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Astros HOU

199682–80 (0.506)
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GM: Gerry Hunsicker

Overview

Ranks vs the 30 teams in 1996, or a custom range (defaults to every team-season since 1985, when our data starts).

to

Front Office

PoorAverageGreat
Value
Payroll $M
$27M
Surplus $M
+2
Win %
0.506
TAB
+1.7
WAB
+2.6
Roster composition
Roster fWAR
33.5
Dead money %
28%
Depth Players
6.0
Dead WAR
-4.9

Offense

PoorAverageGreat

Pitching & Defense

PoorAverageGreat

Roster

1996 depth chart — stacked by playing time

C

LRick Wilkins⇄84
RTony Eusebio47
RKirt Manwaring⇄37
RRandy Knorr33
LJerry Goff1

1B

RJeff Bagwell162
RMike Simms5
LBill Spiers4

2B

RCraig Biggio162
LBill Spiers7
RRicky Gutierrez5
RDave Hajek2

3B

RSean Berry110
LBill Spiers76
ROrlando Miller30
RRicky Gutierrez6
RDave Hajek3
RAndujar Cedeno⇄1

SS

ROrlando Miller116
RRicky Gutierrez74
LBill Spiers5
RAndujar Cedeno⇄3

LF

RJames Mouton79
LDerrick May70
BJohn Cangelosi53
RMike Simms9
LBobby Abreu6
RRay Montgomery5

CF

RBrian L. Hunter127
RJames Mouton29
BJohn Cangelosi29
RDerek Bell2
LBill Spiers1
RRay Montgomery1

RF

RDerek Bell157
RJames Mouton5
LDerrick May3
RMike Simms3
RRay Montgomery2
LBobby Abreu1
LBill Spiers1

DH

—

Starters

RShane Reynolds5.9 WAR
RDarryl Kile3.7 WAR
LMike Hampton2.9 WAR
RDonne Wall1.9 WAR
RDoug Drabek1.7 WAR
RDanny Darwin⇄-0.2 WAR
RDoug Brocail-0.3 WAR
LGreg Swindell⇄-0.4 WAR

Bullpen

★ RTodd Jones17 sv
RXavier Hernandez⇄0 h
LAlvin Morman0 h
LBilly Wagner0 h
RAnthony Young0 h
RDoug Brocail0 h
LDean Hartgraves⇄0 h
LJeff Tabaka0 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 1995)

PlayerfWAR
Sean Berry1.0
Kirt Manwaring0.3
Bill Spiers0.3
Xavier Hernandez0.1
Randy Knorr0.1
Bobby Abreu0.0

Key subtractions (gone from 1995)

Player1995 fWAR
Dave Magadan1.9
Dave Veres1.7
Mike Henneman0.5
Luis Gonzalez0.3
Scooter Tucker0.1
Scott Servais-0.0

Contract Value

WAR translated into tier-adjusted market value, then compared with what the player was paid by Astros. Guaranteed contracts from the 2015-present contract-data period use the known contract period through 1996; everyone else is shown as a 1996 season snapshot.

PlayerPeriodfWARTier Market $MPaid $MSurplus $M$ / WARTierContract
Shane Reynolds 1996 +5.9 +118.5 0.3 +118.2 $0.1M 2.50× –
Jeff Bagwell 1996 +7.7 +84.9 4.9 +80.0 $0.6M 1.37× –
Darryl Kile 1996 +3.7 +65.2 1.2 +63.9 $0.3M 2.19× –
Mike Hampton 1996 +2.9 +45.0 0.3 +44.7 $0.1M 1.96× –
Craig Biggio 1996 +4.8 +45.9 2.1 +43.8 $0.4M 1.20× –
Derek Bell 1996 +2.6 +33.6 2.8 +30.8 $1.1M 1.60× –
Donne Wall 1996 +1.9 +22.9 0.1 +22.8 $0.1M 1.49× –
Doug Drabek 1996 +1.7 +20.3 5.0 +15.3 $3.0M 1.49× –
John Cangelosi 1996 +1.5 +14.9 0.3 +14.6 $0.2M 1.22× –
Brian L. Hunter 1996 +1.0 +6.9 0.2 +6.8 $0.2M 0.83× –
Derrick May 1996 +0.7 +4.6 0.8 +3.9 $1.1M 0.83× –
Sean Berry 1996 +1.0 +4.8 1.0 +3.8 $1.0M 0.58× –
Orlando Miller 1996 +0.6 +3.1 0.2 +2.9 $0.3M 0.61× –
Billy Wagner 1996 +0.1 +1.6 0.1 +1.5 $0.7M 1.34× –
Tony Eusebio 1996 +0.4 +1.7 0.3 +1.4 $0.7M 0.52× –
Bill Spiers 1996 +0.3 +1.3 0.4 +0.9 $1.4M 0.58× –
James Mouton 1996 +0.2 +1.1 0.2 +0.9 $1.2M 0.83× –
Xavier Hernandez↔ 1996 +0.1 +1.4 0.6 +0.8 $4.3M 1.34× –
Kirt Manwaring↔ 1996 +0.3 +1.2 0.8 +0.4 $2.7M 0.52× –
Rick Wilkins↔ 1996 +0.3 +1.3 1.0 +0.4 $3.0M 0.52× –
John Hudek 1996 +0.1 +0.4 0.2 +0.2 $2.7M 0.67× –
Andujar Cedeno↔ 1996 +0.0 +0.1 0.0 +0.1 $0.5M 0.61× –
Randy Knorr 1996 +0.1 +0.2 0.3 -0.1 $5.5M 0.52× –
Terry Clark↔ 1996 -0.1 -0.3 0.1 -0.4 – 0.67× –
Dean Hartgraves↔ 1996 -0.1 -0.6 0.1 -0.7 – 0.67× –
Danny Darwin↔ 1996 -0.2 -0.9 0.2 -1.1 – 0.67× –
Gregg Olson↔ 1996 -0.1 -1.0 0.1 -1.1 – 1.34× –
Ricky Gutierrez 1996 -0.3 -1.2 0.2 -1.5 – 0.61× –
Mike Simms 1996 -0.3 -1.7 0.2 -1.9 – 0.83× –
Doug Brocail 1996 -0.3 -1.8 0.2 -2.0 – 0.67× –
Anthony Young 1996 -0.6 -3.1 0.3 -3.4 – 0.67× –
Jeff Tabaka 1996 -0.7 -3.5 0.2 -3.7 – 0.67× –
Todd Jones 1996 -0.4 -4.3 0.3 -4.6 – 1.34× –
Greg Swindell↔ 1996 -0.4 -3.3 1.7 -5.0 – 1.02× –
Alvin Morman 1996 -0.9 -4.9 0.1 -5.1 – 0.67× –
Mark Small 1996 +0.0 +0.1 0.1 -0.0 $6.7M 0.67× –
Bobby Abreu 1996 +0.0 +0.2 – – – 0.83× –
Chris Holt 1996 -0.0 -0.2 – – – 0.67× –
Dave Hajek 1996 +0.2 +0.9 – – – 0.58× –
Jerry Goff 1996 -0.1 -0.2 – – – 0.52× –
Jim Dougherty 1996 -0.4 -2.2 – – – 0.67× –
John Johnstone 1996 -0.1 -0.7 – – – 0.67× –
Ray Montgomery 1996 +0.0 +0.2 – – – 0.83× –
Total—+33.1+452.426.9+427.5—

Trades

Every graded 1996 deal involving the Astros — best expected value first. Surplus is realized value in $M; 4 total.

1996 · DET / HOU
DET · Randy Smith +$2.4M
Kevin Gallaher, Pedro Santana
HOU · Gerry Hunsicker −$2.4M
Gregg Olson
DET came out ahead by $2.4M
1996 · HOU / PIT
HOU · Gerry Hunsicker +$0.8M
Danny Darwin
PIT · Ted Simmons −$0.8M
Rich Loiselle
HOU came out ahead by $0.8M
1996 · SFG / HOU
SFG · Bob Quinn +$6.4M
Rick Wilkins
HOU · Gerry Hunsicker −$6.4M
Kirt Manwaring
SFG came out ahead by $6.4M
1996 · HOU / DET
HOU · Gerry Hunsicker +$6.4M
Brad Ausmus, José Lima, Trever Miller, C. J. Nitkowski, Daryle Ward
DET · Randy Smith −$6.4M
Doug Brocail, Brian Hunter, Todd Jones, Orlando Miller
HOU came out ahead by $6.4M

Current & Historical Payroll

1996 payroll
$26.7M

What the front office was committed to as of 1996, 1996–2002. 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 (15)

PlayerAgeSvc1996199719981999200020012002
Doug Drabek3310.000$5.0MFREE AGENT
Craig Biggio308.000$2.1M$6.3M$6.1M$6.1M$6.8M$7.8M$8.8M
Greg Swindell3110.000$1.7MFREE AGENT
Sean Berry306.000$995k$2.2M$1.0MFREE AGENT
Kirt Manwaring309.000$807kFREE AGENT
Derrick May276.000$750kFREE AGENT
Xavier Hernandez307.000$570kFREE AGENT
Bill Spiers307.000$400k$600k$1.6M$1.6M$1.7M$1.7MFREE AGENT
John Cangelosi3311.000$280kFREE AGENT
Danny Darwin4018.000$243kFREE AGENT
Mike Simms296.000$160kFREE AGENT
Gregg Olson298.000$69kFREE AGENT
Terry Clark358.000$53kFREE AGENT
Andujar Cedeno266.000$14kFREE AGENT
Jerry Goff326.000—FREE AGENT

Arbitration-eligible (13)

PlayerAgeSvc1996199719981999200020012002
Jeff Bagwell285.000$4.9MFREE AGENT
Derek Bell275.000$2.8MFREE AGENT
Darryl Kile275.000$1.2MFREE AGENT
Rick Wilkins295.000$957kFREE AGENT
Shane Reynolds284.000$330kARB 3FREE AGENT
Tony Eusebio295.000$300kFREE AGENT
Todd Jones283.000$300kARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Randy Knorr275.000$280kFREE AGENT
Anthony Young305.000$275kFREE AGENT
Mike Hampton233.000$275kARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Ricky Gutierrez263.000$235kARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Doug Brocail294.000$220kARB 3FREE AGENT
John Johnstone273.000—ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT

Pre-arbitration (15)

PlayerAgeSvc1996199719981999200020012002
John Hudek292.000$210kARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Orlando Miller272.000$205kARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
James Mouton272.000$196kARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Brian L. Hunter252.000$180kARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Jeff Tabaka322.000$165kARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Donne Wall281.000$115kPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Mark Small280.000$109kPre-ArbPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Billy Wagner241.000$109kPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Alvin Morman270.000$109kPre-ArbPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Dean Hartgraves291.000$63kPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Bobby Abreu220.000—Pre-ArbPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Jim Dougherty281.000—Pre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Dave Hajek28–—
Chris Holt240.000—Pre-ArbPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Ray Montgomery260.000—Pre-ArbPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT

Graphs

How each 1996 acquisition stacked onto Astros'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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