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Reds CIN

198686–76 (0.531)
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GM: Bill Bergesch

Overview

Ranks vs the 30 teams in 1986, or a custom range (defaults to every team-season since 1985, when our data starts).

to

Front Office

PoorAverageGreat
Value
Payroll $M
$12M
Surplus $M
-1
Win %
0.531
TAB
-1.7
WAB
+3.7
Roster composition
Roster fWAR
32.8
Dead money %
38%
Depth Players
6.0
Dead WAR
-3.2

Offense

PoorAverageGreat

Pitching & Defense

PoorAverageGreat

Roster

1986 depth chart — stacked by playing time

C

RBo Diaz134
RSal Butera53
RDave Vangorder7

1B

RNick Esasky71
BPete Rose61
RTony Perez55
RDave Concepcion12
RTracy Jones2

2B

BRon Oester151
RDave Concepcion10
BTom Runnells4
RBarry Larkin3
RWade Rowdon3
RBuddy Bell1

3B

RBuddy Bell151
RDave Concepcion10
RWade Rowdon7
BTom Runnells3
RNick Esasky1

SS

BKurt Stillwell80
RDave Concepcion60
RBarry Larkin36
RWade Rowdon6

LF

REric Davis72
LMax Venable49
LKal Daniels47
RNick Esasky42
RTracy Jones23
RWade Rowdon6

CF

LEddie Milner127
REric Davis71
LMax Venable8
RTracy Jones3

RF

LDave Parker159
REric Davis16
LMax Venable3

DH

—

Starters

LTom Browning3.1 WAR
RJohn Denny2.9 WAR
RBill Gullickson2.7 WAR
LChris Welsh1.7 WAR
RTed Power1.1 WAR
RMario Soto0.2 WAR
RMike Smith0.1 WAR
LJoe Price-0.1 WAR
RScott Terry-0.4 WAR

Bullpen

★ LJohn Franco29 sv
RRon Robinson0 h
LRob Murphy0 h
RCarl Willis0 h
RScott Terry0 h
LJoe Price0 h
RBill Landrum0 h
RMike Smith0 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 1985)

PlayerfWAR
John Denny2.9
Bill Gullickson2.7
Kal Daniels2.0
Chris Welsh1.7
Barry Larkin1.1
Tracy Jones1.0

Key subtractions (gone from 1985)

Player1985 fWAR
Andy McGaffigan2.4
Jay Tibbs2.2
Gary Redus2.0
Wayne Krenchicki1.1
Frank Pastore0.9
John Stuper0.4

Contract Value

WAR translated into tier-adjusted market value, then compared with what the player was paid by Reds. Guaranteed contracts from the 2015-present contract-data period use the known contract period through 1986; everyone else is shown as a 1986 season snapshot.

PlayerPeriodfWARTier Market $MPaid $MSurplus $M$ / WARTierContract
Eric Davis 1986 +4.7 +67.8 0.1 +67.7 $0.0M 1.79× –
Tom Browning 1986 +3.1 +48.2 0.2 +48.0 $0.1M 1.96× –
John Denny 1986 +2.9 +44.9 1.1 +43.9 $0.4M 1.96× –
Bill Gullickson 1986 +2.7 +41.5 0.5 +41.0 $0.2M 1.96× –
Buddy Bell 1986 +3.4 +30.4 0.9 +29.5 $0.3M 1.12× –
Ron Robinson 1986 +1.6 +25.5 0.1 +25.4 $0.1M 1.95× –
Bo Diaz 1986 +2.6 +20.8 0.8 +20.0 $0.3M 1.00× –
Chris Welsh 1986 +1.7 +19.8 0.1 +19.7 $0.0M 1.49× –
Kal Daniels 1986 +2.0 +19.4 0.1 +19.3 $0.0M 1.22× –
Eddie Milner 1986 +1.5 +14.9 0.3 +14.5 $0.2M 1.22× –
John Franco 1986 +1.3 +14.0 0.2 +13.8 $0.1M 1.34× –
Tracy Jones 1986 +1.0 +6.4 0.1 +6.3 $0.1M 0.83× –
Ron Oester 1986 +1.5 +6.7 0.7 +6.0 $0.4M 0.56× –
Ted Power 1986 +1.1 +6.1 0.5 +5.6 $0.4M 0.67× –
Barry Larkin 1986 +1.1 +5.4 0.1 +5.3 $0.1M 0.61× –
Rob Murphy 1986 +0.8 +4.3 0.1 +4.2 $0.1M 0.67× –
Nick Esasky 1986 +0.9 +4.2 0.3 +3.9 $0.3M 0.56× –
Dave Parker 1986 +0.7 +4.8 1.1 +3.7 $1.5M 0.83× –
Sal Butera 1986 +0.5 +2.2 0.1 +2.1 $0.2M 0.52× –
Dave Concepcion 1986 +0.5 +2.3 0.9 +1.4 $2.0M 0.61× –
Bill Landrum 1986 +0.2 +1.1 0.1 +1.0 $0.3M 0.67× –
Mario Soto 1986 +0.2 +1.7 1.1 +0.5 $5.5M 1.02× –
Tony Perez 1986 -0.1 -0.3 0.3 -0.6 – 0.56× –
Max Venable 1986 -0.1 -0.6 0.2 -0.8 – 0.83× –
Dave Vangorder 1986 -0.2 -0.8 0.1 -0.9 – 0.52× –
Joe Price 1986 -0.1 -0.5 0.4 -0.9 – 0.67× –
Carl Willis 1986 -0.3 -1.7 0.1 -1.8 – 0.67× –
Kurt Stillwell 1986 -0.7 -3.4 0.1 -3.5 – 0.61× –
Pete Rose 1986 -0.8 -3.6 1.0 -4.6 – 0.56× –
Mike Smith 1986 +0.1 +0.4 – – – 1.02× –
Paul O'Neill 1986 -0.0 -0.1 – – – 0.83× –
Scott Terry 1986 -0.4 -2.3 – – – 0.67× –
Tom Runnells 1986 -0.1 -0.7 – – – 0.56× –
Wade Rowdon 1986 -0.4 -1.8 – – – 0.58× –
Total—+32.9+377.011.7+369.7—

Trades

Every graded 1986 deal involving the Reds — best expected value first. Surplus is realized value in $M; 2 total.

1986 · CIN / WSN
CIN · Bill Bergesch +$0.8M
Bill Cutshall
WSN · Murray Cook −$0.8M
Mike Smith
CIN came out ahead by $0.8M
1986 · CIN / WSN
CIN · Bill Bergesch +$48.0M
Norm Charlton, Tim Barker
WSN · Murray Cook −$48.0M
Wayne Krenchicki
CIN came out ahead by $48.0M

Current & Historical Payroll

1986 payroll
$11.5M

What the front office was committed to as of 1986, 1986–1992. 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 (14)

PlayerAgeSvc1986198719881989199019911992
Mario Soto299.000$1.1M$1.2M$1.2MFREE AGENT
Dave Parker3513.000$1.1M$1.1MFREE AGENT
John Denny3312.000$1.1MFREE AGENT
Pete Rose4523.000$1.0MFREE AGENT
Dave Concepcion3816.000$920k$320k$370kFREE AGENT
Buddy Bell3414.000$870k$870k$616kFREE AGENT
Bo Diaz339.000$775k$825k$850k$900kFREE AGENT
Ron Oester308.000$650k$750k$290k$650k$650kFREE AGENT
Bill Gullickson277.000$546k$694kFREE AGENT
Joe Price296.000$430kFREE AGENT
Eddie Milner316.000$350kFREE AGENT$250k
Tony Perez4422.000$275kFREE AGENT
Max Venable297.000$225kFREE AGENT
Sal Butera336.000$102k$57kFREE AGENT

Arbitration-eligible (4)

PlayerAgeSvc1986198719881989199019911992
Ted Power315.000$500kFREE AGENT
Nick Esasky263.000$272kARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Dave Vangorder294.000$150kARB 3FREE AGENT
Chris Welsh315.000$80kFREE AGENT

Pre-arbitration (16)

PlayerAgeSvc1986198719881989199019911992
Tom Browning262.000$215kARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
John Franco252.000$195kARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Ron Robinson242.000$92kARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Eric Davis242.000$90kARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Carl Willis252.000$70kARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Kal Daniels220.000$60kPre-ArbPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Tracy Jones250.000$60kPre-ArbPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Bill Landrum280.000$60kPre-ArbPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Rob Murphy261.000$60kPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Barry Larkin220.000$60kPre-ArbPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Kurt Stillwell210.000$60kPre-ArbPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Paul O'Neill231.000—Pre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Wade Rowdon252.000—ARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Tom Runnells31–—
Mike Smith25–—
Scott Terry260.000—Pre-ArbPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT

Graphs

How each 1986 acquisition stacked onto Reds'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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