RRosternomics
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Reds CIN

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GM: Jim Bowden

Overview

FORCED-SPEND ↘ cooling
expensive & losing · year 2 in this regime · payroll 1.01× league · TAB -10.9
-10.9TAB — talent above budget26th/28
-6.0WAB — realized wins (TAB + luck)20th/28
6.0depth — 2+ WAR regulars13th/28
-7.5dead WAR — sub-replacement drag24th/28
46%dead money %25th/28
0.469win %20th/28
23.4roster fWAR23rd/28
-14surplus $M (value vs cost)21st/28
$40Mpayroll $M14th/28

Roster

CFDeion Sanders 77GJon Nunnally 46GCurtis Goodwin 41G
LFChris Stynes 38GDeion Sanders 37GCurtis Goodwin 32G
RFReggie Sanders 85GWillie Greene 33GMike Kelly 31G
SSPokey Reese 110GBarry Larkin 63GDamian Jackson 11G
2BBret Boone 136GLenny Harris 20GPokey Reese 8G
3BWillie Greene 103GTerry Pendleton 32GLenny Harris 13G
1BHal Morris 89GEduardo Perez 67GLenny Harris 11G
STARTERSMike Morgan 2.4WARMike Remlinger 2.2WARBrett Tomko 1.5WARDave Burba 1.3WARKent Mercker 1.1WAR
CJoe Oliver 106GEddie Taubensee 64GBrook Fordyce 30G
DHEddie Taubensee 3GBarry Larkin 2GBrook Fordyce 1G
BULLPEN★ Jeff Shaw 42svStan Belinda 0hScott Sullivan 0hFelix Rodriguez 0hRichie Lewis 0hDanny Graves 0hJeff Brantley 0hPedro Martinez 0h
CJoe Oliver 106 · Eddie Taubensee 64 · Brook Fordyce 30
1BHal Morris 89 · Eduardo Perez 67 · Lenny Harris 11
2BBret Boone 136 · Lenny Harris 20 · Pokey Reese 8
3BWillie Greene 103 · Terry Pendleton 32 · Lenny Harris 13
SSPokey Reese 110 · Barry Larkin 63 · Damian Jackson 11
LFChris Stynes 38 · Deion Sanders 37 · Curtis Goodwin 32
CFDeion Sanders 77 · Jon Nunnally 46 · Curtis Goodwin 41
RFReggie Sanders 85 · Willie Greene 33 · Mike Kelly 31
DHEddie Taubensee 3 · Barry Larkin 2 · Brook Fordyce 1
SPMike Morgan 2.4 · Mike Remlinger 2.2 · Brett Tomko 1.5 · Dave Burba 1.3 · Kent Mercker 1.1
BP★ Jeff Shaw 42 · Stan Belinda 0 · Scott Sullivan 0 · Felix Rodriguez 0 · Richie Lewis 0 · Danny Graves 0 · Jeff Brantley 0 · Pedro Martinez 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.

1997 roster — value & surplus

PlayerAgeServiceGfWARSalary $MSurplus $M
Barry Larkin 33 FA-elig 733.5 5.3 -1.8
Mike Morgan 37 FA-elig 312.4 0.5 +1.9
Mike Remlinger 31 FA-elig 712.2 0.2 +2.1
Chris Stynes 24 pre-arb 492.2 0.2 +2.1
Jeff Shaw 30 FA-elig 782.2 0.7 +1.6
Jon Nunnally↔ KCR 25 pre-arb 652.2 0.2 +2.1
Reggie Sanders 29 FA-elig 861.9 3.7 -1.7
Willie Greene 25 arb 1511.9 0.3 +1.6
Brett Tomko 24 pre-arb 241.5 0.1 +1.4
Stan Belinda 30 FA-elig 841.3 0.9 +0.3
Dave Burba 30 FA-elig 301.3 2.1 -0.8
Joe Oliver 31 FA-elig 1111.2 0.4 +0.8
John Smiley↔ CLE 32 FA-elig 201.2 2.9 -1.7
Kent Mercker 29 FA-elig 311.1 1.7 -0.6
Mike Kelly 27 arb 731.1 0.2 +0.9
Lenny Harris 32 FA-elig 1200.7 0.7 +0.1
Scott Sullivan 26 pre-arb 590.7 0.1 +0.5
Deion Sanders 29 FA-elig 1150.6 1.2 -0.6
Curtis Goodwin 24 – 850.5 – –
Eduardo Perez 27 arb 1060.4 0.2 +0.2
Hector Carrasco↔ KCR 27 arb 380.4 0.3 +0.1
Gabe White 25 arb 120.3 0.1 +0.2
Damian Jackson↔ CLE 23 – 120.1 – –
Ruben Sierra↔ TOR 31 FA-elig 250.1 4.3 -4.2
Ozzie Timmons 26 – 60.0 – –
Felix Rodriguez 24 pre-arb 260.0 0.2 -0.2
Joey Eischen 27 arb 10.0 0.2 -0.2
Danny Graves↔ CLE 23 pre-arb 100.0 0.1 -0.1
Eddie Taubensee 28 FA-elig 108-0.0 0.9 -0.9
Scott Service↔ KCR 30 – 4-0.0 – –
Scott Winchester 24 – 5-0.0 – –
Jeff Brantley 33 FA-elig 13-0.1 2.8 -2.9
Jeff Tabaka 33 – 3-0.1 – –
Ricky Bones↔ KCR 28 FA-elig 9-0.2 0.1 -0.3
Pat Watkins 24 – 17-0.2 – –
Eric Owens 26 pre-arb 27-0.2 0.2 -0.4
Jim Crowell 23 – 2-0.2 – –
Terry Pendleton 36 FA-elig 50-0.2 0.3 -0.6
Pedro Martinez 28 arb 8-0.2 0.2 -0.5
Kevin Jarvis↔ DET 27 arb 9-0.3 0.1 -0.3
Richie Lewis↔ OAK 31 arb 4-0.3 0.1 -0.4
Pete Schourek 28 FA-elig 19-0.3 2.6 -3.0
Pete Rose Jr. 27 – 11-0.3 – –
Giovanni Carrara 29 – 2-0.4 – –
Hal Morris 32 FA-elig 96-0.4 3.1 -3.5
Aaron Boone 24 – 16-0.6 – –
Brook Fordyce 27 pre-arb 47-0.7 0.1 -0.8
Jeff Branson↔ CLE 30 arb 65-0.7 0.4 -1.1
Pokey Reese 24 pre-arb 128-1.0 0.1 -1.2
Bret Boone 28 arb 139-1.0 1.7 -2.8

Key additions (new vs 1996)

PlayerfWAR
Chris Stynes2.2
Jon Nunnally2.2
Brett Tomko1.5
Stan Belinda1.3
Kent Mercker1.1
Deion Sanders0.6

Key subtractions (gone from 1996)

Player1996 fWAR
Eric Davis3.4
Mark Portugal1.7
Kevin Mitchell1.6
Chris Sabo0.7
Curt Lyons0.2
Lee Smith0.1

Current & Historical Payroll

1997 payroll
$39.5M

What the front office was committed to as of 1997, 1997–2003. 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 (20)

PlayerAgeSvc1997199819992000200120022003
Barry Larkin3311.000$5.3M$5.3M$5.3M$5.3M$9.0M$9.0M$9.0M
Ruben Sierra3111.000$4.3MFREE AGENT
Reggie Sanders296.000$3.7M$3.7MFREE AGENT
Hal Morris329.000$3.1MFREE AGENT$450k$298k
John Smiley3211.000$2.9MFREE AGENT
Jeff Brantley339.000$2.8MFREE AGENT
Pete Schourek286.000$2.6MFREE AGENT
Dave Burba307.000$2.1MFREE AGENT
Kent Mercker298.000$1.7MFREE AGENT$402k
Deion Sanders298.000$1.2MFREE AGENT
Stan Belinda308.000$950k$835k$835kFREE AGENT
Eddie Taubensee286.000$900k$975k$1.2M$1.4MFREE AGENT
Lenny Harris329.000$650k$440kFREE AGENT
Jeff Shaw307.000$650k$347kFREE AGENT
Mike Morgan3719.000$500kFREE AGENT
Joe Oliver318.000$375kFREE AGENT
Terry Pendleton3613.000$350kFREE AGENT
Mike Remlinger316.000$155k$300kFREE AGENT
Ricky Bones286.000$113kFREE AGENT
Scott Service309.000—FREE AGENT

Arbitration-eligible (12)

PlayerAgeSvc1997199819992000200120022003
Bret Boone285.000$1.7MFREE AGENT
Jeff Branson305.000$380kFREE AGENT
Hector Carrasco273.000$322kARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Willie Greene255.000$300kFREE AGENT
Pedro Martinez284.000$216kARB 3FREE AGENT
Joey Eischen273.000$215kARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Eduardo Perez274.000$180kARB 3FREE AGENT
Mike Kelly273.000$175kARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Gabe White253.000$150kARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Richie Lewis315.000$56kFREE AGENT
Kevin Jarvis273.000$55kARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Jeff Tabaka333.000—ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT

Pre-arbitration (18)

PlayerAgeSvc1997199819992000200120022003
Eric Owens262.000$175kARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Felix Rodriguez242.000$175kARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Chris Stynes242.000$165kARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Jon Nunnally252.000$158kARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Pokey Reese240.000$150kPre-ArbPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Scott Sullivan262.000$150kARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Brett Tomko240.000$150kPre-ArbPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Brook Fordyce272.000$150kARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Danny Graves231.000$107kPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Aaron Boone240.000—Pre-ArbPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Giovanni Carrara292.000—ARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Jim Crowell23–—
Curtis Goodwin242.000—ARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Damian Jackson231.000—Pre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Pete Rose Jr.27–—
Ozzie Timmons262.000—ARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Pat Watkins240.000—Pre-ArbPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Scott Winchester240.000—Pre-ArbPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT

Graphs

Every roster slot ranked best→worst by WAR. Bars = Reds 1997; 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.