RRosternomics
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Astros HOU

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GM: Gerry Hunsicker

Overview

CONTEND ↗ rising
expensive & winning · year 1 in this regime · payroll 1.08× league · TAB +18.4
+18.4TAB — talent above budget2nd/30
+19.1WAB — realized wins (TAB + luck)2nd/30
12.0depth — 2+ WAR regulars1st/30
-3.9dead WAR — sub-replacement drag10th/30
16%dead money %4th/30
0.630win %3rd/30
53.6roster fWAR3rd/30
+13surplus $M (value vs cost)2nd/30
$45Mpayroll $M15th/30

1998: made playoffs · 102–60. Ranks are vs the 30 teams that season.

Roster

CFCarl Everett 121GRichard Hidalgo 57GMoises Alou 6G
LFMoises Alou 152GRichard Hidalgo 9GDave Clark 9G
RFDerek Bell 154GRichard Hidalgo 14GDave Clark 13G
SSRicky Gutierrez 141GTim Bogar 55GBill Spiers 2G
2BCraig Biggio 159GTim Bogar 11GBill Spiers 9G
3BBill Spiers 99GSean Berry 87GTim Bogar 11G
1BJeff Bagwell 147GJ.R. Phillips 12GJack Howell 10G
STARTERSShane Reynolds 4.7WARMike Hampton 3.2WARRandy Johnson 3.1WARJose Lima 2.6WARSean Bergman 1.1WAR
CBrad Ausmus 124GTony Eusebio 54GMitch Meluskey 3G
DHDave Clark 3GMoises Alou 1GSean Berry 1G
BULLPEN★ Billy Wagner 30svJay Powell 0hDoug Henry 0hMike Magnante 0hC.J. Nitkowski 0hTrever Miller 0hScott Elarton 0hBob Scanlan 0h
CBrad Ausmus 124 · Tony Eusebio 54 · Mitch Meluskey 3
1BJeff Bagwell 147 · J.R. Phillips 12 · Jack Howell 10
2BCraig Biggio 159 · Tim Bogar 11 · Bill Spiers 9
3BBill Spiers 99 · Sean Berry 87 · Tim Bogar 11
SSRicky Gutierrez 141 · Tim Bogar 55 · Bill Spiers 2
LFMoises Alou 152 · Richard Hidalgo 9 · Dave Clark 9
CFCarl Everett 121 · Richard Hidalgo 57 · Moises Alou 6
RFDerek Bell 154 · Richard Hidalgo 14 · Dave Clark 13
DHDave Clark 3 · Moises Alou 1 · Sean Berry 1
SPShane Reynolds 4.7 · Mike Hampton 3.2 · Randy Johnson 3.1 · Jose Lima 2.6 · Sean Bergman 1.1
BP★ Billy Wagner 30 · Jay Powell 0 · Doug Henry 0 · Mike Magnante 0 · C.J. Nitkowski 0 · Trever Miller 0 · Scott Elarton 0 · Bob Scanlan 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
Moises Alou 31 FA-elig 1596.8 5.0 +2.3
Jeff Bagwell 30 FA-elig 1476.7 7.9 -0.7
Craig Biggio 32 FA-elig 1606.5 6.1 +0.9
Derek Bell 29 FA-elig 1565.7 4.2 +1.9
Shane Reynolds 30 FA-elig 354.7 3.3 +1.7
Carl Everett 27 arb 1333.6 1.1 +2.8
Mike Hampton 25 arb 323.2 2.2 +1.2
Randy Johnson↔ SEA 34 FA-elig 113.1 1.9 +1.4
Sean Berry 32 FA-elig 1022.7 1.0 +1.9
Jose Lima 25 arb 332.6 0.2 +2.6
Brad Ausmus 29 arb 1282.2 1.6 +0.8
Richard Hidalgo 23 pre-arb 742.0 0.2 +2.0
Billy Wagner 26 arb 581.8 0.3 +1.7
Sean Bergman 28 arb 311.1 0.5 +0.7
Bill Spiers 32 FA-elig 1230.9 1.6 -0.6
Jay Powell↔ MIA 26 arb 290.9 0.1 +0.8
John Halama 26 pre-arb 60.7 0.2 +0.6
Scott Elarton 22 pre-arb 280.5 0.2 +0.4
Pete Schourek↔ BOS 29 FA-elig 150.4 1.0 -0.5
Mike Magnante 33 FA-elig 480.4 0.6 -0.2
Russ Johnson 25 – 80.2 – –
Tony Eusebio 31 FA-elig 660.1 0.7 -0.6
C.J. Nitkowski 25 arb 430.1 0.2 -0.0
Trever Miller 25 pre-arb 370.1 0.2 -0.0
Ray Montgomery 28 pre-arb 60.1 0.2 -0.0
Jack Howell 36 FA-elig 240.1 0.5 -0.4
Daryle Ward 23 – 40.0 – –
Jose Cabrera 26 pre-arb 30.0 0.2 -0.1
Mitch Meluskey 24 pre-arb 80.0 0.2 -0.1
Mike Grzanich 25 – 1-0.0 – –
Reggie Harris 29 – 6-0.1 – –
Pete Incaviglia↔ DET 34 FA-elig 13-0.3 0.2 -0.5
Ricky Gutierrez 28 arb 141-0.4 0.8 -1.3
Doug Henry 34 FA-elig 59-0.4 0.7 -1.2
J.R. Phillips 28 arb 36-0.4 0.2 -0.7
Bob Scanlan 31 – 26-0.5 – –
Tim Bogar 31 arb 79-0.8 0.7 -1.6
Dave Clark 35 FA-elig 93-0.9 0.7 -1.7

Key additions (new vs 1997)

PlayerfWAR
Moises Alou6.8
Carl Everett3.6
Randy Johnson3.1
Sean Bergman1.1
Jay Powell0.9
John Halama0.7

Key subtractions (gone from 1997)

Player1997 fWAR
Darryl Kile4.1
Luis Gonzalez2.3
Chris Holt1.5
Chuck Carr0.9
Russ Springer0.9
Ramon Garcia0.7

Current & Historical Payroll

1998 payroll
$44.9M

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 (17)

PlayerAgeSvc1998199920002001200220032004
Jeff Bagwell307.000$7.9M$6.5M$6.5M$6.5M$11.0M$13.0M$16.0M
Craig Biggio3210.000$6.1M$6.1M$6.8M$7.8M$8.8M$9.8M$3.0M
Moises Alou318.000$5.0MFREE AGENT$5.2M$5.2M
Derek Bell297.000$4.2M$4.5MFREE AGENT
Shane Reynolds306.000$3.3M$4.5M$6.7M$7.2M$7.7MFREE AGENT
Randy Johnson3410.000$1.9MFREE AGENT
Bill Spiers329.000$1.6M$1.6M$1.7M$1.7MFREE AGENT
Sean Berry328.000$1.0MFREE AGENT
Pete Schourek297.000$960kFREE AGENT
Doug Henry347.000$725k$725k$500kFREE AGENT
Tony Eusebio317.000$725k$900k$1.1M$1.3MFREE AGENT
Dave Clark3512.000$700kFREE AGENT
Mike Magnante337.000$600kFREE AGENT
Jack Howell3613.000$500k$550kFREE AGENT
Pete Incaviglia3412.000$195kFREE AGENT
Reggie Harris298.000—FREE AGENT
Bob Scanlan317.000—FREE AGENT

Arbitration-eligible (11)

PlayerAgeSvc1998199920002001200220032004
Mike Hampton255.000$2.2MFREE AGENT
Brad Ausmus295.000$1.6MFREE AGENT
Carl Everett275.000$1.1MFREE AGENT
Ricky Gutierrez285.000$850kFREE AGENT
Tim Bogar315.000$725kFREE AGENT
Sean Bergman285.000$465kFREE AGENT
Billy Wagner263.000$280kARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
J.R. Phillips285.000$250kFREE AGENT
Jose Lima254.000$240kARB 3FREE AGENT
C.J. Nitkowski253.000$185kARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Jay Powell263.000$150kARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT

Pre-arbitration (10)

PlayerAgeSvc1998199920002001200220032004
Ray Montgomery282.000$185kARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Jose Cabrera261.000$180kPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Trever Miller252.000$175kARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Richard Hidalgo231.000$170kPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
John Halama260.000$170kPre-ArbPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Scott Elarton220.000$170kPre-ArbPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Mitch Meluskey240.000$170kPre-ArbPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Russ Johnson251.000—Pre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Daryle Ward230.000—Pre-ArbPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Mike Grzanich25–—

Graphs

Every roster slot ranked best→worst by WAR. Bars = Astros 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.