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Braves ATL

199696–66 (0.593)Lost World Series
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GM: John Schuerholz

Overview

Ranks vs the 30 teams in 1996, or a custom range (defaults to every team-season since 1985, when our data starts).

to

Front Office

PoorAverageGreat
Value
Payroll $M
$51M
Surplus $M
-5
Win %
0.593
TAB
+15.1
WAB
+8.5
Roster composition
Roster fWAR
54.6
Dead money %
6%
Depth Players
11.0
Dead WAR
-4.1

Offense

PoorAverageGreat

Pitching & Defense

PoorAverageGreat

Roster

1996 depth chart — stacked by playing time

C

RJavy Lopez135
REddie Pérez54
RJoe Ayrault7

1B

LFred McGriff158
REddie Pérez7
LRyan Klesko2
RMike Mordecai1

2B

BMark Lemke133
RMike Mordecai20
RTony Graffanino18
RRafael Belliard15
LEd Giovanola5

3B

BChipper Jones118
BTerry Pendleton⇄42
RMike Mordecai10
LEd Giovanola6

SS

RJeff Blauser79
RRafael Belliard62
BChipper Jones38
LEd Giovanola25
RMike Mordecai6
BPablo Martinez1

LF

LRyan Klesko144
RJermaine Dye25
RJerome Walton23
LLuis Polonia⇄22
RDanny Bautista⇄6
LDwight Smith3
LTyler Houston⇄1

CF

RMarquis Grissom158
RAndruw Jones12
RJermaine Dye4
RDanny Bautista⇄1
RJerome Walton1

RF

RJermaine Dye71
LDavid Justice40
LDwight Smith26
RAndruw Jones20
RDanny Bautista⇄10
RJerome Walton5
BChipper Jones1

DH

—

Starters

RJohn Smoltz9.0 WAR
RGreg Maddux7.8 WAR
LTom Glavine6.3 WAR
LSteve Avery2.9 WAR
RMike Bielecki0.7 WAR
LTerrell Wade0.3 WAR
LBrad Woodall0.3 WAR
RJason Schmidt⇄0.2 WAR
LDenny Neagle⇄0.2 WAR

Bullpen

★ RMark Wohlers39 sv
RBrad Clontz0 h
RGreg McMichael0 h
LPedro Borbon0 h
RJoe Borowski0 h
LDean Hartgraves⇄0 h
LBrad Woodall0 h
RKevin Lomon0 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 1995)

PlayerfWAR
Mike Bielecki0.7
Jerome Walton0.6
Jermaine Dye0.6
Mark Whiten0.5
Denny Neagle0.2
Carl Schutz0.1

Key subtractions (gone from 1995)

Player1995 fWAR
Kent Mercker1.2
Charlie O'Brien0.9
Mike Devereaux0.5
Alejandro Pena0.3
Darrell May0.1
Terry Clark-0.0

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 1996; everyone else is shown as a 1996 season snapshot.

PlayerPeriodfWARTier Market $MPaid $MSurplus $M$ / WARTierContract
John Smoltz 1996 +9.0 +180.0 6.0 +174.0 $0.7M 2.50× –
Greg Maddux 1996 +7.8 +155.9 6.7 +149.3 $0.9M 2.50× –
Tom Glavine 1996 +6.3 +126.2 5.3 +120.8 $0.8M 2.50× –
Chipper Jones Jr. 1996 +6.3 +72.5 0.8 +71.7 $0.1M 1.43× –
Marquis Grissom 1996 +4.6 +65.7 4.8 +60.8 $1.1M 1.79× –
Ryan Klesko 1996 +3.8 +54.6 0.3 +54.3 $0.1M 1.79× –
Steve Avery 1996 +2.9 +45.1 4.2 +40.9 $1.5M 1.96× –
Mark Wohlers 1996 +2.1 +33.3 1.4 +31.8 $0.7M 1.95× –
Fred McGriff 1996 +2.8 +23.6 5.0 +18.6 $1.8M 1.07× –
David Justice 1996 +2.4 +23.0 6.2 +16.8 $2.6M 1.22× –
Greg McMichael 1996 +1.7 +13.3 0.5 +12.9 $0.3M 0.98× –
Javy Lopez 1996 +2.0 +12.3 0.3 +12.1 $0.1M 0.76× –
Mark Lemke 1996 +1.5 +6.5 1.5 +5.0 $1.0M 0.56× –
Pedro Borbon Jr. 1996 +0.9 +4.7 0.1 +4.5 $0.2M 0.67× –
Jermaine Dye 1996 +0.6 +3.9 0.1 +3.8 $0.2M 0.83× –
Jerome Walton 1996 +0.6 +4.3 0.5 +3.8 $0.8M 0.83× –
Mike Bielecki 1996 +0.7 +3.8 0.1 +3.7 $0.2M 0.67× –
Mark Whiten↔ 1996 +0.5 +3.4 0.2 +3.2 $0.4M 0.83× –
Eddie Pérez 1996 +0.5 +2.0 0.1 +1.8 $0.2M 0.52× –
Terrell Wade 1996 +0.3 +1.7 0.1 +1.6 $0.3M 0.67× –
Denny Neagle↔ 1996 +0.2 +1.8 0.4 +1.4 $1.8M 1.02× –
Jason Schmidt↔ 1996 +0.2 +1.3 0.1 +1.2 $0.5M 1.02× –
Andruw Jones 1996 +0.0 +0.3 0.1 +0.2 $2.6M 0.83× –
Luis Polonia↔ 1996 -0.0 -0.2 0.1 -0.3 – 0.83× –
Jeff Blauser 1996 +0.6 +3.1 3.5 -0.4 $5.6M 0.61× –
Danny Bautista↔ 1996 -0.1 -0.5 0.1 -0.6 – 0.83× –
Dean Hartgraves↔ 1996 -0.1 -0.6 0.1 -0.6 – 0.67× –
Mike Mordecai 1996 -0.2 -0.9 0.1 -1.1 – 0.56× –
Ed Giovanola 1996 -0.3 -1.3 0.1 -1.4 – 0.61× –
Brad Clontz 1996 -0.3 -1.9 0.1 -2.0 – 0.67× –
Joe Borowski 1996 -0.4 -1.9 0.1 -2.0 – 0.67× –
Rafael Belliard 1996 -0.7 -3.6 0.6 -4.2 – 0.61× –
Terry Pendleton↔ 1996 -0.9 -4.1 0.4 -4.5 – 0.58× –
Dwight Smith 1996 -0.9 -5.8 0.5 -6.2 – 0.83× –
Tyler Houston↔ 1996 +0.0 +0.0 0.0 -0.0 $13.9M 0.83× –
Brad Woodall 1996 +0.3 +1.5 – – – 0.67× –
Carl Schutz 1996 +0.1 +0.3 – – – 0.67× –
Joe Ayrault 1996 +0.0 +0.0 – – – 0.52× –
Kevin Lomon 1996 +0.0 +0.0 – – – 0.67× –
Pablo Martinez 1996 -0.0 -0.0 – – – 0.61× –
Tom Thobe 1996 -0.0 -0.2 – – – 0.67× –
Tony Graffanino 1996 -0.2 -0.8 – – – 0.56× –
Total—+54.6+822.350.5+770.9—

Trades

Every graded 1996 deal involving the Braves — best expected value first. Surplus is realized value in $M; 8 total.

1996 · ATL / PIT
ATL · John Schuerholz +$46.4M
Denny Neagle
PIT · Ted Simmons −$46.4M
Ron Wright, Corey Pointer, Jason Schmidt
ATL came out ahead by $46.4M
1996 · MIA / ATL
MIA · Dave Dombrowski +$12.0M
Roosevelt Brown
ATL · John Schuerholz −$12.0M
Terry Pendleton
MIA came out ahead by $12.0M
1996 · CIN / ATL
CIN · Jim Bowden +$4.8M
Mike Kelly
ATL · John Schuerholz −$4.8M
Chad Fox, Ray King
CIN came out ahead by $4.8M
1996 · ATL / MIA
ATL · John Schuerholz +$0.0M
Yorkis Pérez
MIA · Dave Dombrowski +$0.0M
Martin Sanchez
Even trade
1996 · ATL / DET
ATL · John Schuerholz +$2.4M
Danny Bautista
DET · Randy Smith −$2.4M
Anton French
ATL came out ahead by $2.4M
1996 · ATL / NYM
ATL · John Schuerholz +$4.8M
Paul Byrd, Andy Zwirchitz
NYM · Joe McIlvaine −$4.8M
Greg McMichael
ATL came out ahead by $4.8M
1996 · SEA / ATL
SEA · Woody Woodward +$12.0M
Mark Whiten
ATL · John Schuerholz −$12.0M
Roger Blanco
SEA came out ahead by $12.0M
1996 · ATL / CHC
ATL · John Schuerholz +$4.0M
Ismael Villegas
CHC · Ed Lynch −$4.0M
Tyler Houston
ATL came out ahead by $4.0M

Current & Historical Payroll

1996 payroll
$50.7M

What the front office was committed to as of 1996, 1996–2002. 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 (16)

PlayerAgeSvc1996199719981999200020012002
Greg Maddux3010.000$6.7M$6.8M$9.6M$10.6M$11.1M$12.5M$13.1M
David Justice307.000$6.2MFREE AGENT
John Smoltz298.000$6.0M$7.0M$7.8M$7.8MFREE AGENT$8.0M$7.7M
Tom Glavine309.000$5.3M$5.0M$7.0M$7.0M$9.5M$9.5M$8.6M
Fred McGriff3210.000$5.0M$5.5MFREE AGENT
Marquis Grissom297.000$4.8MFREE AGENT
Steve Avery266.000$4.2MFREE AGENT
Jeff Blauser309.000$3.5M$4.0MFREE AGENT
Mark Lemke308.000$1.5M$2.0MFREE AGENT
Rafael Belliard3414.000$575k$250k$250kFREE AGENT
Jerome Walton307.000$500kFREE AGENT
Dwight Smith327.000$455kFREE AGENT
Terry Pendleton3512.000$446kFREE AGENT
Mark Whiten296.000$212kFREE AGENT
Mike Bielecki3612.000$125k$708kFREE AGENT
Luis Polonia329.000$69kFREE AGENT

Arbitration-eligible (8)

PlayerAgeSvc1996199719981999200020012002
Mark Wohlers265.000$1.4MFREE AGENT
Chipper Jones Jr.243.000$825kARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Greg McMichael293.000$460kARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Denny Neagle275.000$383kFREE AGENT
Ryan Klesko254.000$315kARB 3FREE AGENT
Javy Lopez254.000$290kARB 3FREE AGENT
Pedro Borbon Jr.284.000$142kARB 3FREE AGENT
Danny Bautista243.000$75kARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT

Pre-arbitration (18)

PlayerAgeSvc1996199719981999200020012002
Brad Clontz251.000$138kPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Mike Mordecai282.000$135kARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Eddie Pérez281.000$112kPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Joe Borowski251.000$112kPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Jermaine Dye220.000$109kPre-ArbPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Andruw Jones190.000$109kPre-ArbPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Terrell Wade231.000$109kPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Ed Giovanola271.000$109kPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Jason Schmidt231.000$76kPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Dean Hartgraves291.000$67kPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Tyler Houston250.000$46kPre-ArbPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Joe Ayrault24–—
Tony Graffanino240.000—Pre-ArbPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Kevin Lomon24–—
Pablo Martinez27–—
Carl Schutz24–—
Tom Thobe26–—
Brad Woodall272.000—ARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT

Graphs

How each 1996 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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