RRosternomics
𝕏

Brewers MIL

‹ ›

GM: Sal Bando

Overview

REBUILD ↗ rising
cheap & losing · year 3 in this regime · payroll 0.54× league · TAB -5.5
-5.5TAB — talent above budget20th/28
-0.8WAB — realized wins (TAB + luck)16th/28
4.0depth — 2+ WAR regulars24th/28
-4.7dead WAR — sub-replacement drag12th/28
67%dead money %28th/28
0.451win %23rd/28
18.9roster fWAR24th/28
+0surplus $M (value vs cost)9th/28
$18Mpayroll $M26th/28

Roster

CFDarryl Hamilton 109GDavid Hulse 51GPat Listach 10G
LFDavid Hulse 67GB.J. Surhoff 54GTurner Ward 26G
RFMatt Mieske 108GDave Nilsson 47GTurner Ward 19G
SSJose Valentin 104GPat Listach 36GMark Loretta 13G
2BFernando Viña 99GPat Listach 59GJeff Cirillo 25G
3BJeff Cirillo 108GKevin Seitzer 88GPat Listach 2G
1BJohn Jaha 81GB.J. Surhoff 55GKevin Seitzer 36G
STARTERSSteve Sparks 2.4WARScott Karl 1.7WARBrian Givens 1.3WARRicky Bones 1.1WARAngel Miranda 0.2WAR
CJoe Oliver 91GMike Matheny 80GB.J. Surhoff 18G
DHGreg Vaughn 102GKevin Seitzer 14GDave Nilsson 13G
BULLPEN★ Mike Fetters 22svBill Wegman 0hRon Rightnowar 0hGraeme Lloyd 0hRob Dibble 0hKevin Wickander 0hAl Reyes 0hMike Ignasiak 0h
CJoe Oliver 91 · Mike Matheny 80 · B.J. Surhoff 18
1BJohn Jaha 81 · B.J. Surhoff 55 · Kevin Seitzer 36
2BFernando Viña 99 · Pat Listach 59 · Jeff Cirillo 25
3BJeff Cirillo 108 · Kevin Seitzer 88 · Pat Listach 2
SSJose Valentin 104 · Pat Listach 36 · Mark Loretta 13
LFDavid Hulse 67 · B.J. Surhoff 54 · Turner Ward 26
CFDarryl Hamilton 109 · David Hulse 51 · Pat Listach 10
RFMatt Mieske 108 · Dave Nilsson 47 · Turner Ward 19
DHGreg Vaughn 102 · Kevin Seitzer 14 · Dave Nilsson 13
SPSteve Sparks 2.4 · Scott Karl 1.7 · Brian Givens 1.3 · Ricky Bones 1.1 · Angel Miranda 0.2
BP★ Mike Fetters 22 · Bill Wegman 0 · Ron Rightnowar 0 · Graeme Lloyd 0 · Rob Dibble 0 · Kevin Wickander 0 · Al Reyes 0 · Mike Ignasiak 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.

1995 roster — value & surplus

PlayerAgeServiceGfWARSalary $MSurplus $M
B.J. Surhoff 30 FA-elig 1173.4 0.4 +2.9
John Jaha 29 arb 882.7 0.2 +2.4
Kevin Seitzer 33 FA-elig 1322.5 0.9 +1.5
Steve Sparks 30 pre-arb 332.4 0.1 +2.2
Scott Karl 23 pre-arb 251.7 0.1 +1.5
Jeff Cirillo 25 pre-arb 1251.6 0.1 +1.5
Brian Givens 29 pre-arb 191.3 0.1 +1.2
Ricky Bones 26 arb 321.1 0.6 +0.5
Darryl Hamilton 30 FA-elig 1121.0 2.1 -1.2
Joe Oliver 29 FA-elig 970.9 0.5 +0.4
Dave Nilsson 25 arb 810.8 0.3 +0.5
Jamie McAndrew 27 pre-arb 100.7 0.1 +0.5
Jose Valentin 25 arb 1120.5 0.2 +0.4
Turner Ward 30 arb 440.5 0.2 +0.2
Mike Fetters 30 FA-elig 400.5 0.9 -0.4
Fernando Viña 26 pre-arb 1130.4 0.1 +0.3
Angel Miranda 25 pre-arb 300.2 0.1 +0.1
Matt Mieske 27 pre-arb 1170.2 0.1 +0.1
Cal Eldred 27 arb 40.2 0.5 -0.3
Al Reyes 25 pre-arb 270.2 0.1 +0.0
Jeff Bronkey 29 pre-arb 80.1 0.1 -0.0
Bob Scanlan 28 arb 170.1 0.8 -0.7
Mark Kiefer 26 – 240.1 – –
Graeme Lloyd 28 pre-arb 330.1 0.2 -0.1
Mark Loretta 23 pre-arb 190.1 0.1 -0.0
Kevin Wickander↔ DET 30 FA-elig 80.1 0.0 +0.0
Ron Rightnowar 30 pre-arb 340.0 0.1 -0.1
Mike Matheny 24 pre-arb 800.0 0.1 -0.1
Mike Thomas 25 – 1-0.0 – –
Tim Unroe 24 – 2-0.0 – –
Bill Wegman 32 FA-elig 37-0.1 2.4 -2.5
Jose Mercedes 24 pre-arb 5-0.1 0.1 -0.3
Mike Ignasiak 29 arb 25-0.2 0.1 -0.3
Joe Slusarski 28 arb 12-0.2 0.1 -0.3
Sid Roberson 23 pre-arb 26-0.4 0.1 -0.4
Rob Dibble↔ CHW 31 FA-elig 15-0.4 0.2 -0.6
Derrick May↔ HOU 26 arb 32-0.5 0.1 -0.5
Greg Vaughn 29 FA-elig 108-0.5 4.9 -5.3
Duane Singleton 22 – 13-0.5 – –
Pat Listach 27 arb 101-0.7 0.5 -1.2
David Hulse 27 arb 119-1.1 0.2 -1.3

Key additions (new vs 1994)

PlayerfWAR
Steve Sparks2.4
Scott Karl1.7
Brian Givens1.3
Joe Oliver0.9
Jamie McAndrew0.7
Fernando Viña0.4

Key subtractions (gone from 1994)

Player1994 fWAR
Jody Reed1.5
Jaime Navarro1.0
Dave Valle0.6
Rick Wrona0.4
Bill Spiers0.2
Alex Diaz0.1

Current & Historical Payroll

1995 payroll
$18.0M

What the front office was committed to as of 1995, 1995–2001. 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 (9)

PlayerAgeSvc1995199619971998199920002001
Greg Vaughn296.000$4.9M$4.1MFREE AGENT
Bill Wegman3210.000$2.4MFREE AGENT
Darryl Hamilton307.000$2.1MFREE AGENT
Kevin Seitzer339.000$939k$986kFREE AGENT
Mike Fetters306.000$900k$1.7M$1.7MFREE AGENT
Joe Oliver296.000$462kFREE AGENT
B.J. Surhoff308.000$425kFREE AGENT
Rob Dibble317.000$200kFREE AGENT
Kevin Wickander306.000$44k$290kFREE AGENT

Arbitration-eligible (12)

PlayerAgeSvc1995199619971998199920002001
Bob Scanlan284.000$800kARB 3FREE AGENT
Ricky Bones264.000$582kARB 3FREE AGENT
Pat Listach273.000$500kARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Cal Eldred274.000$450kARB 3FREE AGENT
Dave Nilsson253.000$290kARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Turner Ward305.000$250kFREE AGENT
John Jaha293.000$229kARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
David Hulse273.000$220kARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Jose Valentin253.000$158kARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Mike Ignasiak294.000$125kARB 3FREE AGENT
Joe Slusarski284.000$109kARB 3FREE AGENT
Derrick May265.000$104kFREE AGENT

Pre-arbitration (20)

PlayerAgeSvc1995199619971998199920002001
Graeme Lloyd282.000$155kARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Matt Mieske272.000$135kARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Fernando Viña262.000$125kARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Jose Mercedes241.000$125kPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Jeff Bronkey292.000$116kARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Angel Miranda252.000$115kARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Mike Matheny241.000$110kPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Jeff Cirillo251.000$109kPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Brian Givens290.000$109kPre-ArbPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Mark Loretta230.000$109kPre-ArbPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Scott Karl230.000$109kPre-ArbPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Jamie McAndrew270.000$109kPre-ArbPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Al Reyes250.000$109kPre-ArbPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Ron Rightnowar300.000$109kPre-ArbPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Steve Sparks300.000$109kPre-ArbPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Sid Roberson230.000$109kPre-ArbPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Mark Kiefer262.000—ARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Duane Singleton22–—
Mike Thomas25–—
Tim Unroe240.000—Pre-ArbPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT

Graphs

Every roster slot ranked best→worst by WAR. Bars = Brewers 1995; 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.