RRosternomics
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Brewers MIL

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GM: Sal Bando

Overview

REBUILD ↗ rising
cheap & losing · year 4 in this regime · payroll 0.62× league · TAB -0.5
-0.5TAB — talent above budget15th/28
+4.4WAB — realized wins (TAB + luck)9th/28
8.0depth — 2+ WAR regulars9th/28
-8.1dead WAR — sub-replacement drag23rd/28
31%dead money %23rd/28
0.494win %16th/28
27.8roster fWAR19th/28
+4surplus $M (value vs cost)5th/28
$20Mpayroll $M25th/28

Roster

CFPat Listach 66GGerald Williams 39GDavid Hulse 37G
LFMarc Newfield 79GDavid Hulse 24GTurner Ward 15G
RFMatt Mieske 108GDave Nilsson 55GJeromy Burnitz 29G
SSJose Valentin 151GMark Loretta 21GPat Listach 7G
2BFernando Viña 137GMark Loretta 28GPat Listach 12G
3BJeff Cirillo 154GMark Loretta 23GKevin Seitzer 12G
1BJohn Jaha 85GDave Nilsson 24GTim Unroe 11G
STARTERSBen McDonald 4.2WARScott Karl 2.4WARCal Eldred 1.3WARAngel Miranda 0.7WARTim Van Egmond 0.7WAR
CMike Matheny 104GJesse Levis 90GKelly Stinnett 14G
DHJohn Jaha 63GDave Nilsson 39GJeff Cirillo 2G
BULLPEN★ Mike Fetters 32svBob Wickman 0hBryce Florie 0hDoug Jones 0hRon Villone 0hRamon Garcia 0hMarshall Boze 0hMike Potts 0h
CMike Matheny 104 · Jesse Levis 90 · Kelly Stinnett 14
1BJohn Jaha 85 · Dave Nilsson 24 · Tim Unroe 11
2BFernando Viña 137 · Mark Loretta 28 · Pat Listach 12
3BJeff Cirillo 154 · Mark Loretta 23 · Kevin Seitzer 12
SSJose Valentin 151 · Mark Loretta 21 · Pat Listach 7
LFMarc Newfield 79 · David Hulse 24 · Turner Ward 15
CFPat Listach 66 · Gerald Williams 39 · David Hulse 37
RFMatt Mieske 108 · Dave Nilsson 55 · Jeromy Burnitz 29
DHJohn Jaha 63 · Dave Nilsson 39 · Jeff Cirillo 2
SPBen McDonald 4.2 · Scott Karl 2.4 · Cal Eldred 1.3 · Angel Miranda 0.7 · Tim Van Egmond 0.7
BP★ Mike Fetters 32 · Bob Wickman 0 · Bryce Florie 0 · Doug Jones 0 · Ron Villone 0 · Ramon Garcia 0 · Marshall Boze 0 · Mike Potts 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
Jeff Cirillo 26 pre-arb 1584.2 0.2 +3.4
Ben McDonald 28 FA-elig 354.2 2.0 +1.5
Jose Valentin 26 arb 1544.0 0.3 +3.1
John Jaha 30 arb 1483.7 1.1 +2.0
Kevin Seitzer↔ CLE 34 FA-elig 1322.7 1.0 +1.3
Scott Karl 24 pre-arb 322.4 0.2 +1.9
Greg Vaughn↔ SDP 30 FA-elig 1022.3 4.1 -2.2
Dave Nilsson 26 arb 1232.3 1.1 +0.9
Mike Fetters 31 FA-elig 611.4 1.7 -0.5
Cal Eldred 28 arb 151.3 0.7 +0.3
Fernando Viña 27 arb 1401.1 0.2 +0.8
Chuck Carr 28 FA-elig 270.8 0.3 +0.4
Graeme Lloyd↔ NYY 29 arb 520.8 0.2 +0.5
Angel Miranda 26 arb 460.7 0.1 +0.5
Tim Van Egmond 27 pre-arb 120.7 0.1 +0.5
Doug Jones↔ CHC 39 FA-elig 240.7 0.4 +0.2
Matt Mieske 28 arb 1270.7 0.2 +0.4
Marc Newfield↔ SDP 23 arb 490.5 0.1 +0.4
Jesse Levis 28 arb 1040.3 0.1 +0.1
Brian Banks 25 – 40.2 – –
Tim Unroe 25 – 140.2 – –
Gerald Williams↔ NYY 29 arb 260.2 0.0 +0.1
Kevin Wickander 31 FA-elig 210.1 0.3 -0.2
Todd Dunn 25 – 60.1 – –
Jeff D'Amico 20 pre-arb 170.0 0.1 -0.1
Brian Givens 30 pre-arb 40.0 0.1 -0.1
Mark Kiefer 27 arb 70.0 0.1 -0.1
Cris Carpenter 31 FA-elig 80.0 0.1 -0.1
Jeromy Burnitz↔ CLE 27 arb 23-0.0 0.0 -0.1
Al Reyes 26 – 5-0.0 – –
Bob Wickman↔ NYY 27 arb 12-0.1 0.1 -0.2
Turner Ward 31 FA-elig 43-0.1 0.4 -0.5
Bryce Florie↔ SDP 26 pre-arb 15-0.2 0.0 -0.2
Terry Burrows 27 – 8-0.2 – –
Danny Perez 25 – 4-0.2 – –
Ricky Bones↔ NYY 27 arb 33-0.2 1.3 -1.5
Ron Villone↔ SDP 26 pre-arb 23-0.3 0.1 -0.4
Kevin Koslofski 29 – 25-0.4 – –
Mark Loretta 24 pre-arb 73-0.4 0.1 -0.4
David Hulse 28 arb 81-0.4 0.3 -0.6
Mike Potts 25 pre-arb 24-0.4 0.1 -0.5
Jose Mercedes 25 – 11-0.5 – –
Kelly Stinnett 26 pre-arb 14-0.6 0.1 -0.6
Marshall Boze 25 – 25-0.6 – –
Ramon Garcia 27 arb 37-0.7 0.1 -0.7
Mike Matheny 25 pre-arb 106-0.8 0.1 -0.9
Steve Sparks 31 pre-arb 20-0.9 0.2 -0.9
Pat Listach 28 arb 87-1.1 2.2 -3.2

Key additions (new vs 1995)

PlayerfWAR
Ben McDonald4.2
Chuck Carr0.8
Tim Van Egmond0.7
Doug Jones0.7
Marc Newfield0.5
Jesse Levis0.3

Key subtractions (gone from 1995)

Player1995 fWAR
B.J. Surhoff3.4
Darryl Hamilton1.0
Joe Oliver0.9
Jamie McAndrew0.7
Jeff Bronkey0.1
Bob Scanlan0.1

Current & Historical Payroll

1996 payroll
$20.2M

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 (9)

PlayerAgeSvc1996199719981999200020012002
Greg Vaughn307.000$4.1MFREE AGENT
Ben McDonald287.000$2.0M$5.0MFREE AGENT
Mike Fetters317.000$1.7M$1.7MFREE AGENT
Kevin Seitzer3410.000$986kFREE AGENT
Turner Ward316.000$400kFREE AGENT
Doug Jones3914.000$381k$600k$1.7MFREE AGENT
Chuck Carr286.000$325k$230kFREE AGENT
Kevin Wickander317.000$290kFREE AGENT
Cris Carpenter318.000$150kFREE AGENT

Arbitration-eligible (19)

PlayerAgeSvc1996199719981999200020012002
Pat Listach284.000$2.2MARB 3FREE AGENT
Ricky Bones275.000$1.3MFREE AGENT
John Jaha304.000$1.1MARB 3FREE AGENT
Dave Nilsson264.000$1.1MARB 3FREE AGENT
Cal Eldred285.000$712kFREE AGENT
Jose Valentin264.000$300kARB 3FREE AGENT
David Hulse284.000$270kARB 3FREE AGENT
Matt Mieske283.000$200kARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Fernando Viña273.000$190kARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Graeme Lloyd293.000$172kARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Jesse Levis284.000$150kARB 3FREE AGENT
Bob Wickman274.000$146kARB 3FREE AGENT
Angel Miranda263.000$135kARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Mark Kiefer273.000$130kARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Ramon Garcia275.000$109kFREE AGENT
Marc Newfield233.000$52kARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Jeromy Burnitz273.000$46kARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Gerald Williams294.000$42kARB 3FREE AGENT
Kevin Koslofski294.000—ARB 3FREE AGENT

Pre-arbitration (20)

PlayerAgeSvc1996199719981999200020012002
Jeff Cirillo262.000$188kARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Steve Sparks311.000$175kPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Scott Karl241.000$155kPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Mike Matheny252.000$150kARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Kelly Stinnett262.000$148kARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Brian Givens301.000$135kPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Tim Van Egmond272.000$115kARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Jeff D'Amico200.000$109kPre-ArbPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Mike Potts250.000$109kPre-ArbPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Mark Loretta241.000$109kPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Ron Villone261.000$68kPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Bryce Florie262.000$48kARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Brian Banks250.000—Pre-ArbPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Marshall Boze25–—
Terry Burrows272.000—ARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Todd Dunn25–—
Jose Mercedes252.000—ARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Danny Perez25–—
Al Reyes261.000—Pre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Tim Unroe251.000—Pre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT

Graphs

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