RRosternomics
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White Sox CHW

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GM: Ron Schueler

Overview

REBUILD ↘ cooling
cheap & losing · year 1 in this regime · payroll 0.94× league · TAB -4.8
-4.8TAB — talent above budget20th/30
-1.2WAB — realized wins (TAB + luck)17th/30
5.0depth — 2+ WAR regulars19th/30
-5.7dead WAR — sub-replacement drag20th/30
26%dead money %11th/30
0.494win %15th/30
28.7roster fWAR19th/30
-9surplus $M (value vs cost)19th/30
$39Mpayroll $M18th/30

Roster

CFMike Cameron 136GJeff Abbott 38GMagglio Ordonez 22G
LFAlbert Belle 159GJeff Abbott 20GWil Cordero 4G
RFMagglio Ordonez 136GJeff Abbott 27GRuben Sierra 12G
SSMike Caruso 131GChris Snopek 33GCraig Wilson 8G
2BRay Durham 158GCraig Wilson 4GGreg Norton 1G
3BRobin Ventura 161GGreg Norton 11GCraig Wilson 2G
1BWil Cordero 83GGreg Norton 79GFrank Thomas 14G
STARTERSMike Sirotka 2.8WARJames Baldwin 1.7WARJim Parque 1.0WARJohn Snyder 0.8WARJim Abbott 0.5WAR
CRobert Machado 34GMark Johnson 7G
DHFrank Thomas 146GRuben Sierra 5GAlbert Belle 4G
BULLPEN★ Bill Simas 18svKeith Foulke 0hCarlos Castillo 0hBob Howry 0hChad Bradford 0hBryan Ward 0hTony Castillo 0hTodd Rizzo 0h
CRobert Machado 34 · Mark Johnson 7
1BWil Cordero 83 · Greg Norton 79 · Frank Thomas 14
2BRay Durham 158 · Craig Wilson 4 · Greg Norton 1
3BRobin Ventura 161 · Greg Norton 11 · Craig Wilson 2
SSMike Caruso 131 · Chris Snopek 33 · Craig Wilson 8
LFAlbert Belle 159 · Jeff Abbott 20 · Wil Cordero 4
CFMike Cameron 136 · Jeff Abbott 38 · Magglio Ordonez 22
RFMagglio Ordonez 136 · Jeff Abbott 27 · Ruben Sierra 12
DHFrank Thomas 146 · Ruben Sierra 5 · Albert Belle 4
SPMike Sirotka 2.8 · James Baldwin 1.7 · Jim Parque 1.0 · John Snyder 0.8 · Jim Abbott 0.5
BP★ Bill Simas 18 · Keith Foulke 0 · Carlos Castillo 0 · Bob Howry 0 · Chad Bradford 0 · Bryan Ward 0 · Tony Castillo 0 · Todd Rizzo 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.

1998 roster — value & surplus

PlayerAgeServiceGfWARSalary $MSurplus $M
Albert Belle 31 FA-elig 1637.1 10.0 -2.3
Robin Ventura 30 FA-elig 1615.8 6.1 +0.2
Ray Durham 26 arb 1583.2 1.9 +1.5
Frank Thomas 30 FA-elig 1603.0 7.0 -3.7
Mike Sirotka 27 arb 332.8 0.2 +2.8
James Baldwin 26 arb 371.7 0.3 +1.6
Mike Caruso 21 pre-arb 1331.7 0.2 +1.6
Craig Wilson 27 pre-arb 131.2 0.2 +1.1
Jim Parque 23 pre-arb 211.0 0.2 +0.9
Wil Cordero 26 FA-elig 961.0 1.0 +0.0
Mike Cameron 25 arb 1410.9 0.2 +0.7
John Snyder 23 pre-arb 150.8 0.2 +0.7
Chad Kreuter↔ ANA 33 FA-elig 930.7 0.7 +0.0
Chad Bradford 23 pre-arb 290.6 0.2 +0.5
Bob Howry 24 pre-arb 440.6 0.2 +0.4
Charlie O'Brien↔ ANA 38 FA-elig 570.6 0.6 -0.0
Jim Abbott 30 – 50.5 – –
Keith Foulke 25 pre-arb 540.4 0.2 +0.2
Matt Karchner↔ CHC 31 arb 320.3 0.2 +0.2
Magglio Ordonez 24 pre-arb 1450.3 0.2 +0.1
Brian Simmons 24 pre-arb 50.1 0.2 -0.1
Larry Casian 32 – 40.1 – –
Mike Heathcott 29 – 10.1 – –
Lou Frazier 33 arb 70.1 0.2 -0.1
Bryan Ward 26 pre-arb 280.1 0.2 -0.1
Bill Simas 26 arb 600.0 0.2 -0.2
Todd Rizzo 27 pre-arb 9-0.0 0.2 -0.2
Robert Machado 25 pre-arb 34-0.1 0.2 -0.3
Mark Johnson 22 pre-arb 7-0.1 0.2 -0.3
Ruben Sierra 32 FA-elig 27-0.2 0.5 -0.7
Chris Snopek↔ BOS 27 arb 53-0.3 0.2 -0.4
Jason Bere↔ CIN 27 arb 18-0.4 0.5 -0.9
Carlos Castillo 23 pre-arb 54-0.4 0.2 -0.6
Greg Norton 25 pre-arb 105-0.5 0.2 -0.7
Tony Castillo 35 FA-elig 25-0.5 1.2 -1.8
Jaime Navarro 31 FA-elig 37-0.6 5.0 -5.7
Tom Fordham 24 pre-arb 29-0.7 0.2 -0.9
Jeff Abbott 25 pre-arb 89-0.9 0.2 -1.2
Scott Eyre 26 pre-arb 33-1.0 0.2 -1.3

Key additions (new vs 1997)

PlayerfWAR
Mike Caruso1.7
Craig Wilson1.2
Jim Parque1.0
Wil Cordero1.0
John Snyder0.8
Chad Bradford0.6

Key subtractions (gone from 1997)

Player1997 fWAR
Wilson Alvarez3.2
Dave Martinez2.6
Harold Baines1.3
Chuck McElroy1.0
Tony Phillips0.9
Jorge Fabregas0.8

Current & Historical Payroll

1998 payroll
$39.2M

What the front office was committed to as of 1998, 1998–2004. 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)

PlayerAgeSvc1998199920002001200220032004
Albert Belle319.000$10.0MFREE AGENT
Frank Thomas308.000$7.0M$7.0M$7.1M$9.9M$9.9M$5.0M$6.0M
Robin Ventura309.000$6.1MFREE AGENT
Jaime Navarro319.000$5.0M$5.0MFREE AGENT
Tony Castillo3510.000$1.2MFREE AGENT
Wil Cordero266.000$1.0MFREE AGENT
Chad Kreuter3310.000$688kFREE AGENT
Charlie O'Brien3813.000$644kFREE AGENT
Ruben Sierra3212.000$500kFREE AGENT
Jim Abbott309.000—FREE AGENT
Larry Casian328.000—FREE AGENT

Arbitration-eligible (9)

PlayerAgeSvc1998199920002001200220032004
Ray Durham263.000$1.9MARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Jason Bere275.000$467kFREE AGENT
James Baldwin263.000$300kARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Bill Simas263.000$250kARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Mike Cameron253.000$230kARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Mike Sirotka273.000$195kARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Lou Frazier335.000$170kFREE AGENT
Chris Snopek273.000$165kARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Matt Karchner313.000$157kARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT

Pre-arbitration (19)

PlayerAgeSvc1998199920002001200220032004
Carlos Castillo231.000$195kPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Keith Foulke251.000$185kPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Scott Eyre261.000$185kPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Greg Norton252.000$180kARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Jeff Abbott251.000$175kPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Tom Fordham241.000$175kPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Robert Machado252.000$175kARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Magglio Ordonez241.000$175kPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Chad Bradford230.000$170kPre-ArbPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
John Snyder230.000$170kPre-ArbPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Jim Parque230.000$170kPre-ArbPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Bob Howry240.000$170kPre-ArbPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Mark Johnson220.000$170kPre-ArbPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Todd Rizzo270.000$170kPre-ArbPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Mike Caruso210.000$170kPre-ArbPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Bryan Ward260.000$170kPre-ArbPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Craig Wilson270.000$170kPre-ArbPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Brian Simmons240.000$170kPre-ArbPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Mike Heathcott29–—

Graphs

Every roster slot ranked best→worst by WAR. Bars = White Sox 1998; 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.