—

Trades

Every graded 1987 deal involving the Braves — best expected value first. Surplus is realized value in $M; 9 total.

1987 · ATL / DET
ATL · Bobby Cox +$3.2M
Randy O'Neal, Chuck Cary
DET · Bill Lajoie −$3.2M
Terry Harper, Freddy Tiburcio
ATL came out ahead by $3.2M
1987 · ATL / HOU
ATL · Bobby Cox +$29.6M
Ed Whited, Mike Stoker
HOU · Bill Wood −$29.6M
Rafael Ramírez
ATL came out ahead by $29.6M
1987 · ATL / KCR
ATL · Bobby Cox +$17.6M
Terry Bell
KCR · John Schuerholz −$17.6M
Gene Garber
ATL came out ahead by $17.6M
1987 · TOR / ATL
TOR · Pat Gillick +$12.8M
Craig McMurtry
ATL · Bobby Cox −$12.8M
Dámaso García, Luis Leal
TOR came out ahead by $12.8M
1987 · ATL / ANA
ATL · Bobby Cox +$0.8M
Stan Cliburn
ANA · Mike Port −$0.8M
Joe Redfield
ATL came out ahead by $0.8M
1987 · NYM / ATL
NYM · Frank Cashen +$6.4M
Kevin Brown
ATL · Bobby Cox −$6.4M
Terry Blocker
NYM came out ahead by $6.4M
1987 · ATL / MIL
ATL · Bobby Cox +$9.6M
Dion James
MIL · Harry Dalton −$9.6M
Brad Komminsk
ATL came out ahead by $9.6M
1987 · STL / ATL
STL · Dal Maxvill +$12.0M
Randy O'Neal
ATL · Bobby Cox −$12.0M
Joe Boever
STL came out ahead by $12.0M
1987 · ATL / DET
ATL · Bobby Cox +$505.6M
John Smoltz
DET · Bill Lajoie −$505.6M
Doyle Alexander
ATL came out ahead by $505.6M

Current & Historical Payroll

1987 payroll
$13.8M

What the front office was committed to as of 1987, 1987–1993. 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 (21)

PlayerAgeSvc1987198819891990199119921993
Dale Murphy3111.000$1.9M$2.0M$2.0M$1.3MFREE AGENT
Ken Griffey Sr.3714.000$1.1M$367kFREE AGENT
Larry McWilliams339.000$900kFREE AGENT
Rafael Ramirez297.000$875kFREE AGENT
Ozzie Virgil Jr.307.000$760k$900kFREE AGENT
Ken Oberkfell3110.000$725k$621kFREE AGENT
David Palmer299.000$725kFREE AGENT
Rick Mahler338.000$695k$738kFREE AGENT
Gene Garber3918.000$622kFREE AGENT
Bruce Benedict319.000$615k$665k$395kFREE AGENT
Glenn Hubbard299.000$555kFREE AGENT
Ted Simmons3719.000$500k$470kFREE AGENT
Doyle Alexander3616.000$385kFREE AGENT
Gary Roenicke3211.000$380k$380kFREE AGENT
Graig Nettles4220.000$220kFREE AGENT
Darryl Motley276.000$210kFREE AGENT
Albert Hall296.000$150k$250kFREE AGENT
Charlie Puleo326.000$118k$195kFREE AGENT
Paul Runge296.000$95k$108kFREE AGENT
Phil Niekro4823.000$4kFREE AGENT
Mike Fischlin3110.000—FREE AGENT

Arbitration-eligible (6)

PlayerAgeSvc1987198819891990199119921993
Jim Acker284.000$350kARB 3FREE AGENT
Jeff Dedmon274.000$300kARB 3FREE AGENT
Zane Smith263.000$250kARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Gerald Perry264.000$150kARB 3FREE AGENT
Dion James244.000$120kARB 3FREE AGENT
Randy O'Neal263.000—ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT

Pre-arbitration (14)

PlayerAgeSvc1987198819891990199119921993
Joe Boever262.000$625kARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Paul Assenmacher261.000$80kPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Andres Thomas232.000$75kARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Ed Olwine291.000$70kPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Jeff Blauser210.000$62kPre-ArbPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Tom Glavine210.000$62kPre-ArbPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Terry Bell24–—
Chuck Cary272.000—ARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Marty Clary250.000—Pre-ArbPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Kevin Coffman220.000—Pre-ArbPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Trench Davis26–—
Ron Gant220.000—Pre-ArbPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Pete Smith210.000—Pre-ArbPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Steve Ziem25–—

Graphs

How each 1987 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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