RRosternomics
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Cubs CHC

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GM: Jim Frey

Overview

FORCED-SPEND ↘ cooling
expensive & losing · year 1 in this regime · payroll 1.01× league · TAB -1.3
-1.3TAB — talent above budget14th/26
-4.0WAB — realized wins (TAB + luck)17th/26
5.0depth — 2+ WAR regulars21st/26
-3.8dead WAR — sub-replacement drag7th/26
26%dead money %11th/26
0.481win %18th/26
32.6roster fWAR15th/26
-10surplus $M (value vs cost)20th/26
$23Mpayroll $M12th/26

Roster

CFJerome Walton 100GDoug Dascenzo 59GChico Walker 36G
LFGeorge Bell 146GDoug Dascenzo 32GCed Landrum 25G
RFAndre Dawson 137GDwight Smith 28GDoug Dascenzo 15G
SSShawon Dunston 142GJose Vizcaino 33GRey Sanchez 10G
2BRyne Sandberg 157GJose Vizcaino 9GChico Walker 6G
3BLuis Salazar 86GChico Walker 57GJose Vizcaino 57G
1BMark Grace 160GLuis Salazar 7GHector Villanueva 6G
STARTERSGreg Maddux 6.3WARFrank Castillo 2.5WARLes Lancaster 1.6WARRick Sutcliffe 1.2WARBob Scanlan 0.8WAR
CRick Wilkins 82GHector Villanueva 55GJoe Girardi 21G
BULLPEN★ Dave Smith 17svPaul Assenmacher 0hChuck McElroy 0hHeathcliff Slocumb 0hLaddie Renfroe 0hMike Harkey 0hDoug Dascenzo 0hYorkis Perez 0h
CRick Wilkins 82 · Hector Villanueva 55 · Joe Girardi 21
1BMark Grace 160 · Luis Salazar 7 · Hector Villanueva 6
2BRyne Sandberg 157 · Jose Vizcaino 9 · Chico Walker 6
3BLuis Salazar 86 · Chico Walker 57 · Jose Vizcaino 57
SSShawon Dunston 142 · Jose Vizcaino 33 · Rey Sanchez 10
LFGeorge Bell 146 · Doug Dascenzo 32 · Ced Landrum 25
CFJerome Walton 100 · Doug Dascenzo 59 · Chico Walker 36
RFAndre Dawson 137 · Dwight Smith 28 · Doug Dascenzo 15
SPGreg Maddux 6.3 · Frank Castillo 2.5 · Les Lancaster 1.6 · Rick Sutcliffe 1.2 · Bob Scanlan 0.8
BP★ Dave Smith 17 · Paul Assenmacher 0 · Chuck McElroy 0 · Heathcliff Slocumb 0 · Laddie Renfroe 0 · Mike Harkey 0 · Doug Dascenzo 0 · Yorkis Perez 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.

1991 roster — value & surplus

PlayerAgeServiceGfWARSalary $MSurplus $M
Ryne Sandberg 31 – 1586.4 – –
Greg Maddux 25 arb 396.3 2.4 +1.3
Andre Dawson 36 FA-elig 1492.5 3.3 -1.8
Frank Castillo 22 – 182.5 – –
Paul Assenmacher 30 arb 752.3 1.1 +0.2
Hector Villanueva 26 pre-arb 711.9 0.1 +1.0
George Bell 31 FA-elig 1491.7 2.1 -1.2
Mark Grace 27 arb 1601.7 1.2 -0.2
Les Lancaster 29 arb 641.6 0.6 +0.4
Shawon Dunston 28 FA-elig 1421.5 2.1 -1.2
Luis Salazar 35 FA-elig 1031.2 0.6 +0.1
Rick Sutcliffe 35 FA-elig 201.2 2.3 -1.6
Rick Wilkins 24 – 861.1 – –
Jerome Walton 25 pre-arb 1231.0 0.2 +0.4
Bob Scanlan 24 – 400.8 – –
Chuck McElroy 23 pre-arb 710.8 0.1 +0.4
Mike Bielecki↔ ATL 31 FA-elig 390.6 0.8 -0.4
Shawn Boskie 24 pre-arb 300.6 0.1 +0.2
Rey Sanchez 23 – 130.3 – –
Mike Harkey 24 arb 40.3 0.2 -0.1
Yorkis Perez 23 – 30.1 – –
Ced Landrum 27 – 560.1 – –
Heathcliff Slocumb 25 pre-arb 520.1 0.1 -0.1
Derrick May 22 – 150.0 – –
Steve Wilson↔ LAD 26 arb 90.0 0.1 -0.1
Scott May 29 – 20.0 – –
Jose Vizcaino 23 pre-arb 93-0.0 0.1 -0.1
Doug Dascenzo 27 arb 118-0.0 0.2 -0.2
Doug Strange 27 – 3-0.0 – –
Dave Pavlas 28 – 1-0.1 – –
Chico Walker 33 – 124-0.1 – –
Laddie Renfroe 29 – 4-0.1 – –
Erik Pappas 25 pre-arb 7-0.1 0.1 -0.2
Joe Girardi 26 pre-arb 21-0.2 0.2 -0.3
Dwight Smith 27 pre-arb 90-0.4 0.2 -0.4
Gary Scott 22 – 31-0.5 – –
Damon Berryhill↔ ATL 27 arb 62-0.5 0.2 -0.5
Danny Jackson 29 FA-elig 17-0.6 2.6 -3.0
Dave Smith 36 FA-elig 35-1.2 1.9 -2.6

Key additions (new vs 1990)

PlayerfWAR
Frank Castillo2.5
George Bell1.7
Rick Wilkins1.1
Bob Scanlan0.8
Chuck McElroy0.8
Rey Sanchez0.3

Key subtractions (gone from 1990)

Player1990 fWAR
Jeff Pico0.7
Jose Antonio Nunez0.3
Kevin Blankenship-0.0
Lance Dickson-0.0
Kevin Coffman-0.1
Gary Varsho-0.1

Current & Historical Payroll

1991 payroll
$23.0M

What the front office was committed to as of 1991, 1991–1997. 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 (10)

PlayerAgeSvc1991199219931994199519961997
Andre Dawson3615.000$3.3M$3.3MFREE AGENT
Danny Jackson298.000$2.6M$1.5MFREE AGENT
Rick Sutcliffe3515.000$2.3MFREE AGENT
George Bell3110.000$2.1MFREE AGENT
Shawon Dunston286.000$2.1M$2.5M$3.4M$2.4M$3.8MFREE AGENT$2.0M
Dave Smith3611.000$1.9M$2.5MFREE AGENT
Mike Bielecki317.000$770kFREE AGENT
Luis Salazar3511.000$575k$600kFREE AGENT
Ryne Sandberg3110.000—$2.1M$6.0M$6.0MFREE AGENT$2.3M$3.2M
Chico Walker3311.000—$234kFREE AGENT

Arbitration-eligible (8)

PlayerAgeSvc1991199219931994199519961997
Greg Maddux255.000$2.4MFREE AGENT
Mark Grace273.000$1.2MARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Paul Assenmacher305.000$1.1MFREE AGENT
Les Lancaster294.000$550kARB 3FREE AGENT
Damon Berryhill274.000$226kARB 3FREE AGENT
Mike Harkey243.000$220kARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Doug Dascenzo273.000$165kARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Steve Wilson263.000$92kARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT

Pre-arbitration (21)

PlayerAgeSvc1991199219931994199519961997
Dwight Smith272.000$226kARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Joe Girardi262.000$225kARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Jerome Walton252.000$210kARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Shawn Boskie241.000$130kPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Hector Villanueva261.000$120kPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Jose Vizcaino232.000$114kARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Chuck McElroy232.000$111kARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Erik Pappas250.000$100kPre-ArbPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Heathcliff Slocumb250.000$100kPre-ArbPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Frank Castillo220.000—Pre-ArbPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Ced Landrum27–—
Derrick May221.000—Pre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Scott May29–—
Dave Pavlas281.000—Pre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Yorkis Perez230.000—Pre-ArbPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Laddie Renfroe29–—
Rey Sanchez230.000—Pre-ArbPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Bob Scanlan240.000—Pre-ArbPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Gary Scott220.000—Pre-ArbPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Doug Strange272.000—ARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Rick Wilkins240.000—Pre-ArbPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT

Graphs

Every roster slot ranked best→worst by WAR. Bars = Cubs 1991; 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.