RRosternomics
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Marlins MIA

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GM: Dave Dombrowski

Overview

WINDOW ↗ rising
cheap & winning · year 2 in this regime · payroll 0.9× league · TAB +4.9
+4.9TAB — talent above budget8th/28
-0.6WAB — realized wins (TAB + luck)18th/28
8.0depth — 2+ WAR regulars9th/28
-4.8dead WAR — sub-replacement drag10th/28
24%dead money %13th/28
0.494win %16th/28
37.9roster fWAR9th/28
+2surplus $M (value vs cost)6th/28
$30Mpayroll $M16th/28

Roster

CFDevon White 139GJesus Tavarez 30GJoe Orsulak 14G
LFJeff Conine 128GJoe Orsulak 30GJesus Tavarez 25G
RFGary Sheffield 161GJoe Orsulak 19GJesus Tavarez 12G
SSEdgar Renteria 106GKurt Abbott 44GAlex Arias 20G
2BQuilvio Veras 67GLuis Castillo 41GCraig Grebeck 29G
3BAlex Arias 59GKurt Abbott 33GJosh Booty 1G
1BGreg Colbrunn 134GJeff Conine 48GJoe Orsulak 2G
STARTERSKevin Brown 6.7WARAl Leiter 3.1WARPat Rapp 0.8WARMark Hutton 0.7WARRick Helling 0.7WAR
CCharles Johnson 120GGregg Zaun 59GRob Natal 43G
BULLPEN★ Robb Nen 35svJay Powell 0hYorkis Perez 0hFélix Heredia 0hMatt Mantei 0hDonn Pall 0hJoel Adamson 0hMiguel Batista 0h
CCharles Johnson 120 · Gregg Zaun 59 · Rob Natal 43
1BGreg Colbrunn 134 · Jeff Conine 48 · Joe Orsulak 2
2BQuilvio Veras 67 · Luis Castillo 41 · Craig Grebeck 29
3BAlex Arias 59 · Kurt Abbott 33 · Josh Booty 1
SSEdgar Renteria 106 · Kurt Abbott 44 · Alex Arias 20
LFJeff Conine 128 · Joe Orsulak 30 · Jesus Tavarez 25
CFDevon White 139 · Jesus Tavarez 30 · Joe Orsulak 14
RFGary Sheffield 161 · Joe Orsulak 19 · Jesus Tavarez 12
SPKevin Brown 6.7 · Al Leiter 3.1 · Pat Rapp 0.8 · Mark Hutton 0.7 · Rick Helling 0.7
BP★ Robb Nen 35 · Jay Powell 0 · Yorkis Perez 0 · Félix Heredia 0 · Matt Mantei 0 · Donn Pall 0 · Joel Adamson 0 · Miguel Batista 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.

1996 roster — value & surplus

PlayerAgeServiceGfWARSalary $MSurplus $M
Kevin Brown 31 FA-elig 346.7 3.4 +2.3
Gary Sheffield 27 FA-elig 1616.5 6.1 -0.7
Jeff Conine 30 FA-elig 1574.4 1.8 +1.9
Edgar Renteria 19 pre-arb 1063.5 0.1 +2.9
Devon White 33 FA-elig 1463.2 3.0 -0.3
Al Leiter 30 FA-elig 333.1 2.8 -0.2
Robb Nen 26 arb 752.7 0.3 +2.0
John Burkett↔ TEX 31 FA-elig 242.5 2.5 -0.4
Charles Johnson 24 pre-arb 1201.7 0.2 +1.2
Greg Colbrunn 26 arb 1411.7 1.2 +0.2
Alex Arias 28 arb 1001.1 0.4 +0.5
Quilvio Veras 25 pre-arb 731.0 0.2 +0.6
Luis Castillo 20 pre-arb 411.0 0.1 +0.7
Pat Rapp 28 arb 300.8 0.3 +0.3
Mark Hutton↔ NYY 26 arb 130.7 0.1 +0.5
Rick Helling↔ TEX 25 – 50.7 – –
Yorkis Perez 28 arb 640.4 0.2 +0.2
David Weathers↔ NYY 26 arb 320.4 0.2 +0.2
Gregg Zaun↔ BAL 25 pre-arb 100.2 0.0 +0.1
Livan Hernandez 21 – 10.1 – –
Jay Powell 24 pre-arb 670.1 0.1 -0.1
Jerry Brooks 29 – 80.0 – –
Miguel Batista 25 arb 90.0 0.1 -0.1
Josh Booty 21 – 20.0 – –
Bill Hurst 26 – 20.0 – –
Russ Morman 34 – 6-0.0 – –
Felix Heredia 21 pre-arb 21-0.0 0.1 -0.1
Andy Larkin 22 – 1-0.0 – –
Joel Adamson 24 – 9-0.1 – –
Terry Pendleton↔ ATL 35 FA-elig 111-0.1 1.2 -1.2
Craig Grebeck 31 FA-elig 50-0.1 0.4 -0.5
Ralph Milliard 22 – 24-0.1 – –
Terry Mathews↔ BAL 31 arb 57-0.1 0.2 -0.3
Alejandro Pena 37 FA-elig 4-0.1 0.8 -0.9
Matt Mantei 22 pre-arb 14-0.2 0.1 -0.3
Marc Valdes 24 pre-arb 11-0.2 0.1 -0.3
Kurt Miller 23 pre-arb 26-0.2 0.1 -0.3
Andre Dawson 41 FA-elig 42-0.2 0.5 -0.7
Kurt Abbott 27 arb 109-0.2 0.2 -0.4
Donn Pall 34 – 12-0.2 – –
Jesus Tavarez 25 pre-arb 98-0.2 0.1 -0.3
Joe Siddall 28 – 18-0.4 – –
Chris Hammond 30 FA-elig 38-0.4 1.6 -2.0
Joe Orsulak 34 FA-elig 120-0.5 0.6 -1.0
Billy McMillon 24 pre-arb 28-0.5 0.1 -0.5
Rob Natal 30 arb 44-0.9 0.2 -0.9

Key additions (new vs 1995)

PlayerfWAR
Kevin Brown6.7
Edgar Renteria3.5
Devon White3.2
Al Leiter3.1
Luis Castillo1.0
Mark Hutton0.7

Key subtractions (gone from 1995)

Player1995 fWAR
Bobby Witt1.8
Chuck Carr0.5
Mark Gardner0.4
Steve Decker0.3
Jerry Browne0.3
Rich Garces0.2

Current & Historical Payroll

1996 payroll
$29.6M

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 (14)

PlayerAgeSvc1996199719981999200020012002
Gary Sheffield278.000$6.1M$6.1M$10.3MFREE AGENT
Kevin Brown3110.000$3.4M$4.5MFREE AGENT
Devon White3311.000$3.0M$3.4MFREE AGENT
Al Leiter309.000$2.8M$2.9MFREE AGENT
John Burkett319.000$2.5MFREE AGENT
Jeff Conine306.000$1.8M$2.8MFREE AGENT
Chris Hammond306.000$1.6MFREE AGENT
Terry Pendleton3512.000$1.2MFREE AGENT
Alejandro Pena3715.000$750kFREE AGENT
Joe Orsulak3413.000$625kFREE AGENT
Andre Dawson4120.000$500kFREE AGENT
Craig Grebeck316.000$400kFREE AGENT
Russ Morman3410.000—FREE AGENT
Donn Pall348.000—FREE AGENT$200k

Arbitration-eligible (12)

PlayerAgeSvc1996199719981999200020012002
Greg Colbrunn264.000$1.2MARB 3FREE AGENT
Alex Arias284.000$412kARB 3FREE AGENT
Pat Rapp284.000$350kARB 3FREE AGENT
Robb Nen263.000$340kARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Kurt Abbott273.000$250kARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Terry Mathews315.000$235kFREE AGENT
Yorkis Perez285.000$188kFREE AGENT
David Weathers265.000$167kFREE AGENT
Rob Natal304.000$165kARB 3FREE AGENT
Miguel Batista254.000$120kARB 3FREE AGENT
Mark Hutton263.000$62kARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Joe Siddall283.000—ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT

Pre-arbitration (20)

PlayerAgeSvc1996199719981999200020012002
Quilvio Veras251.000$230kPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Charles Johnson242.000$220kARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Jesus Tavarez252.000$134kARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Matt Mantei221.000$130kPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Kurt Miller232.000$118kARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Jay Powell241.000$118kPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Marc Valdes241.000$118kPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Edgar Renteria190.000$110kPre-ArbPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Luis Castillo200.000$109kPre-ArbPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Felix Heredia210.000$109kPre-ArbPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Billy McMillon240.000$109kPre-ArbPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Gregg Zaun251.000$23kPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Joel Adamson240.000—Pre-ArbPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Josh Booty210.000—Pre-ArbPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Jerry Brooks29–—
Rick Helling252.000—ARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Livan Hernandez210.000—Pre-ArbPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Bill Hurst26–—
Andy Larkin220.000—Pre-ArbPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Ralph Milliard22–—

Graphs

Every roster slot ranked best→worst by WAR. Bars = Marlins 1996; 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.