RRosternomics
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Cubs CHC

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GM: Larry Himes

Overview

CONTEND ↗ rising
expensive & winning · year 1 in this regime · payroll 1.2× league · TAB +3.5
+3.5TAB — talent above budget12th/28
-0.3WAB — realized wins (TAB + luck)14th/28
6.0depth — 2+ WAR regulars16th/28
-2.9dead WAR — sub-replacement drag5th/28
28%dead money %10th/28
0.519win %13th/28
40.0roster fWAR9th/28
-5surplus $M (value vs cost)13th/28
$38Mpayroll $M9th/28

Roster

CFWillie Wilson 82GSammy Sosa 70GDwight Smith 53G
LFDerrick May 121GGlenallen Hill 27GKevin Roberson 14G
RFSammy Sosa 114GKevin Roberson 42GGlenallen Hill 34G
SSRey Sanchez 97GJose Vizcaino 81GShawon Dunston 2G
2BRyne Sandberg 115GJose Vizcaino 34GEric Yelding 32G
3BSteve Buechele 129GJose Vizcaino 43GTommy Shields 7G
1BMark Grace 154GDoug Jennings 10GSteve Buechele 6G
STARTERSMike Morgan 2.3WARGreg Hibbard 1.9WARJose Guzman 1.9WARMike Harkey 1.1WARJose Bautista 0.9WAR
CRick Wilkins 133GSteve Lake 41GMatt Walbeck 11G
BULLPEN★ Randy Myers 53svBob Scanlan 0hDan Plesac 0hChuck McElroy 0hShawn Boskie 0hJim Bullinger 0hWilliam Brennan 0hTurk Wendell 0h
CRick Wilkins 133 · Steve Lake 41 · Matt Walbeck 11
1BMark Grace 154 · Doug Jennings 10 · Steve Buechele 6
2BRyne Sandberg 115 · Jose Vizcaino 34 · Eric Yelding 32
3BSteve Buechele 129 · Jose Vizcaino 43 · Tommy Shields 7
SSRey Sanchez 97 · Jose Vizcaino 81 · Shawon Dunston 2
LFDerrick May 121 · Glenallen Hill 27 · Kevin Roberson 14
CFWillie Wilson 82 · Sammy Sosa 70 · Dwight Smith 53
RFSammy Sosa 114 · Kevin Roberson 42 · Glenallen Hill 34
SPMike Morgan 2.3 · Greg Hibbard 1.9 · Jose Guzman 1.9 · Mike Harkey 1.1 · Jose Bautista 0.9
BP★ Randy Myers 53 · Bob Scanlan 0 · Dan Plesac 0 · Chuck McElroy 0 · Shawn Boskie 0 · Jim Bullinger 0 · William Brennan 0 · Turk Wendell 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.

1993 roster — value & surplus

PlayerAgeServiceGfWARSalary $MSurplus $M
Rick Wilkins 26 pre-arb 1366.7 0.2 +5.2
Mark Grace 29 arb 1554.9 3.1 +1.0
Sammy Sosa 24 arb 1594.6 0.7 +3.0
Steve Buechele 31 FA-elig 1333.6 2.9 +0.0
Ryne Sandberg 33 FA-elig 1172.4 6.0 -4.0
Mike Morgan 33 FA-elig 322.3 3.4 -1.5
Jose Guzman 30 FA-elig 301.9 3.5 -1.9
Greg Hibbard 28 arb 321.9 1.4 +0.1
Jose Vizcaino 25 arb 1511.8 0.2 +1.2
Randy Myers 30 FA-elig 741.7 3.8 -2.4
Dwight Smith 29 arb 1111.7 0.7 +0.7
Rey Sanchez 25 pre-arb 1051.6 0.2 +1.1
Glenallen Hill↔ CLE 28 arb 311.6 0.3 +1.0
Mike Harkey 26 arb 281.1 0.4 +0.5
Derrick May 24 arb 1280.9 0.2 +0.5
Jose Bautista 28 arb 600.9 0.2 +0.6
Frank Castillo 24 pre-arb 290.9 0.2 +0.5
Turk Wendell 26 – 70.6 – –
Karl Rhodes↔ HOU 24 arb 150.5 0.1 +0.3
Steve Lake 36 FA-elig 440.4 0.3 +0.0
Bob Scanlan 26 pre-arb 700.3 0.2 +0.0
Paul Assenmacher↔ NYY 32 FA-elig 460.3 1.7 -1.5
Steve Trachsel 22 pre-arb 30.2 0.1 +0.0
Heathcliff Slocumb↔ CLE 27 pre-arb 100.1 0.1 +0.0
Shawn Boskie 26 arb 390.1 0.2 -0.1
Shawon Dunston 30 FA-elig 70.0 3.4 -3.4
William Brennan 30 – 80.0 – –
Jim Bullinger 27 pre-arb 150.0 0.1 -0.1
Doug Jennings 28 – 420.0 – –
Willie Wilson 37 FA-elig 105-0.0 0.7 -0.7
Eric Yelding 28 arb 69-0.1 0.2 -0.3
Eduardo Zambrano 27 – 8-0.1 – –
Chuck McElroy 25 arb 49-0.1 0.3 -0.4
Matt Walbeck 23 pre-arb 11-0.1 0.1 -0.2
Tommy Shields 28 pre-arb 20-0.2 0.1 -0.3
Dan Plesac 31 FA-elig 57-0.2 1.7 -1.8
Candy Maldonado↔ CLE 32 FA-elig 70-1.0 1.2 -2.0
Kevin Roberson 25 – 62-1.1 – –

Key additions (new vs 1992)

PlayerfWAR
Jose Guzman1.9
Greg Hibbard1.9
Randy Myers1.7
Glenallen Hill1.6
Jose Bautista0.9
Turk Wendell0.6

Key subtractions (gone from 1992)

Player1992 fWAR
Greg Maddux7.2
Andre Dawson2.7
Danny Jackson0.8
Joe Girardi0.4
Alex Arias0.3
Dave Smith0.1

Current & Historical Payroll

1993 payroll
$38.0M

What the front office was committed to as of 1993, 1993–1999. 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 (11)

PlayerAgeSvc1993199419951996199719981999
Ryne Sandberg3312.000$6.0M$6.0MFREE AGENT$2.3M$3.2M
Randy Myers308.000$3.8M$3.6M$4.2MFREE AGENT
Jose Guzman308.000$3.5M$3.5MFREE AGENT
Mike Morgan3315.000$3.4M$3.4M$2.7MFREE AGENT$1.0M
Shawon Dunston308.000$3.4M$2.4M$3.8MFREE AGENT$2.0M
Steve Buechele318.000$2.9M$2.5MFREE AGENT
Paul Assenmacher327.000$1.7MFREE AGENT
Dan Plesac317.000$1.7M$1.7MFREE AGENT
Candy Maldonado3212.000$1.2MFREE AGENT
Willie Wilson3717.000$700k$700kFREE AGENT
Steve Lake3610.000$275kFREE AGENT

Arbitration-eligible (15)

PlayerAgeSvc1993199419951996199719981999
Mark Grace295.000$3.1MFREE AGENT
Greg Hibbard284.000$1.4MARB 3FREE AGENT
Sammy Sosa244.000$745kARB 3FREE AGENT
Dwight Smith294.000$680kARB 3FREE AGENT
Mike Harkey265.000$398kFREE AGENT
Chuck McElroy254.000$312kARB 3FREE AGENT
Glenallen Hill284.000$312kARB 3FREE AGENT
Jose Vizcaino254.000$235kARB 3FREE AGENT
Eric Yelding284.000$225kARB 3FREE AGENT
Derrick May243.000$212kARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Shawn Boskie263.000$210kARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Jose Bautista285.000$155kFREE AGENT
Karl Rhodes243.000$88kARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
William Brennan305.000—FREE AGENT
Doug Jennings285.000—FREE AGENT

Pre-arbitration (12)

PlayerAgeSvc1993199419951996199719981999
Frank Castillo242.000$250kARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Bob Scanlan262.000$245kARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Rick Wilkins262.000$212kARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Rey Sanchez252.000$180kARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Jim Bullinger271.000$145kPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Tommy Shields281.000$130kPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Steve Trachsel220.000$109kPre-ArbPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Matt Walbeck230.000$109kPre-ArbPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Heathcliff Slocumb272.000$55kARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Kevin Roberson250.000—Pre-ArbPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Turk Wendell260.000—Pre-ArbPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Eduardo Zambrano270.000—Pre-ArbPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT

Graphs

Every roster slot ranked best→worst by WAR. Bars = Cubs 1993; 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.