Rosternomics
Log in Sign up 𝕏

Yankees NYY

198885–76 (0.528)
‹ Previous Next ›

GM: Lou Piniella

Overview

Ranks vs the 30 teams in 1988, or a custom range (defaults to every team-season since 1985, when our data starts).

to

Front Office

PoorAverageGreat
Value
Payroll $M
$19M
Surplus $M
-9
Win %
0.528
TAB
-8.5
WAB
-2.7
Roster composition
Roster fWAR
31.5
Dead money %
32%
Depth Players
8.0
Dead WAR
-6.3

Offense

PoorAverageGreat

Pitching & Defense

PoorAverageGreat

Roster

1988 depth chart — stacked by playing time

C

RDon Slaught94
RJoel Skinner85
RBob Geren10

1B

LDon Mattingly143
RGary Ward11
RJack Clark10
LKen Phelps⇄2
RJoel Skinner1
LChris Chambliss1

2B

RWillie Randolph110
RRandy Velarde24
BBobby Meacham21
BWayne Tolleson12
RLuis Aguayo⇄8
RAlvaro Espinoza2

3B

LMike Pagliarulo124
RLuis Aguayo⇄24
RRandy Velarde11
BWayne Tolleson10
BBobby Meacham5
RGary Ward2

SS

RRafael Santana148
BBobby Meacham24
RLuis Aguayo⇄18
RRandy Velarde14
RAlvaro Espinoza1
BWayne Tolleson1

LF

RRickey Henderson135
RGary Ward17
LClaudell Washington13
RJack Clark5
LJose Cruz4
LHal Morris3
LDon Mattingly1
RJoel Skinner1
RRoberto Kelly1

CF

LClaudell Washington103
RGary Ward39
RRoberto Kelly28
RRickey Henderson3

RF

RDave Winfield141
RJack Clark14
LClaudell Washington8
LJose Cruz4
RGary Ward3
LHal Morris2
RRoberto Kelly2
RJoel Skinner1

DH

RJack Clark107
LKen Phelps⇄43
LJose Cruz11
RGary Ward5
RDave Winfield4
RRickey Henderson3
RDon Slaught1
LDon Mattingly1
RRick Rhoden1

Starters

LJohn Candelaria3.4 WAR
LTommy John2.9 WAR
RRick Rhoden1.9 WAR
RCharles Hudson1.0 WAR
LAl Leiter0.5 WAR
LRon Guidry0.5 WAR
LLee Guetterman0.2 WAR
LPat Clements-0.0 WAR
RNeil Allen-0.1 WAR
RRichard Dotson-0.4 WAR
RDave Eiland-0.5 WAR
RScott Nielsen-0.7 WAR

Bullpen

★ LDave Righetti25 sv
RCecilio Guante⇄0 h
RNeil Allen0 h
RSteve Shields0 h
RTim Stoddard0 h
LLee Guetterman0 h
LHipolito Pena0 h
RDale Mohorcic⇄0 h

Each position shows its top 3 by games (top = starter) — click "+more" for the rest. The letter is bats/throws; ⇄ marks a player traded mid-season. Starters are ranked by WAR, bullpen by holds; ★ marks the closer (most save chances). MLB Stats API.

Key additions (new vs 1987)

PlayerfWAR
John Candelaria3.4
Jack Clark2.8
Don Slaught2.1
Ken Phelps0.8
Dale Mohorcic0.4
Steve Shields0.3

Key subtractions (gone from 1987)

Player1987 fWAR
Rick Cerone0.9
Joe Niekro0.8
Bill Gullickson0.6
Ron Kittle0.5
Henry Cotto0.4
Dan Pasqua0.4

Contract Value

WAR translated into tier-adjusted market value, then compared with what the player was paid by Yankees. Guaranteed contracts from the 2015-present contract-data period use the known contract period through 1988; everyone else is shown as a 1988 season snapshot.

PlayerPeriodfWARTier Market $MPaid $MSurplus $M$ / WARTierContract
Rickey Henderson 1988 +5.5 +89.5 1.8 +87.8 $0.3M 2.05× –
Dave Winfield 1988 +5.0 +71.0 2.0 +69.1 $0.4M 1.79× –
John Candelaria 1988 +3.4 +53.1 0.7 +52.4 $0.2M 1.96× –
Tommy John 1988 +2.9 +45.5 0.4 +45.1 $0.1M 1.96× –
Claudell Washington 1988 +2.9 +37.1 0.5 +36.7 $0.2M 1.60× –
Jack Clark 1988 +2.8 +30.1 1.5 +28.6 $0.5M 1.33× –
Don Mattingly 1988 +3.3 +28.1 2.0 +26.1 $0.6M 1.07× –
Rick Rhoden 1988 +1.9 +23.0 0.9 +22.1 $0.5M 1.49× –
Dave Righetti 1988 +1.4 +14.9 1.3 +13.6 $0.9M 1.34× –
Don Slaught 1988 +2.1 +12.6 0.5 +12.1 $0.3M 0.76× –
Willie Randolph 1988 +1.8 +11.4 0.9 +10.6 $0.5M 0.82× –
Charles Hudson 1988 +1.0 +5.4 0.5 +4.9 $0.4M 0.67× –
Ken Phelps↔ 1988 +0.8 +4.5 0.3 +4.2 $0.3M 0.69× –
Dale Mohorcic↔ 1988 +0.4 +4.1 0.0 +4.0 $0.1M 1.34× –
Al Leiter 1988 +0.5 +3.9 0.1 +3.9 $0.1M 1.02× –
Joel Skinner 1988 +0.7 +3.1 0.1 +3.0 $0.1M 0.52× –
Ron Guidry 1988 +0.5 +3.7 0.8 +2.9 $1.8M 1.02× –
Steve Shields 1988 +0.3 +1.6 0.1 +1.5 $0.4M 0.67× –
Lee Guetterman 1988 +0.2 +1.2 0.1 +1.0 $0.6M 0.67× –
Cecilio Guante↔ 1988 +0.2 +1.2 0.3 +0.9 $1.5M 0.67× –
Roberto Kelly 1988 +0.1 +0.8 0.1 +0.7 $0.6M 0.83× –
Jay Buhner↔ 1988 +0.1 +0.5 0.0 +0.5 $0.3M 0.83× –
Wayne Tolleson 1988 +0.1 +0.6 0.4 +0.2 $2.9M 0.56× –
Chris Chambliss 1988 -0.0 -0.1 0.1 -0.2 – 0.56× –
Bobby Meacham 1988 -0.0 -0.1 0.2 -0.3 – 0.61× –
Neil Allen 1988 -0.1 -0.6 0.2 -0.9 – 0.67× –
Tim Stoddard 1988 -0.1 -0.8 0.7 -1.5 – 0.67× –
Rafael Santana 1988 -0.6 -2.8 0.4 -3.2 – 0.61× –
Mike Pagliarulo 1988 -0.6 -3.0 0.5 -3.5 – 0.58× –
Luis Aguayo↔ 1988 -0.8 -3.5 0.2 -3.7 – 0.58× –
Gary Ward 1988 -0.5 -3.3 0.6 -3.9 – 0.83× –
Jose Cruz 1988 -0.6 -3.5 0.3 -3.9 – 0.69× –
Richard Dotson 1988 -0.4 -3.6 0.9 -4.5 – 1.02× –
Alvaro Espinoza 1988 -0.2 -0.7 – – – 0.56× –
Bob Geren 1988 -0.2 -0.7 – – – 0.52× –
Dave Eiland 1988 -0.5 -4.1 – – – 1.02× –
Hal Morris 1988 -0.3 -2.2 – – – 0.83× –
Hipolito Pena 1988 -0.0 -0.0 – – – 0.67× –
Pat Clements 1988 -0.0 -0.1 – – – 0.67× –
Randy Velarde 1988 -0.6 -2.6 – – – 0.56× –
Scott Nielsen 1988 -0.7 -3.5 – – – 0.67× –
Total—+31.7+411.719.4+406.3—

Trades

Every graded 1988 deal involving the Yankees — best expected value first. Surplus is realized value in $M; 7 total.

1988 · SEA / NYY
SEA · Dick Balderson +$67.2M
Jay Buhner, Rick Balabon, Troy Evers
NYY · Lou Piniella −$67.2M
Ken Phelps
SEA came out ahead by $67.2M
1988 · NYY / TEX
NYY · Lou Piniella +$4.8M
Dale Mohorcic
TEX · Tom Grieve −$4.8M
Cecilio Guante
NYY came out ahead by $4.8M
1988 · PHI / NYY
PHI · Woody Woodward +$8.0M
Amalio Carreño
NYY · Lou Piniella −$8.0M
Luis Aguayo
PHI came out ahead by $8.0M
1988 · NYY / TEX
NYY · Lou Piniella +$6.4M
Bob Brower
TEX · Tom Grieve −$6.4M
Bob Meacham
NYY came out ahead by $6.4M
1988 · ANA / NYY
ANA · Mike Port +$2.4M
Eric Schmidt
NYY · Lou Piniella −$2.4M
Brian Dorsett
ANA came out ahead by $2.4M
1988 · NYY / PIT
NYY · Lou Piniella +$0.8M
Hipólito Peña
PIT · Larry Doughty −$0.8M
Orestes Destrade
NYY came out ahead by $0.8M
1988 · SDP / NYY
SDP · Jack McKeon +$68.8M
Jack Clark, Pat Clements
NYY · Lou Piniella −$68.8M
Lance McCullers, Jimmy Jones, Stan Jefferson
SDP came out ahead by $68.8M

Current & Historical Payroll

1988 payroll
$19.4M

What the front office was committed to as of 1988, 1988–1994. 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 (22)

PlayerAgeSvc1988198919901991199219931994
Don Mattingly276.000$2.0M$2.2M$2.5M$3.4M$3.6M$3.8M$4.0M
Dave Winfield3615.000$2.0MFREE AGENT$1.7M
Rickey Henderson299.000$1.8M$1.2MFREE AGENT
Jack Clark3213.000$1.5MFREE AGENT
Dave Righetti299.000$1.3M$1.4M$1.6MFREE AGENT
Richard Dotson299.000$900k$41kFREE AGENT
Rick Rhoden3514.000$900kFREE AGENT
Willie Randolph3313.000$875kFREE AGENT
Ron Guidry3713.000$825kFREE AGENT
Tim Stoddard3513.000$700kFREE AGENT
John Candelaria3413.000$700k$436kFREE AGENT
Gary Ward349.000$625k$63kFREE AGENT
Don Slaught296.000$532k$650kFREE AGENT
Claudell Washington3314.000$480kFREE AGENT$495k
Wayne Tolleson327.000$410kFREE AGENT$425k
Tommy John4525.000$375kFREE AGENT
Jose Cruz4018.000$350kFREE AGENT
Cecilio Guante286.000$338kFREE AGENT
Ken Phelps338.000$258k$581kFREE AGENT
Neil Allen309.000$250kFREE AGENT
Luis Aguayo298.000$189kFREE AGENT
Chris Chambliss3917.000$62kFREE AGENT

Arbitration-eligible (9)

PlayerAgeSvc1988198919901991199219931994
Mike Pagliarulo284.000$500kARB 3FREE AGENT
Charles Hudson295.000$450kFREE AGENT
Rafael Santana305.000$425kFREE AGENT
Bobby Meacham275.000$212kFREE AGENT
Lee Guetterman294.000$138kARB 3FREE AGENT
Steve Shields293.000$110kARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Joel Skinner275.000$110kFREE AGENT
Pat Clements263.000—ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Alvaro Espinoza264.000—ARB 3FREE AGENT

Pre-arbitration (10)

PlayerAgeSvc1988198919901991199219931994
Roberto Kelly231.000$67kPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Al Leiter221.000$67kPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Dale Mohorcic322.000$37kARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Jay Buhner231.000$20kPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Dave Eiland210.000—Pre-ArbPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Bob Geren260.000—Pre-ArbPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Hal Morris230.000—Pre-ArbPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Scott Nielsen292.000—ARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Hipolito Pena24–—
Randy Velarde251.000—Pre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT

Graphs

How each 1988 acquisition stacked onto Yankees's playoff-odds curve. The side table is ranked by PPA.

Rosternomics — front-office performance, roster value, and transaction history. Follow @rosternomics on X.
Decision-maker records extend to 1933; resource-controlled WAR and payroll metrics cover 1985–2026. Data sources include FanGraphs, Baseball-Reference, the Chadwick Bureau register, the Lahman Database, prospect rankings from Baseball America, MLB Pipeline, and FanGraphs, 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).
Privacy Policy · Terms of Service · © 2026 Rosternomics