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Royals KCR

198884–77 (0.522)
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GM: John Schuerholz

Overview

Ranks vs the 30 teams in 1988, or a custom range (defaults to every team-season since 1985, when our data starts).

to

Front Office

PoorAverageGreat
Value
Payroll $M
$14M
Surplus $M
-2
Win %
0.522
TAB
+0.3
WAB
+0.6
Roster composition
Roster fWAR
36.2
Dead money %
30%
Depth Players
7.0
Dead WAR
-4.5

Offense

PoorAverageGreat

Pitching & Defense

PoorAverageGreat

Roster

1988 depth chart — stacked by playing time

C

LJamie Quirk79
RMike Macfarlane68
RLarry Owen37
BScotti Madison4
REd Hearn4
RRey Palacios3
RBill Pecota1

1B

LGeorge Brett124
LBill Buckner⇄22
RSteve Balboni⇄21
RPat Tabler⇄12
RBill Pecota11
RLuis de los Santos5
BScotti Madison2
LJamie Quirk1

2B

RFrank White148
RBrad Wellman46
RBill Pecota3

3B

RKevin Seitzer147
RBill Pecota21
RBrad Wellman4
LJamie Quirk1
RPat Tabler⇄1
RRey Palacios1

SS

BKurt Stillwell124
RBill Pecota41
RBrad Wellman15
BDave Owen7
LGeorge Brett1

LF

RBo Jackson103
LJim Eisenreich30
RGary Thurman22
RPat Tabler⇄20
RBill Pecota3
RNick Capra2
BScotti Madison2
RKevin Seitzer1

CF

BWillie Wilson142
LJim Eisenreich15
RGary Thurman11
RNick Capra7
RBo Jackson5
LThad Bosley⇄4

RF

RDanny Tartabull130
LJim Eisenreich21
RBo Jackson15
RBill Pecota6
RPat Tabler⇄6
RNick Capra2
BScotti Madison1

DH

LBill Buckner⇄51
RPat Tabler⇄50
LGeorge Brett33
LJim Eisenreich12
RDanny Tartabull12
BScotti Madison4
RLuis de los Santos3
RFrank White3
RBo Jackson2
REd Hearn1
RKevin Seitzer1

Starters

RMark Gubicza6.2 WAR
RBret Saberhagen5.5 WAR
LCharlie Leibrandt3.4 WAR
RSteve Farr1.5 WAR
LFloyd Bannister1.2 WAR
RTed Power⇄0.5 WAR
RTom Gordon0.4 WAR
LIsrael Sanchez0.2 WAR
RLuis Aquino0.1 WAR
RRick Anderson0.0 WAR
RJose DeJesus-0.1 WAR

Bullpen

★ RSteve Farr20 sv
RJeff Montgomery0 h
LJerry Don Gleaton0 h
RGene Garber0 h
RDan Quisenberry⇄0 h
LIsrael Sanchez0 h
LBud Black⇄0 h
RRick Anderson0 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 1987)

PlayerfWAR
Kurt Stillwell2.8
Floyd Bannister1.2
Ted Power0.5
Pat Tabler0.5
Tom Gordon0.4
Brad Wellman0.3

Key subtractions (gone from 1987)

Player1987 fWAR
Danny Jackson4.3
John Davis0.6
Hal McRae0.2
Ross Jones0.1
Bob Stoddard0.1
Dave Gumpert0.0

Contract Value

WAR translated into tier-adjusted market value, then compared with what the player was paid by Royals. Guaranteed contracts from the 2015-present contract-data period use the known contract period through 1988; everyone else is shown as a 1988 season snapshot.

PlayerPeriodfWARTier Market $MPaid $MSurplus $M$ / WARTierContract
Mark Gubicza 1988 +6.2 +123.7 0.6 +123.1 $0.1M 2.50× –
Bret Saberhagen 1988 +5.5 +109.1 1.1 +108.0 $0.2M 2.50× –
George Brett 1988 +5.3 +58.2 2.3 +55.8 $0.4M 1.37× –
Charlie Leibrandt 1988 +3.4 +52.9 1.2 +51.7 $0.4M 1.96× –
Danny Tartabull 1988 +3.4 +42.9 0.3 +42.6 $0.1M 1.60× –
Kevin Seitzer 1988 +4.2 +42.0 0.2 +41.8 $0.0M 1.25× –
Kurt Stillwell 1988 +2.8 +26.5 0.1 +26.3 $0.0M 1.18× –
Bo Jackson 1988 +1.8 +17.2 0.4 +16.9 $0.2M 1.22× –
Steve Farr 1988 +1.5 +15.5 0.2 +15.3 $0.2M 1.34× –
Floyd Bannister 1988 +1.2 +10.1 0.9 +9.2 $0.7M 1.02× –
Ted Power↔ 1988 +0.5 +4.5 0.5 +4.0 $0.9M 1.02× –
Jamie Quirk 1988 +1.0 +4.3 0.3 +3.9 $0.3M 0.52× –
Mike Macfarlane 1988 +0.8 +3.3 0.1 +3.3 $0.1M 0.52× –
Pat Tabler↔ 1988 +0.5 +3.0 0.5 +2.4 $1.0M 0.69× –
Frank White 1988 +0.5 +2.4 0.8 +1.6 $1.5M 0.56× –
Jerry Don Gleaton 1988 +0.3 +1.6 0.1 +1.5 $0.4M 0.67× –
Dan Quisenberry↔ 1988 +0.4 +2.0 0.6 +1.4 $1.6M 0.67× –
Brad Wellman 1988 +0.3 +1.4 0.1 +1.3 $0.4M 0.56× –
Larry Owen 1988 +0.2 +0.9 0.1 +0.8 $0.5M 0.52× –
Bill Pecota 1988 +0.1 +0.6 0.1 +0.5 $0.6M 0.61× –
Bud Black↔ 1988 +0.1 +0.4 0.3 +0.1 $4.1M 0.67× –
Jeff Montgomery 1988 -0.1 -0.4 0.1 -0.4 – 0.67× –
Scotti Madison 1988 -0.1 -0.3 0.1 -0.4 – 0.52× –
Ed Hearn 1988 -0.2 -0.6 0.1 -0.7 – 0.52× –
Thad Bosley↔ 1988 -0.1 -0.9 0.1 -1.0 – 0.83× –
Willie Wilson 1988 -0.0 -0.1 1.4 -1.5 – 0.83× –
Steve Balboni↔ 1988 -0.7 -3.1 0.1 -3.2 – 0.56× –
Gene Garber 1988 -0.3 -3.1 0.5 -3.6 – 1.34× –
Bill Buckner↔ 1988 -0.7 -3.7 0.3 -4.0 – 0.69× –
Gary Thurman 1988 -0.7 -4.8 0.1 -4.9 – 0.83× –
Jim Eisenreich 1988 -0.8 -5.3 0.1 -5.4 – 0.83× –
Dave Owen 1988 -0.2 -1.0 – – – 0.61× –
Israel Sanchez 1988 +0.2 +1.3 – – – 0.67× –
Jose De Jesus 1988 -0.1 -0.5 – – – 1.02× –
Luis Aquino 1988 +0.1 +0.7 – – – 1.02× –
Luis de los Santos 1988 -0.2 -0.8 – – – 0.56× –
Mark Lee 1988 +0.0 +0.1 – – – 0.67× –
Nick Capra 1988 -0.3 -1.8 – – – 0.83× –
Rey Palacios 1988 -0.2 -0.7 – – – 0.52× –
Rick Anderson 1988 +0.0 +0.2 – – – 0.67× –
Tom Gordon 1988 +0.4 +2.0 – – – 0.67× –
Total—+36.0+499.713.7+486.4—

Trades

Every graded 1988 deal involving the Royals — best expected value first. Surplus is realized value in $M; 4 total.

1988 · KCR / SEA
KCR · John Schuerholz +$8.0M
Ken Spratke
SEA · Dick Balderson −$8.0M
Dave Cochrane
KCR came out ahead by $8.0M
1988 · KCR / CIN
KCR · John Schuerholz +$31.2M
Jeff Montgomery
CIN · Murray Cook −$31.2M
Van Snider
KCR came out ahead by $31.2M
1988 · CLE / KCR
CLE · Hank Peters +$95.2M
Buddy Black
KCR · John Schuerholz −$95.2M
Pat Tabler
CLE came out ahead by $95.2M
1988 · DET / KCR
DET · Bill Lajoie +$0.0M
Ted Power
KCR · John Schuerholz +$0.0M
Rey Palacios, Mark Lee
Even trade

Current & Historical Payroll

1988 payroll
$13.8M

What the front office was committed to as of 1988, 1988–1994. 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 (18)

PlayerAgeSvc1988198919901991199219931994
George Brett3515.000$2.3M$2.0M$2.3M$3.1M$3.1M$2.8MFREE AGENT
Willie Wilson3212.000$1.4M$2.1M$800kFREE AGENT
Charlie Leibrandt319.000$1.2M$1.2MFREE AGENT
Floyd Bannister3311.000$900k$900kFREE AGENT
Frank White3715.000$825k$1.0M$1.1MFREE AGENT
Dan Quisenberry359.000$590kFREE AGENT
Pat Tabler307.000$548k$825k$591kFREE AGENT
Gene Garber4019.000$500kFREE AGENT
Ted Power337.000$487kFREE AGENT
Jamie Quirk3313.000$335kFREE AGENT
Bill Buckner3819.000$330k$400kFREE AGENT
Bud Black317.000$327kFREE AGENT
Brad Wellman286.000$125k$155kFREE AGENT
Thad Bosley3111.000$120kFREE AGENT
Jerry Don Gleaton309.000$120kFREE AGENT
Larry Owen337.000$110kFREE AGENT
Jim Eisenreich296.000$90k$120k$475k$950k$1.6MFREE AGENT
Steve Balboni317.000$62kFREE AGENT

Arbitration-eligible (5)

PlayerAgeSvc1988198919901991199219931994
Bret Saberhagen244.000$1.1MARB 3FREE AGENT
Mark Gubicza254.000$635kARB 3FREE AGENT
Danny Tartabull254.000$330kARB 3FREE AGENT
Steve Farr314.000$225kARB 3FREE AGENT
Scotti Madison283.000$65kARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT

Pre-arbitration (18)

PlayerAgeSvc1988198919901991199219931994
Bo Jackson252.000$383kARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Kevin Seitzer262.000$175kARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Kurt Stillwell232.000$138kARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Ed Hearn272.000$80kARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Bill Pecota282.000$65kARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Jeff Montgomery261.000$64kPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Mike Macfarlane241.000$62kPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Gary Thurman231.000$62kPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Rick Anderson31–—
Luis Aquino242.000—ARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Nick Capra30–—
Jose De Jesus230.000—Pre-ArbPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Luis de los Santos21–—
Tom Gordon200.000—Pre-ArbPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Mark Lee230.000—Pre-ArbPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Dave Owen30–—
Rey Palacios250.000—Pre-ArbPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Israel Sanchez240.000—Pre-ArbPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT

Graphs

How each 1988 acquisition stacked onto Royals'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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