RRosternomics
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Yankees NYY

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GM: Bob Quinn

Overview

FORCED-SPEND → steady
expensive & losing · year 3 in this regime · payroll 1.03× league · TAB -2.6
-2.6TAB — talent above budget17th/26
-7.8WAB — realized wins (TAB + luck)22nd/26
7.0depth — 2+ WAR regulars14th/26
-6.3dead WAR — sub-replacement drag22nd/26
19%dead money %5th/26
0.460win %19th/26
31.8roster fWAR14th/26
-2surplus $M (value vs cost)19th/26
$14Mpayroll $M14th/26

Roster

CFRoberto Kelly 137GJesse Barfield 18GDeion Sanders 11G
LFLuis Polonia 108GMel Hall 46GMarcus Lawton 7G
RFJesse Barfield 140GMel Hall 31GBob Brower 15G
SSAlvaro Espinoza 146GWayne Tolleson 28GRandy Velarde 9G
2BSteve Sax 158GWayne Tolleson 13GTom Brookens 5G
3BTom Brookens 51GWayne Tolleson 28GRandy Velarde 27G
1BDon Mattingly 146GSteve Balboni 20GHal Morris 2G
STARTERSGreg Cadaret 1.2WARAndy Hawkins 1.1WARClay Parker 1.0WARChuck Cary 1.0WARDave LaPoint 0.5WAR
CDon Slaught 105GBob Geren 60GBrian Dorsett 8G
DHSteve Balboni 62GKen Phelps 41GMel Hall 28G
BULLPEN★ Dave Righetti 25svLee Guetterman 0hLance McCullers Sr. 0hRich Gossage 0hDale Mohorcic 0hKevin Mmahat 0hScott Nielsen 0hBob Davidson 0h
CDon Slaught 105 · Bob Geren 60 · Brian Dorsett 8
1BDon Mattingly 146 · Steve Balboni 20 · Hal Morris 2
2BSteve Sax 158 · Wayne Tolleson 13 · Tom Brookens 5
3BTom Brookens 51 · Wayne Tolleson 28 · Randy Velarde 27
SSAlvaro Espinoza 146 · Wayne Tolleson 28 · Randy Velarde 9
LFLuis Polonia 108 · Mel Hall 46 · Marcus Lawton 7
CFRoberto Kelly 137 · Jesse Barfield 18 · Deion Sanders 11
RFJesse Barfield 140 · Mel Hall 31 · Bob Brower 15
DHSteve Balboni 62 · Ken Phelps 41 · Mel Hall 28
SPGreg Cadaret 1.2 · Andy Hawkins 1.1 · Clay Parker 1.0 · Chuck Cary 1.0 · Dave LaPoint 0.5
BP★ Dave Righetti 25 · Lee Guetterman 0 · Lance McCullers Sr. 0 · Rich Gossage 0 · Dale Mohorcic 0 · Kevin Mmahat 0 · Scott Nielsen 0 · Bob Davidson 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.

1989 roster — value & surplus

PlayerAgeServiceGfWARSalary $MSurplus $M
Steve Sax 29 FA-elig 1584.3 1.1 +0.4
Jesse Barfield↔ TOR 29 FA-elig 1293.8 1.1 +0.3
Don Mattingly 28 FA-elig 1583.7 2.2 -0.9
Rickey Henderson↔ OAK 30 FA-elig 653.1 0.9 +0.2
Roberto Kelly 24 pre-arb 1372.9 0.1 +1.0
Don Slaught 30 FA-elig 1172.2 0.7 +0.1
Bob Geren 27 pre-arb 652.0 0.1 +0.7
Randy Velarde 26 pre-arb 331.7 0.1 +0.6
Greg Cadaret↔ OAK 27 pre-arb 201.2 0.1 +0.4
Dave Righetti 30 FA-elig 551.2 1.4 -1.0
Alvaro Espinoza 27 arb 1461.2 0.1 +0.4
Andy Hawkins 29 FA-elig 341.1 0.9 -0.5
Bob Brower 29 – 261.1 – –
Mel Hall 28 FA-elig 1131.1 0.9 -0.5
Chuck Cary 29 arb 221.0 0.1 +0.3
Lee Guetterman 30 arb 701.0 0.1 +0.2
Clay Parker 26 pre-arb 221.0 0.1 +0.3
Luis Polonia↔ OAK 25 pre-arb 660.7 0.1 +0.2
Dave LaPoint 29 FA-elig 200.5 0.8 -0.6
Lance McCullers Sr. 25 arb 520.5 0.5 -0.3
Walt Terrell↔ SDP 31 FA-elig 130.5 0.3 -0.1
John Candelaria↔ WSN 35 FA-elig 100.4 0.4 -0.2
Deion Sanders 21 – 140.3 – –
Brian Dorsett 28 – 80.3 – –
Steve Balboni 32 – 1100.3 – –
Tommy John 46 – 100.2 – –
Al Leiter↔ TOR 23 pre-arb 40.2 0.1 +0.0
Rich Gossage↔ SFG 37 FA-elig 110.2 0.0 +0.0
Ken Phelps↔ OAK 34 FA-elig 860.1 0.6 -0.6
Hal Morris 24 – 150.1 – –
Don Schulze↔ SDP 26 – 20.0 – –
Hensley Meulens 22 pre-arb 8-0.0 0.1 -0.1
Scott Nielsen 30 – 2-0.0 – –
Gary Ward↔ DET 35 FA-elig 8-0.0 0.0 -0.0
Jimmy Jones 25 – 11-0.1 – –
Bob Davidson 26 – 1-0.1 – –
Richard Dotson↔ CHW 30 FA-elig 11-0.1 0.0 -0.1
Dave Eiland 22 – 6-0.1 – –
Mike Blowers 24 pre-arb 13-0.2 0.1 -0.2
Eric Plunk↔ OAK 25 arb 27-0.3 0.1 -0.2
Steve Kiefer 28 arb 5-0.3 0.1 -0.2
Kevin Mmahat 24 – 4-0.3 – –
Stan Jefferson↔ BAL 26 arb 10-0.3 0.0 -0.1
Marcus Lawton 23 – 10-0.4 – –
Jamie Quirk↔ BAL 34 FA-elig 13-0.4 0.0 -0.2
Dale Mohorcic 33 – 32-0.7 – –
Wayne Tolleson 33 – 80-0.7 – –
Tom Brookens 35 FA-elig 66-0.9 0.5 -0.8
Mike Pagliarulo↔ SDP 29 arb 74-1.2 0.3 -0.8

Key additions (new vs 1988)

PlayerfWAR
Steve Sax4.3
Jesse Barfield3.8
Greg Cadaret1.2
Andy Hawkins1.1
Bob Brower1.1
Mel Hall1.1

Key subtractions (gone from 1988)

Player1988 fWAR
Dave Winfield5.0
Claudell Washington2.9
Jack Clark2.8
Rick Rhoden1.9
Willie Randolph1.8
Charles Hudson1.0

Current & Historical Payroll

1989 payroll
$14.0M

What the front office was committed to as of 1989, 1989–1995. 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 (21)

PlayerAgeSvc1989199019911992199319941995
Don Mattingly287.000$2.2M$2.5M$3.4M$3.6M$3.8M$4.0M$4.4M
Dave Righetti3010.000$1.4M$1.6MFREE AGENT
Steve Sax298.000$1.1M$950k$1.7MFREE AGENT
Jesse Barfield298.000$1.1M$1.2M$1.3M$2.2MFREE AGENT
Andy Hawkins297.000$933k$1.1M$1.2MFREE AGENT
Mel Hall288.000$925k$1.1M$1.1M$1.3MFREE AGENT
Rickey Henderson3010.000$919kFREE AGENT
Dave LaPoint299.000$825k$850kFREE AGENT
Don Slaught307.000$650kFREE AGENT
Ken Phelps349.000$581kFREE AGENT
Tom Brookens3510.000$475kFREE AGENT
John Candelaria3514.000$364kFREE AGENT
Walt Terrell317.000$315kFREE AGENT
Richard Dotson3010.000$27kFREE AGENT
Jamie Quirk3414.000$19kFREE AGENT
Rich Gossage3717.000$18kFREE AGENT
Gary Ward3510.000$5kFREE AGENT
Steve Balboni328.000—$900kFREE AGENT
Tommy John4626.000—FREE AGENT
Don Schulze266.000—FREE AGENT
Wayne Tolleson338.000—$425kFREE AGENT

Arbitration-eligible (12)

PlayerAgeSvc1989199019911992199319941995
Lance McCullers Sr.254.000$460kARB 3FREE AGENT
Mike Pagliarulo295.000$343kFREE AGENT
Lee Guetterman305.000$138kFREE AGENT
Eric Plunk253.000$125kARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Steve Kiefer285.000$95kFREE AGENT
Chuck Cary294.000$90kARB 3FREE AGENT
Alvaro Espinoza275.000$68kFREE AGENT
Stan Jefferson263.000$20kARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Bob Brower293.000—ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Jimmy Jones253.000—ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Dale Mohorcic333.000—ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Scott Nielsen303.000—ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT

Pre-arbitration (16)

PlayerAgeSvc1989199019911992199319941995
Luis Polonia252.000$96kARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Mike Blowers240.000$82kPre-ArbPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Roberto Kelly242.000$80kARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Randy Velarde262.000$72kARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Bob Geren271.000$70kPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Hensley Meulens220.000$68kPre-ArbPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Clay Parker262.000$68kARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Greg Cadaret272.000$67kARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Al Leiter232.000$64kARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Bob Davidson26–—
Brian Dorsett282.000—ARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Dave Eiland221.000—Pre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Marcus Lawton23–—
Kevin Mmahat24–—
Hal Morris241.000—Pre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Deion Sanders210.000—Pre-ArbPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT

Graphs

Every roster slot ranked best→worst by WAR. Bars = Yankees 1989; 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.