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Orioles BAL

199798–64 (0.605)Made Playoffs
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GM: Pat Gillick

Overview

Ranks vs the 30 teams in 1997, or a custom range (defaults to every team-season since 1985, when our data starts).

to

Front Office

PoorAverageGreat
Value
Payroll $M
$61M
Surplus $M
-16
Win %
0.605
TAB
+3.8
WAB
+10.5
Roster composition
Roster fWAR
43.3
Dead money %
12%
Depth Players
10.0
Dead WAR
-3.0

Offense

PoorAverageGreat

Pitching & Defense

PoorAverageGreat

Roster

1997 depth chart — stacked by playing time

C

RLenny Webster97
RChris Hoiles87
RTim Laker7
RCharlie Greene4
BMel Rosario4

1B

LRafael Palmeiro155
RAaron Ledesma5
RJerome Walton5
RChris Hoiles4
LB.J. Surhoff3

2B

BRoberto Alomar109
RJeff Reboulet63
RAaron Ledesma22

3B

RCal Ripken Jr.162
RJeff Reboulet12
RAaron Ledesma11
LB.J. Surhoff3
RChris Hoiles1

SS

RMike Bordick153
RJeff Reboulet22
RAaron Ledesma4
RCal Ripken Jr.3

LF

LB.J. Surhoff133
RJeffrey Hammonds31
RJerome Walton9
LTony Tarasco7
RPete Incaviglia⇄4
LDavid Dellucci3
RDanny Clyburn1

CF

LBrady Anderson124
RJeffrey Hammonds40
LTony Tarasco8
RJerome Walton2

RF

LTony Tarasco68
RJeffrey Hammonds54
RGerónimo Berroa⇄47
REric Davis30
RPete Incaviglia⇄14
RJerome Walton11
LDavid Dellucci6
RJeff Reboulet1

DH

LHarold Baines⇄44
RGerónimo Berroa⇄36
LBrady Anderson24
REric Davis12
LB.J. Surhoff9
RChris Hoiles8
LRafael Palmeiro3
LDavid Dellucci2
RJeffrey Hammonds1
RJerome Walton1

Starters

RMike Mussina5.5 WAR
RScott Erickson4.7 WAR
LJimmy Key2.7 WAR
RScott Kamieniecki2.2 WAR
LRick Krivda0.5 WAR
RNerio Rodriguez0.2 WAR
RRocky Coppinger0.1 WAR
RShawn Boskie0.0 WAR
REsteban Yan-0.3 WAR
RMike Johnson⇄-0.6 WAR

Bullpen

★ LRandy Myers45 sv
RArmando Benitez0 h
LJesse Orosco0 h
RTerry Mathews0 h
LArthur Rhodes0 h
RAlan Mills0 h
RBrian Williams0 h
RNerio Rodriguez0 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 1996)

PlayerfWAR
Jimmy Key2.7
Scott Kamieniecki2.2
Eric Davis1.1
Mike Bordick1.1
Lenny Webster0.9
Aaron Ledesma0.8

Key subtractions (gone from 1996)

Player1996 fWAR
David Wells3.4
Bobby Bonilla1.0
Mark Smith0.5
Todd Zeile0.4
Mike Milchin0.2
Brent Bowers0.2

Contract Value

WAR translated into tier-adjusted market value, then compared with what the player was paid by Orioles. Guaranteed contracts from the 2015-present contract-data period use the known contract period through 1997; everyone else is shown as a 1997 season snapshot.

PlayerPeriodfWARTier Market $MPaid $MSurplus $M$ / WARTierContract
Mike Mussina 1997 +5.5 +109.3 6.8 +102.5 $1.3M 2.50× –
Scott Erickson 1997 +4.7 +82.4 3.3 +79.1 $0.7M 2.19× –
Jimmy Key 1997 +2.7 +42.6 2.3 +40.3 $0.9M 1.96× –
Brady Anderson 1997 +3.4 +43.0 4.0 +39.0 $1.2M 1.60× –
B.J. Surhoff 1997 +3.0 +38.0 1.6 +36.4 $0.5M 1.60× –
Randy Myers 1997 +2.0 +31.8 4.0 +27.9 $1.9M 1.95× –
Roberto Alomar 1997 +3.6 +34.3 6.4 +27.9 $1.8M 1.20× –
Armando Benitez 1997 +1.7 +26.2 0.3 +26.0 $0.2M 1.95× –
Scott Kamieniecki 1997 +2.2 +26.3 1.5 +24.7 $0.7M 1.49× –
Rafael Palmeiro 1997 +3.3 +28.1 5.3 +22.8 $1.6M 1.07× –
Jeffrey Hammonds 1997 +1.8 +17.3 0.5 +16.8 $0.3M 1.22× –
Arthur Rhodes 1997 +1.9 +15.0 1.6 +13.4 $0.8M 0.98× –
Chris Hoiles 1997 +2.2 +13.1 3.6 +9.5 $1.7M 0.76× –
Eric Davis 1997 +1.1 +7.4 2.2 +5.2 $2.0M 0.83× –
Cal Ripken Jr. 1997 +1.6 +10.7 6.8 +3.9 $4.3M 0.85× –
Rick Krivda 1997 +0.5 +3.7 0.1 +3.6 $0.3M 1.02× –
Lenny Webster 1997 +0.9 +3.8 0.4 +3.3 $0.5M 0.52× –
Aaron Ledesma 1997 +0.8 +3.4 0.1 +3.2 $0.2M 0.56× –
Mike Bordick 1997 +1.1 +5.4 2.3 +3.0 $2.1M 0.61× –
Jeff Reboulet 1997 +0.7 +3.1 0.2 +2.9 $0.3M 0.56× –
Tony Tarasco 1997 +0.4 +2.5 0.3 +2.2 $0.7M 0.83× –
Jerome Walton 1997 +0.2 +1.4 0.4 +1.0 $1.8M 0.83× –
Rocky Coppinger 1997 +0.1 +1.0 0.2 +0.8 $1.5M 1.02× –
Harold Baines↔ 1997 +0.2 +1.3 0.6 +0.7 $2.6M 0.69× –
Jesse Orosco 1997 +0.2 +0.9 1.1 -0.2 $6.6M 0.67× –
Shawn Boskie 1997 +0.0 +0.2 0.7 -0.4 $14.8M 0.67× –
Pete Incaviglia↔ 1997 -0.2 -1.6 0.6 -2.2 – 0.83× –
Terry Mathews 1997 -0.3 -1.8 0.7 -2.5 – 0.67× –
Alan Mills 1997 -0.4 -2.3 0.8 -3.2 – 0.67× –
Mike Johnson↔ 1997 -0.6 -3.4 0.1 -3.5 – 0.67× –
Geronimo Berroa↔ 1997 -0.4 -2.8 1.8 -4.6 – 0.83× –
Brian Williams 1997 +0.1 +0.5 – – – 0.67× –
Charlie Greene 1997 -0.0 -0.2 – – – 0.52× –
Danny Clyburn 1997 -0.1 -0.5 – – – 0.83× –
David Dellucci 1997 +0.4 +2.5 – – – 0.83× –
Esteban Yan 1997 -0.3 -2.1 – – – 1.02× –
Mel Rosario 1997 -0.2 -0.7 – – – 0.52× –
Nerio Rodriguez 1997 +0.2 +1.2 – – – 0.67× –
Tim Laker 1997 -0.4 -1.6 – – – 0.52× –
Total—+43.6+539.460.6+479.5—

Trades

Every graded 1997 deal involving the Orioles — best expected value first. Surplus is realized value in $M; 5 total.

1997 · NYM / BAL
NYM · Joe McIlvaine +$3.2M
Manny Alexander, Scott McClain
BAL · Pat Gillick −$3.2M
Héctor Ramírez
NYM came out ahead by $3.2M
1997 · BAL / WSN
BAL · Pat Gillick +$8.8M
Everett Stull
WSN · Jim Beattie −$8.8M
Mike Johnson
BAL came out ahead by $8.8M
1997 · CHW / BAL
CHW · Ron Schueler +$4.0M
Juan Bautista
BAL · Pat Gillick −$4.0M
Harold Baines
CHW came out ahead by $4.0M
1997 · OAK / BAL
OAK · Sandy Alderson +$33.6M
Jimmy Haynes, Mark Seaver
BAL · Pat Gillick −$33.6M
Gerónimo Berroa
OAK came out ahead by $33.6M
1997 · SDP / BAL
SDP · Kevin Towers +$0.0M
Mark Smith
BAL · Pat Gillick +$0.0M
Leroy McKinnis
Even trade

Current & Historical Payroll

1997 payroll
$60.8M

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 (24)

PlayerAgeSvc1997199819992000200120022003
Cal Ripken Jr.3616.000$6.8M$6.4M$6.5M$6.3M$6.3MFREE AGENT
Mike Mussina286.000$6.8M$6.8M$6.6M$6.8MFREE AGENT
Roberto Alomar299.000$6.4M$6.3MFREE AGENT
Rafael Palmeiro3211.000$5.3M$6.5MFREE AGENT
Brady Anderson339.000$4.0M$5.4M$5.7M$7.1M$7.2MFREE AGENT
Randy Myers3412.000$4.0MFREE AGENT
Chris Hoiles328.000$3.6M$3.6MFREE AGENT
Scott Erickson297.000$3.3M$3.7M$6.1M$6.6MFREE AGENT$5.1M
Jimmy Key3613.000$2.3M$5.4MFREE AGENT
Mike Bordick317.000$2.3M$3.6M$3.1M$1.9M$4.5M$4.9MFREE AGENT
Eric Davis3513.000$2.2M$2.5MFREE AGENT
Geronimo Berroa328.000$1.8MFREE AGENT
B.J. Surhoff3210.000$1.6M$1.7M$3.7M$2.9MFREE AGENT$1.0M
Arthur Rhodes276.000$1.6M$2.9M$2.2MFREE AGENT
Scott Kamieniecki336.000$1.5M$2.9M$3.4MFREE AGENT
Jesse Orosco4018.000$1.1M$1.1M$800kFREE AGENT
Alan Mills307.000$850k$1.0MFREE AGENT$1.3M$3.0M
Terry Mathews326.000$685k$865kFREE AGENT
Shawn Boskie307.000$660kFREE AGENT
Harold Baines3817.000$618k$1.3M$1.4M$1.5MFREE AGENT
Pete Incaviglia3311.000$589kFREE AGENT
Lenny Webster328.000$425k$740k$553kFREE AGENT
Jerome Walton318.000$385kFREE AGENT
Brian Williams286.000—FREE AGENT

Arbitration-eligible (5)

PlayerAgeSvc1997199819992000200120022003
Jeffrey Hammonds264.000$490kARB 3FREE AGENT
Armando Benitez243.000$275kARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Tony Tarasco264.000$270kARB 3FREE AGENT
Jeff Reboulet335.000$200kFREE AGENT
Tim Laker275.000—FREE AGENT

Pre-arbitration (10)

PlayerAgeSvc1997199819992000200120022003
Rocky Coppinger231.000$185kPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Rick Krivda272.000$150kARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Aaron Ledesma262.000$150kARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Mike Johnson210.000$84kPre-ArbPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Danny Clyburn230.000—Pre-ArbPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
David Dellucci230.000—Pre-ArbPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Charlie Greene26–—
Nerio Rodriguez261.000—Pre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Mel Rosario24–—
Esteban Yan221.000—Pre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT

Graphs

How each 1997 acquisition stacked onto Orioles'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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