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Yankees NYY

1998114–48 (0.704)★ 1998 World Series Champions
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GM: Bob Watson

Overview

Ranks vs the 30 teams in 1998, or a custom range (defaults to every team-season since 1985, when our data starts).

to

Front Office

PoorAverageGreat
Value
Payroll $M
$66M
Surplus $M
-4
Win %
0.704
TAB
+17.4
WAB
+26.2
Roster composition
Roster fWAR
57.2
Dead money %
18%
Depth Players
12.0
Dead WAR
-1.7

Offense

PoorAverageGreat

Pitching & Defense

PoorAverageGreat

Roster

1998 depth chart — stacked by playing time

C

BJorge Posada99
RJoe Girardi78
RMike Figga1

1B

LTino Martinez142
BDale Sveum21
RLuis Sojo19
RScott Brosius3
BJorge Posada1
RShane Spencer1

2B

RChuck Knoblauch149
RHomer Bush24
RLuis Sojo8

3B

RScott Brosius150
RMike Lowell7
BDale Sveum6
RLuis Sojo6
RHomer Bush3

SS

RDerek Jeter148
RLuis Sojo20
RHomer Bush2

LF

RChad Curtis100
BTim Raines Sr.47
LRicky Ledee36
LDarryl Strawberry16
RShane Spencer9

CF

BBernie Williams123
RChad Curtis45
LRicky Ledee3

RF

LPaul O'Neill150
RShane Spencer15
RChad Curtis9
LRicky Ledee4
RScott Brosius1

DH

LDarryl Strawberry79
BTim Raines Sr.37
BChili Davis26
BJorge Posada5
BBernie Williams5
RChuck Knoblauch1
RShane Spencer1

Starters

RDavid Cone5.1 WAR
LDavid Wells4.4 WAR
ROrlando Hernandez3.2 WAR
LAndy Pettitte3.1 WAR
RRamiro Mendoza1.9 WAR
RHideki Irabu1.0 WAR
RMike Buddie0.1 WAR
RJim Bruske⇄-0.0 WAR
RRyan Bradley-0.0 WAR
RMike Jerzembeck-0.2 WAR

Bullpen

★ RMariano Rivera36 sv
LMike Stanton0 h
LGraeme Lloyd0 h
RJeff Nelson0 h
RDarren Holmes0 h
RMike Buddie0 h
RWillie Banks⇄0 h
RJoe Borowski0 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 1997)

PlayerfWAR
Scott Brosius5.0
Orlando Hernandez3.2
Chuck Knoblauch2.7
Shane Spencer1.2
Darren Holmes0.4
Chili Davis0.2

Key subtractions (gone from 1997)

Player1997 fWAR
Wade Boggs2.0
Charlie Hayes1.1
Cecil Fielder0.9
Kenny Rogers0.6
Brian Boehringer0.5
Dwight Gooden0.4

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 1998; everyone else is shown as a 1998 season snapshot.

PlayerPeriodfWARTier Market $MPaid $MSurplus $M$ / WARTierContract
David Cone 1998 +5.1 +101.9 6.7 +95.3 $1.3M 2.50× –
Paul O'Neill 1998 +5.4 +89.1 5.5 +83.6 $1.0M 2.05× –
Derek Jeter 1998 +6.2 +74.3 0.8 +73.6 $0.1M 1.51× –
David Wells 1998 +4.4 +77.9 4.7 +73.2 $1.0M 2.19× –
Bernie Williams 1998 +4.9 +69.6 8.3 +61.3 $1.7M 1.79× –
Orlando Hernandez 1998 +3.2 +50.8 0.8 +50.0 $0.2M 1.96× –
Scott Brosius 1998 +5.0 +49.8 2.6 +47.1 $0.5M 1.25× –
Andy Pettitte 1998 +3.1 +49.2 3.8 +45.4 $1.2M 1.96× –
Jorge Posada 1998 +3.1 +24.8 0.2 +24.6 $0.1M 1.00× –
Tino Martinez 1998 +3.3 +28.5 4.3 +24.2 $1.3M 1.07× –
Chad Curtis 1998 +2.1 +20.5 1.2 +19.2 $0.6M 1.22× –
Chuck Knoblauch 1998 +2.7 +23.4 6.0 +17.4 $2.2M 1.07× –
Ramiro Mendoza 1998 +1.9 +15.2 0.3 +14.9 $0.1M 0.98× –
Mariano Rivera 1998 +1.2 +13.3 0.8 +12.6 $0.6M 1.34× –
Shane Spencer 1998 +1.2 +8.0 0.2 +7.8 $0.1M 0.83× –
Darryl Strawberry 1998 +1.2 +6.7 0.9 +5.8 $0.7M 0.69× –
Hideki Irabu 1998 +1.0 +7.8 2.9 +4.8 $3.1M 1.02× –
Tim Raines Sr. 1998 +0.6 +3.8 1.3 +2.5 $2.3M 0.83× –
Homer Bush 1998 +0.5 +2.4 0.2 +2.2 $0.3M 0.56× –
Graeme Lloyd 1998 +0.4 +2.2 0.9 +1.4 $2.1M 0.67× –
Darren Holmes 1998 +0.4 +2.4 1.1 +1.3 $2.4M 0.67× –
Joe Borowski 1998 +0.1 +0.7 0.2 +0.5 $1.5M 0.67× –
Jeff Nelson 1998 +0.4 +2.1 1.8 +0.3 $4.6M 0.67× –
Jay Tessmer 1998 +0.0 +0.0 0.2 -0.1 $28.2M 0.67× –
Jim Bruske↔ 1998 -0.0 -0.1 0.0 -0.1 – 0.67× –
Mike Stanton 1998 +0.1 +1.1 1.9 -0.8 $18.0M 1.34× –
Luis Sojo 1998 -0.3 -1.3 0.8 -2.1 – 0.61× –
Willie Banks↔ 1998 -0.5 -2.5 0.1 -2.5 – 0.67× –
Chili Davis 1998 +0.2 +1.3 4.3 -3.0 $18.5M 0.69× –
Dale Sveum 1998 -0.7 -3.3 0.8 -4.1 – 0.56× –
Joe Girardi 1998 +0.7 +2.8 2.9 -0.0 $4.2M 0.52× –
Mike Buddie 1998 +0.1 +0.3 – – – 0.67× –
Mike Figga 1998 -0.0 -0.1 – – – 0.52× –
Mike Jerzembeck 1998 -0.2 -1.7 – – – 1.02× –
Mike Lowell 1998 +0.0 +0.2 – – – 0.58× –
Ricky Ledee 1998 +0.2 +1.2 – – – 0.83× –
Ryan Bradley 1998 -0.0 -0.2 – – – 0.67× –
Todd Erdos 1998 +0.0 +0.0 – – – 0.67× –
Total—+57.0+722.166.5+656.3—

Trades

Every graded 1998 deal involving the Yankees — best expected value first. Surplus is realized value in $M; 6 total.

1998 · ARI / NYY
ARI · Joe Garagiola +$4.0M
Andy Fox
NYY · Bob Watson −$4.0M
Todd Erdos, Marty Janzen
ARI came out ahead by $4.0M
1998 · CHW / NYY
CHW · Ron Schueler +$68.8M
Chris Singleton
NYY · Bob Watson −$68.8M
Rich Pratt
CHW came out ahead by $68.8M
1998 · MIN / NYY
MIN · Terry Ryan +$2.4M
Allen Butler
NYY · Bob Watson −$2.4M
Dan Naulty
MIN came out ahead by $2.4M
1998 · ARI / NYY
ARI · Joe Garagiola +$0.0M
Willie Banks
NYY · Bob Watson +$0.0M
Scott Brow, Joe Lisio
Even trade
1998 · SDP / NYY
SDP · Kevin Towers +$0.8M
Shea Morenz, Ray Ricken
NYY · Bob Watson −$0.8M
Jim Bruske, Brad Kaufman
SDP came out ahead by $0.8M
1998 · MIN / NYY
MIN · Terry Ryan +$159.2M
Brian Buchanan, Cristian Guzmán, Eric Milton, Danny Mota
NYY · Bob Watson −$159.2M
Chuck Knoblauch
MIN came out ahead by $159.2M

Current & Historical Payroll

1998 payroll
$66.2M

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 (18)

PlayerAgeSvc1998199920002001200220032004
Bernie Williams297.000$8.3M$9.9M$12.4M$12.4M$12.4M$12.4M$12.4M
David Cone3512.000$6.7M$9.5M$12.0MFREE AGENT
Chuck Knoblauch297.000$6.0M$6.0M$6.0M$6.0MFREE AGENT
Paul O'Neill3513.000$5.5M$6.2M$6.5M$7.2MFREE AGENT
David Wells3511.000$4.7MFREE AGENT$2.2M$3.2M
Chili Davis3817.000$4.3M$4.3MFREE AGENT
Tino Martinez308.000$4.3M$4.3M$4.8M$6.3MFREE AGENT
Joe Girardi339.000$2.9M$3.4MFREE AGENT
Scott Brosius317.000$2.6M$5.2M$5.2M$5.2MFREE AGENT
Mike Stanton319.000$1.9M$2.0M$2.4M$2.5M$2.5MFREE AGENT
Jeff Nelson316.000$1.8M$1.8M$1.9MFREE AGENT$2.6M
Tim Raines Sr.3819.000$1.3MFREE AGENT
Chad Curtis296.000$1.2M$2.0MFREE AGENT
Darren Holmes328.000$1.1MFREE AGENT
Darryl Strawberry3615.000$875kFREE AGENT
Dale Sveum3412.000$800kFREE AGENT
Luis Sojo338.000$800k$800k$289k$500kFREE AGENT
Willie Banks297.000$73kFREE AGENT

Arbitration-eligible (7)

PlayerAgeSvc1998199920002001200220032004
Andy Pettitte263.000$3.8MARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Graeme Lloyd315.000$875kFREE AGENT
Derek Jeter243.000$750kARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Mariano Rivera283.000$750kARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Jorge Posada273.000$250kARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Joe Borowski273.000$189kARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Jim Bruske333.000$14kARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT

Pre-arbitration (13)

PlayerAgeSvc1998199920002001200220032004
Hideki Irabu291.000$2.9MPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Orlando Hernandez320.000$750kPre-ArbPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Ramiro Mendoza262.000$275kARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Homer Bush251.000$179kPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Shane Spencer260.000$170kPre-ArbPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Jay Tessmer260.000$170kPre-ArbPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Todd Erdos241.000—Pre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Mike Figga271.000—Pre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Mike Buddie270.000—Pre-ArbPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Ricky Ledee240.000—Pre-ArbPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Mike Jerzembeck26–—
Ryan Bradley22–—
Mike Lowell240.000—Pre-ArbPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT

Graphs

How each 1998 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).
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