RRosternomics
𝕏

Marlins MIA

‹ ›

GM: Dave Dombrowski

Overview

REBUILD ↘ cooling
cheap & losing · year 1 in this regime · payroll 0.43× league · TAB -12.4
-12.4TAB — talent above budget28th/30
-17.0WAB — realized wins (TAB + luck)30th/30
2.0depth — 2+ WAR regulars28th/30
-10.3dead WAR — sub-replacement drag29th/30
67%dead money %30th/30
0.333win %30th/30
11.5roster fWAR29th/30
-4surplus $M (value vs cost)13th/30
$18Mpayroll $M28th/30

Roster

CFTodd Dunwoody 111GMark Kotsay 46GJohn Cangelosi 33G
LFCliff Floyd 146GJohn Wehner 12GRyan Jackson 10G
RFMark Kotsay 107GRyan Jackson 23GJohn Wehner 11G
SSEdgar Renteria 129GÁlex González 25GDave Berg 17G
2BCraig Counsell 104GLuis Castillo 44GDave Berg 27G
3BKevin Orie 105GDave Berg 25GJohn Wehner 8G
1BDerrek Lee 132GRyan Jackson 44GBrian Daubach 4G
STARTERSBrian Meadows 1.6WARJesus Sanchez 1.3WARLivan Hernandez 0.6WARKirt Ojala 0.2WARJoe Fontenot -0.1WAR
CGregg Zaun 88GMike Redmond 37GRandy Knorr 15G
DHRyan Jackson 5GCliff Floyd 3G
BULLPEN★ Matt Mantei 9svVic Darensbourg 0hAntonio Alfonseca 0hBrian Edmondson 0hRob Stanifer 0hDonn Pall 0hJustin Speier 0hOscar Henriquez 0h
CGregg Zaun 88 · Mike Redmond 37 · Randy Knorr 15
1BDerrek Lee 132 · Ryan Jackson 44 · Brian Daubach 4
2BCraig Counsell 104 · Luis Castillo 44 · Dave Berg 27
3BKevin Orie 105 · Dave Berg 25 · John Wehner 8
SSEdgar Renteria 129 · Álex González 25 · Dave Berg 17
LFCliff Floyd 146 · John Wehner 12 · Ryan Jackson 10
CFTodd Dunwoody 111 · Mark Kotsay 46 · John Cangelosi 33
RFMark Kotsay 107 · Ryan Jackson 23 · John Wehner 11
DHRyan Jackson 5 · Cliff Floyd 3
SPBrian Meadows 1.6 · Jesus Sanchez 1.3 · Livan Hernandez 0.6 · Kirt Ojala 0.2 · Joe Fontenot -0.1
BP★ Matt Mantei 9 · Vic Darensbourg 0 · Antonio Alfonseca 0 · Brian Edmondson 0 · Rob Stanifer 0 · Donn Pall 0 · Justin Speier 0 · Oscar Henriquez 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
Mark Kotsay 22 pre-arb 1543.4 0.2 +3.5
Cliff Floyd 25 arb 1532.2 0.5 +1.9
Craig Counsell 27 arb 1071.8 0.2 +1.7
Brian Meadows 22 pre-arb 311.6 0.2 +1.6
Todd Dunwoody 23 pre-arb 1161.5 0.2 +1.5
Matt Mantei 24 arb 421.5 0.2 +1.3
Jesus Sanchez 23 pre-arb 371.3 0.2 +1.3
Mike Redmond 27 pre-arb 371.3 0.2 +1.3
Todd Zeile↔ LAD 32 FA-elig 661.2 1.3 -0.1
Vic Darensbourg 27 pre-arb 601.1 0.2 +1.0
Dave Berg 27 pre-arb 811.0 0.2 +1.0
Edgar Renteria 21 pre-arb 1330.9 0.3 +0.8
Livan Hernandez 23 pre-arb 350.6 1.5 -0.8
Charles Johnson↔ LAD 26 arb 310.6 0.8 -0.1
Derrek Lee 22 pre-arb 1410.5 0.2 +0.3
Bobby Bonilla↔ LAD 35 FA-elig 280.4 1.7 -1.2
Felix Heredia↔ CHC 23 pre-arb 410.3 0.1 +0.2
Kirt Ojala 29 pre-arb 410.2 0.2 -0.0
Kevin Millar 26 pre-arb 20.2 0.2 +0.0
Gary Sheffield↔ LAD 29 FA-elig 400.1 4.6 -4.5
Donn Pall 36 FA-elig 230.0 0.2 -0.2
Mike Piazza↔ LAD 29 FA-elig 5-0.0 0.3 -0.3
Gabe Gonzalez 26 pre-arb 3-0.0 0.2 -0.2
Brian Daubach 26 pre-arb 10-0.1 0.2 -0.3
Kevin Orie↔ CHC 25 pre-arb 48-0.1 0.1 -0.2
Josh Booty 23 pre-arb 7-0.1 0.2 -0.3
Joe Fontenot 21 pre-arb 8-0.1 0.2 -0.3
Jim Eisenreich↔ LAD 39 FA-elig 30-0.1 0.4 -0.6
Manuel Barrios↔ LAD 23 – 2-0.2 – –
John Roskos 23 – 10-0.2 – –
Rob Stanifer 26 pre-arb 38-0.2 0.2 -0.4
John Wehner 31 FA-elig 53-0.2 0.3 -0.5
Chris Hammond 32 – 3-0.2 – –
John Cangelosi 35 FA-elig 104-0.2 0.6 -0.8
Oscar Henriquez 24 pre-arb 15-0.2 0.2 -0.4
Randy Knorr 29 FA-elig 15-0.3 0.2 -0.6
Eric Ludwick 26 pre-arb 13-0.3 0.2 -0.5
Luis Castillo 22 pre-arb 44-0.4 0.2 -0.6
Rafael Medina 23 pre-arb 12-0.4 0.2 -0.6
Álex González 21 pre-arb 25-0.5 0.2 -0.7
Ryan Dempster 21 – 14-0.5 – –
Jay Powell↔ HOU 26 arb 33-0.6 0.2 -0.8
Preston Wilson↔ NYM 23 – 14-0.7 – –
Andy Larkin 24 pre-arb 17-0.7 0.2 -0.9
Ryan Jackson 26 pre-arb 111-0.7 0.2 -1.0
Gregg Zaun 27 arb 106-0.7 0.3 -1.1
Justin Speier↔ CHC 24 pre-arb 18-0.8 0.2 -1.0
Antonio Alfonseca 26 pre-arb 58-0.8 0.2 -1.1
Brian Edmondson↔ ATL 25 pre-arb 43-0.9 0.1 -1.1

Key additions (new vs 1997)

PlayerfWAR
Brian Meadows1.6
Matt Mantei1.5
Jesus Sanchez1.3
Mike Redmond1.3
Todd Zeile1.2
Vic Darensbourg1.1

Key subtractions (gone from 1997)

Player1997 fWAR
Kevin Brown6.4
Alex Fernandez3.7
Moises Alou3.3
Jeff Conine1.7
Devon White1.3
Al Leiter1.1

Current & Historical Payroll

1998 payroll
$18.0M

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 (10)

PlayerAgeSvc1998199920002001200220032004
Gary Sheffield2910.000$4.6MFREE AGENT
Bobby Bonilla3512.000$1.7MFREE AGENT
Todd Zeile329.000$1.3MFREE AGENT
John Cangelosi3513.000$550kFREE AGENT
Jim Eisenreich3916.000$400kFREE AGENT
John Wehner317.000$275kFREE AGENT
Mike Piazza296.000$265kFREE AGENT
Randy Knorr297.000$250kFREE AGENT
Donn Pall3610.000$200kFREE AGENT
Chris Hammond328.000—FREE AGENT

Arbitration-eligible (6)

PlayerAgeSvc1998199920002001200220032004
Charles Johnson264.000$769kARB 3FREE AGENT
Cliff Floyd255.000$500kFREE AGENT
Gregg Zaun273.000$280kARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Matt Mantei243.000$250kARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Craig Counsell273.000$185kARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Jay Powell263.000$170kARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT

Pre-arbitration (33)

PlayerAgeSvc1998199920002001200220032004
Livan Hernandez232.000$1.5MARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Edgar Renteria212.000$255kARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Kirt Ojala291.000$225kPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Luis Castillo222.000$200kARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Brian Daubach260.000$200kPre-ArbPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Rob Stanifer261.000$185kPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Antonio Alfonseca261.000$175kPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Andy Larkin242.000$172kARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Derrek Lee221.000$172kPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Todd Dunwoody231.000$172kPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Mark Kotsay221.000$171kPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Eric Ludwick262.000$171kARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Josh Booty232.000$170kARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Álex González210.000$170kPre-ArbPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Oscar Henriquez241.000$170kPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Jesus Sanchez230.000$170kPre-ArbPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Brian Meadows220.000$170kPre-ArbPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Kevin Millar260.000$170kPre-ArbPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Ryan Jackson260.000$170kPre-ArbPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Mike Redmond270.000$170kPre-ArbPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Dave Berg270.000$170kPre-ArbPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Gabe Gonzalez260.000$170kPre-ArbPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Joe Fontenot210.000$170kPre-ArbPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Rafael Medina230.000$170kPre-ArbPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Vic Darensbourg270.000$170kPre-ArbPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Justin Speier240.000$161kPre-ArbPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Brian Edmondson250.000$138kPre-ArbPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Felix Heredia232.000$130kARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Kevin Orie251.000$103kPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Manuel Barrios23–—
John Roskos23–—
Ryan Dempster210.000—Pre-ArbPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Preston Wilson230.000—Pre-ArbPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT

Graphs

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