RRosternomics
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Cubs CHC

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GM: Ed Lynch

Overview

REBUILD ↘ cooling
cheap & losing · year 1 in this regime · payroll 0.93× league · TAB -0.0
-0.0TAB — talent above budget13th/28
+1.0WAB — realized wins (TAB + luck)11th/28
7.0depth — 2+ WAR regulars8th/28
-5.4dead WAR — sub-replacement drag16th/28
48%dead money %26th/28
0.507win %12th/28
29.6roster fWAR11th/28
-2surplus $M (value vs cost)14th/28
$31Mpayroll $M20th/28

Roster

CFBrian McRae 137GScott Bullett 12GLuis Gonzalez 6G
LFLuis Gonzalez 129GScott Bullett 54GOzzie Timmons 49G
RFSammy Sosa 143GOzzie Timmons 6GKevin Roberson 1G
SSShawon Dunston 125GJosé Hernández 43GRey Sanchez 4G
2BRey Sanchez 111GJosé Hernández 29GTodd Haney 17G
3BTodd Zeile 75GHoward Johnson 34GJosé Hernández 20G
1BMark Grace 143GTodd Zeile 35GHoward Johnson 3G
STARTERSJaime Navarro 3.5WARFrank Castillo 2.4WARJim Bullinger 1.5WARKevin Foster 1.3WARSteve Trachsel 1.1WAR
CScott Servais 80GMark Parent 77GTodd Pratt 25G
BULLPEN★ Randy Myers 38svMike Perez 0hTurk Wendell 0hLarry Casian 0hMike Walker 0hChris Nabholz 0hAnthony Young 0hTerry Adams 0h
CScott Servais 80 · Mark Parent 77 · Todd Pratt 25
1BMark Grace 143 · Todd Zeile 35 · Howard Johnson 3
2BRey Sanchez 111 · José Hernández 29 · Todd Haney 17
3BTodd Zeile 75 · Howard Johnson 34 · José Hernández 20
SSShawon Dunston 125 · José Hernández 43 · Rey Sanchez 4
LFLuis Gonzalez 129 · Scott Bullett 54 · Ozzie Timmons 49
CFBrian McRae 137 · Scott Bullett 12 · Luis Gonzalez 6
RFSammy Sosa 143 · Ozzie Timmons 6 · Kevin Roberson 1
SPJaime Navarro 3.5 · Frank Castillo 2.4 · Jim Bullinger 1.5 · Kevin Foster 1.3 · Steve Trachsel 1.1
BP★ Randy Myers 38 · Mike Perez 0 · Turk Wendell 0 · Larry Casian 0 · Mike Walker 0 · Chris Nabholz 0 · Anthony Young 0 · Terry Adams 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.

1995 roster — value & surplus

PlayerAgeServiceGfWARSalary $MSurplus $M
Sammy Sosa 26 FA-elig 1445.2 4.3 +0.7
Mark Grace 31 FA-elig 1434.7 4.4 +0.1
Brian McRae 27 arb 1373.6 2.6 +0.8
Jaime Navarro 28 FA-elig 293.5 1.3 +2.0
Frank Castillo 26 arb 292.4 0.2 +2.1
Luis Gonzalez↔ HOU 27 arb 772.1 0.9 +1.2
Scott Servais↔ HOU 28 arb 522.0 0.2 +1.7
Jim Bullinger 29 arb 251.5 0.2 +1.3
Kevin Foster 26 pre-arb 331.3 0.1 +1.1
José Hernández 25 arb 931.1 0.1 +1.0
Steve Trachsel 24 pre-arb 301.1 0.2 +0.9
Rick Wilkins↔ HOU 28 arb 500.9 1.1 -0.3
Ozzie Timmons 24 pre-arb 770.8 0.1 +0.7
Todd Haney 29 arb 250.7 0.1 +0.6
Scott Bullett 26 arb 1040.7 0.1 +0.6
Shawon Dunston 32 FA-elig 1270.5 3.8 -3.3
Randy Myers 32 FA-elig 570.4 4.2 -3.8
Mark Parent↔ PIT 33 FA-elig 120.4 0.0 +0.3
Joe Kmak 32 pre-arb 190.4 0.1 +0.2
Mike Morgan↔ STL 35 FA-elig 40.3 0.6 -0.3
Bryan Hickerson↔ COL 31 arb 380.3 0.3 +0.0
Rey Sanchez 27 arb 1140.3 0.7 -0.4
Terry Adams 22 pre-arb 180.3 0.1 +0.1
Rich Garces↔ MIA 24 arb 70.1 0.0 +0.1
Mike Perez 30 arb 680.1 0.3 -0.3
Dave Swartzbaugh 27 – 70.1 – –
Kevin Roberson 27 – 320.1 – –
Mike Walker 28 FA-elig 420.0 0.1 -0.1
Tom Edens 34 – 5-0.0 – –
Matt Franco 25 pre-arb 16-0.0 0.1 -0.1
Roberto Rivera 26 pre-arb 7-0.1 0.1 -0.2
Larry Casian 29 arb 42-0.1 0.2 -0.2
Tanyon Sturtze 24 – 2-0.1 – –
Anthony Young 29 arb 32-0.1 0.4 -0.5
Mike Hubbard 24 pre-arb 15-0.2 0.1 -0.3
Steve Buechele↔ TEX 33 – 32-0.2 – –
Chris Nabholz 28 arb 34-0.2 0.3 -0.5
Karl Rhodes↔ BOS 26 – 13-0.3 – –
Turk Wendell 28 pre-arb 43-0.4 0.1 -0.5
Todd Pratt 28 arb 25-0.6 0.2 -0.8
Willie Banks↔ LAD 26 arb 10-0.7 0.1 -0.7
Howard Johnson 34 FA-elig 87-1.2 0.3 -1.5
Todd Zeile↔ STL 29 FA-elig 79-1.3 2.6 -3.8

Key additions (new vs 1994)

PlayerfWAR
Brian McRae3.6
Jaime Navarro3.5
Luis Gonzalez2.1
Scott Servais2.0
Ozzie Timmons0.8
Scott Bullett0.7

Key subtractions (gone from 1994)

Player1994 fWAR
Glenallen Hill1.2
Ryne Sandberg0.9
Eduardo Zambrano0.8
Derrick May0.8
Dan Plesac0.3
Mike Maksudian0.1

Current & Historical Payroll

1995 payroll
$31.0M

What the front office was committed to as of 1995, 1995–2001. 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 (12)

PlayerAgeSvc1995199619971998199920002001
Mark Grace317.000$4.4M$4.2M$4.5M$4.2M$4.1M$5.3MFREE AGENT
Sammy Sosa266.000$4.3M$4.8M$5.5M$8.3M$9.0M$11.0M$12.5M
Randy Myers3210.000$4.2MFREE AGENT
Shawon Dunston3210.000$3.8MFREE AGENT$2.0M
Todd Zeile296.000$2.6MFREE AGENT
Jaime Navarro286.000$1.3M$3.6MFREE AGENT
Mike Morgan3517.000$643kFREE AGENT$1.0M
Howard Johnson3413.000$325kFREE AGENT
Mike Walker287.000$125kFREE AGENT
Mark Parent339.000$49kFREE AGENT
Steve Buechele3310.000—FREE AGENT
Tom Edens348.000—FREE AGENT

Arbitration-eligible (19)

PlayerAgeSvc1995199619971998199920002001
Brian McRae275.000$2.6MFREE AGENT
Rick Wilkins284.000$1.1MARB 3FREE AGENT
Luis Gonzalez275.000$868kFREE AGENT
Rey Sanchez274.000$675kARB 3FREE AGENT
Anthony Young294.000$380kARB 3FREE AGENT
Mike Perez305.000$340kFREE AGENT
Chris Nabholz285.000$300kFREE AGENT
Bryan Hickerson314.000$271kARB 3FREE AGENT
Frank Castillo264.000$250kARB 3FREE AGENT
Scott Servais284.000$221kARB 3FREE AGENT
Todd Pratt283.000$215kARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Jim Bullinger293.000$188kARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Larry Casian295.000$160kFREE AGENT
José Hernández254.000$135kARB 3FREE AGENT
Scott Bullett264.000$115kARB 3FREE AGENT
Todd Haney293.000$109kARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Willie Banks264.000$86kARB 3FREE AGENT
Rich Garces245.000$42kFREE AGENT
Karl Rhodes265.000—FREE AGENT

Pre-arbitration (12)

PlayerAgeSvc1995199619971998199920002001
Steve Trachsel242.000$180kARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Kevin Foster262.000$140kARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Joe Kmak322.000$130kARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Turk Wendell282.000$112kARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Terry Adams220.000$109kPre-ArbPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Roberto Rivera260.000$109kPre-ArbPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Mike Hubbard240.000$109kPre-ArbPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Matt Franco250.000$109kPre-ArbPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Ozzie Timmons240.000$109kPre-ArbPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Kevin Roberson272.000—ARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Tanyon Sturtze240.000—Pre-ArbPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Dave Swartzbaugh270.000—Pre-ArbPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT

Graphs

Every roster slot ranked best→worst by WAR. Bars = Cubs 1995; 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.