RRosternomics
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Twins MIN

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GM: Terry Ryan

Overview

REBUILD ↘ cooling
cheap & losing · year 2 in this regime · payroll 0.65× league · TAB -19.2
-19.2TAB — talent above budget30th/30
-6.4WAB — realized wins (TAB + luck)22nd/30
2.0depth — 2+ WAR regulars28th/30
-11.1dead WAR — sub-replacement drag30th/30
60%dead money %29th/30
0.432win %24th/30
9.8roster fWAR30th/30
-15surplus $M (value vs cost)24th/30
$27Mpayroll $M23rd/30

Roster

CFOtis Nixon 108GMatt Lawton III 47GChris Latham 15G
LFMarty Cordova 115GAlex Ochoa 21GDenny Hocking 17G
RFMatt Lawton III 100GAlex Ochoa 52GDenny Hocking 7G
SSPat Meares 149GDenny Hocking 28GBrent Gates 1G
2BTodd Walker 140GDenny Hocking 46GBrent Gates 21G
3BBrent Gates 77GRon Coomer 75GJon Shave 15G
1BDavid Ortiz 70GRon Coomer 54GOrlando Merced 38G
STARTERSBrad Radke 4.1WARBob Tewksbury 1.9WARLaTroy Hawkins 1.6WAREric Milton 1.4WARFrankie Rodriguez 1.3WAR
CTerry Steinbach 119GJavier Valentin 53GA.J. Pierzynski 6G
DHPaul Molitor 115GRon Coomer 12GDavid Ortiz 10G
BULLPEN★ Rick Aguilera 38svEddie Guardado 0hMike Trombley 0hHector Carrasco 0hDan Naulty 0hTodd Ritchie 0hTravis Miller 0hTravis Baptist 0h
CTerry Steinbach 119 · Javier Valentin 53 · A.J. Pierzynski 6
1BDavid Ortiz 70 · Ron Coomer 54 · Orlando Merced 38
2BTodd Walker 140 · Denny Hocking 46 · Brent Gates 21
3BBrent Gates 77 · Ron Coomer 75 · Jon Shave 15
SSPat Meares 149 · Denny Hocking 28 · Brent Gates 1
LFMarty Cordova 115 · Alex Ochoa 21 · Denny Hocking 17
CFOtis Nixon 108 · Matt Lawton III 47 · Chris Latham 15
RFMatt Lawton III 100 · Alex Ochoa 52 · Denny Hocking 7
DHPaul Molitor 115 · Ron Coomer 12 · David Ortiz 10
SPBrad Radke 4.1 · Bob Tewksbury 1.9 · LaTroy Hawkins 1.6 · Eric Milton 1.4 · Frankie Rodriguez 1.3
BP★ Rick Aguilera 38 · Eddie Guardado 0 · Mike Trombley 0 · Hector Carrasco 0 · Dan Naulty 0 · Todd Ritchie 0 · Travis Miller 0 · Travis Baptist 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
Brad Radke 25 arb 324.1 1.4 +3.1
Matt Lawton III 26 arb 1523.1 0.2 +3.1
Bob Tewksbury 37 FA-elig 261.9 1.8 +0.3
Terry Steinbach 36 FA-elig 1241.7 2.9 -1.0
LaTroy Hawkins 25 arb 331.6 0.2 +1.5
Eric Milton 22 pre-arb 321.4 0.2 +1.3
Rick Aguilera 36 FA-elig 681.4 2.8 -1.3
Frankie Rodriguez 25 arb 201.3 0.4 +0.9
Mike Morgan↔ CHC 38 FA-elig 181.0 1.0 +0.0
Todd Walker 25 pre-arb 1430.9 0.2 +0.8
Benj Sampson 23 – 50.6 – –
Hector Carrasco 28 arb 630.5 0.7 -0.2
Travis Miller 25 – 140.4 – –
David Ortiz 22 pre-arb 860.4 0.2 +0.3
Dan Serafini 24 pre-arb 280.4 0.2 +0.3
Todd Ritchie 26 pre-arb 150.3 0.2 +0.1
Greg Swindell↔ BOS 33 FA-elig 520.1 0.8 -0.8
Eddie Guardado 27 arb 79-0.0 0.7 -0.7
Dan Naulty 28 pre-arb 19-0.0 0.2 -0.2
Mike Trombley 31 FA-elig 77-0.1 0.4 -0.5
A.J. Pierzynski 21 pre-arb 7-0.1 0.2 -0.2
Pat Meares 29 arb 149-0.1 2.5 -2.6
Jon Shave 30 – 19-0.1 – –
Scott Stahoviak 28 – 9-0.2 – –
Doug Mientkiewicz 24 – 8-0.3 – –
Travis Baptist 26 pre-arb 13-0.3 0.2 -0.5
Corey Koskie 25 – 11-0.4 – –
Orlando Merced↔ BOS 31 FA-elig 63-0.4 0.6 -1.0
Torii Hunter 22 – 6-0.5 – –
Ron Coomer 31 arb 137-0.5 0.3 -0.8
Otis Nixon 39 FA-elig 110-0.6 2.0 -2.6
Brent Gates 28 arb 107-0.6 0.3 -1.0
Paul Molitor 41 FA-elig 126-0.8 4.2 -5.1
Denny Hocking 28 arb 110-0.8 0.2 -1.0
Chris Latham 25 – 34-0.9 – –
Javier Valentin 22 pre-arb 55-1.0 0.2 -1.2
Marty Cordova 28 arb 119-1.7 2.0 -3.8
Alex Ochoa 26 arb 94-2.1 0.2 -2.4

Key additions (new vs 1997)

PlayerfWAR
Eric Milton1.4
Mike Morgan1.0
Benj Sampson0.6
Hector Carrasco0.5
A.J. Pierzynski-0.1
Jon Shave-0.1

Key subtractions (gone from 1997)

Player1997 fWAR
Chuck Knoblauch6.2
Rich Becker2.2
Greg Myers0.7
Rich Robertson0.3
Brent Brede0.2
Roberto Kelly0.1

Current & Historical Payroll

1998 payroll
$27.1M

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 (9)

PlayerAgeSvc1998199920002001200220032004
Paul Molitor4120.000$4.2MFREE AGENT
Terry Steinbach3612.000$2.9M$1.0MFREE AGENT
Rick Aguilera3613.000$2.8M$3.1MFREE AGENT
Otis Nixon3915.000$2.0MFREE AGENT
Bob Tewksbury3712.000$1.8MFREE AGENT
Mike Morgan3820.000$1.0MFREE AGENT
Greg Swindell3312.000$835kFREE AGENT
Orlando Merced318.000$600kFREE AGENT
Mike Trombley316.000$425k$1.5MFREE AGENT

Arbitration-eligible (14)

PlayerAgeSvc1998199920002001200220032004
Pat Meares295.000$2.5MFREE AGENT
Marty Cordova283.000$2.0MARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Brad Radke253.000$1.4MARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Hector Carrasco284.000$700kARB 3FREE AGENT
Eddie Guardado275.000$650kFREE AGENT
Frankie Rodriguez253.000$425kARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Brent Gates285.000$350kFREE AGENT
Ron Coomer313.000$325kARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Matt Lawton III263.000$215kARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Denny Hocking285.000$185kFREE AGENT
Alex Ochoa263.000$182kARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
LaTroy Hawkins253.000$180kARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Jon Shave305.000—FREE AGENT
Scott Stahoviak285.000—FREE AGENT

Pre-arbitration (15)

PlayerAgeSvc1998199920002001200220032004
Dan Naulty282.000$185kARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Todd Ritchie261.000$180kPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Todd Walker252.000$175kARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Dan Serafini242.000$170kARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
David Ortiz221.000$170kPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Javier Valentin221.000$170kPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Eric Milton220.000$170kPre-ArbPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Travis Baptist260.000$170kPre-ArbPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
A.J. Pierzynski210.000$170kPre-ArbPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Torii Hunter221.000—Pre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Chris Latham251.000—Pre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Travis Miller252.000—ARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Corey Koskie250.000—Pre-ArbPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Benj Sampson230.000—Pre-ArbPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Doug Mientkiewicz240.000—Pre-ArbPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT

Graphs

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