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Athletics OAK

1988104–58 (0.642)Lost World Series
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GM: Sandy Alderson

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
$11M
Surplus $M
+5
Win %
0.642
TAB
+16.0
WAB
+23.3
Roster composition
Roster fWAR
49.0
Dead money %
39%
Depth Players
11.0
Dead WAR
-0.8

Offense

PoorAverageGreat

Pitching & Defense

PoorAverageGreat

Roster

1988 depth chart — stacked by playing time

C

LRon Hassey92
RTerry Steinbach83
ROrlando Mercado16
RMatt Sinatro9

1B

RMark McGwire154
LDoug Jennings14
RCarney Lansford9
RTerry Steinbach8
BStan Javier4
BTony Phillips3
LDave Parker1

2B

RGlenn Hubbard104
RMike Gallego83
BTony Phillips27
RLance Blankenship4
RCarney Lansford1

3B

RCarney Lansford143
BTony Phillips32
RMike Gallego16
RTerry Steinbach9
REd Jurak1

SS

BWalt Weiss147
RMike Gallego42
BTony Phillips10

LF

LLuis Polonia76
BStan Javier69
LDave Parker34
BTony Phillips24
LDoug Jennings16
RDave Henderson1
BFelix Jose1
RTerry Steinbach1

CF

RDave Henderson143
BStan Javier45
BTony Phillips6

RF

RJosé Canseco144
BStan Javier30
LDoug Jennings7
BFelix Jose5
BTony Phillips3
RMark McGwire1
LLuis Polonia1

DH

RDon Baylor73
LDave Parker57
RJosé Canseco13
LRon Hassey8
RTerry Steinbach8
RCarney Lansford1
LDoug Jennings1
LLuis Polonia1

Starters

RDave Stewart5.1 WAR
RBob Welch3.0 WAR
RStorm Davis2.1 WAR
RTodd Burns1.3 WAR
RSteve Ontiveros0.6 WAR
RGene Nelson0.5 WAR
RJim Corsi0.2 WAR
RRich Bordi0.2 WAR
LDave Otto0.1 WAR
LCurt Young-0.0 WAR

Bullpen

★ RDennis Eckersley45 sv
LGreg Cadaret0 h
LRick Honeycutt0 h
RGene Nelson0 h
REric Plunk0 h
RJim Corsi0 h
LDave Otto0 h
RRich Bordi0 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
Dave Henderson6.4
Bob Welch3.0
Glenn Hubbard2.0
Ron Hassey1.9
Todd Burns1.3
Dave Parker0.4

Key subtractions (gone from 1987)

Player1987 fWAR
Dwayne Murphy1.4
Mike Davis1.3
Alfredo Griffin1.1
Jose Rijo0.8
Dennis Lamp0.5
Dave Leiper0.3

Contract Value

WAR translated into tier-adjusted market value, then compared with what the player was paid by Athletics. 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
Jose Canseco 1988 +7.6 +124.4 0.3 +124.1 $0.0M 2.05× –
Dave Henderson 1988 +6.4 +104.8 0.2 +104.6 $0.0M 2.05× –
Dave Stewart 1988 +5.1 +101.3 0.6 +100.7 $0.1M 2.50× –
Bob Welch 1988 +3.0 +46.6 0.9 +45.6 $0.3M 1.96× –
Dennis Eckersley 1988 +2.3 +35.5 0.7 +34.9 $0.3M 1.95× –
Mark McGwire 1988 +3.5 +33.9 0.2 +33.7 $0.1M 1.20× –
Walt Weiss 1988 +2.8 +26.8 0.1 +26.8 $0.0M 1.18× –
Storm Davis 1988 +2.1 +24.8 0.6 +24.3 $0.3M 1.49× –
Terry Steinbach 1988 +2.5 +15.2 0.1 +15.1 $0.1M 0.76× –
Carney Lansford 1988 +2.2 +15.0 1.3 +13.7 $0.6M 0.85× –
Glenn Hubbard 1988 +2.0 +13.1 0.4 +12.7 $0.2M 0.82× –
Ron Hassey 1988 +1.9 +11.8 0.3 +11.5 $0.2M 0.76× –
Todd Burns 1988 +1.3 +10.5 0.1 +10.5 $0.0M 1.02× –
Luis Polonia 1988 +1.3 +8.9 0.1 +8.8 $0.1M 0.83× –
Eric Plunk 1988 +0.8 +8.1 0.1 +8.0 $0.1M 1.34× –
Greg Cadaret 1988 +1.2 +6.7 0.1 +6.6 $0.1M 0.67× –
Steve Ontiveros 1988 +0.6 +5.2 0.2 +5.0 $0.3M 1.02× –
Stan Javier 1988 +0.5 +3.4 0.1 +3.3 $0.2M 0.83× –
Rick Honeycutt 1988 +0.4 +4.0 0.9 +3.1 $2.3M 1.34× –
Mike Gallego 1988 +0.6 +2.8 0.1 +2.7 $0.2M 0.56× –
Gene Nelson 1988 +0.5 +2.4 0.5 +2.0 $1.0M 0.67× –
Dave Parker 1988 +0.4 +2.4 1.0 +1.4 $2.3M 0.69× –
Matt Sinatro 1988 +0.1 +0.4 0.7 -0.3 $7.8M 0.52× –
Doug Jennings 1988 -0.1 -0.3 0.1 -0.4 – 0.83× –
Curt Young 1988 -0.0 -0.2 0.4 -0.6 – 1.02× –
Don Baylor 1988 -0.1 -0.4 0.5 -0.9 – 0.69× –
Tony Phillips 1988 -0.3 -1.5 0.2 -1.7 – 0.58× –
Dave Otto 1988 +0.1 +0.8 – – – 1.02× –
Ed Jurak 1988 -0.0 -0.2 – – – 0.58× –
Felix Jose 1988 +0.2 +1.1 – – – 0.83× –
Jeff Shaver 1988 -0.0 -0.1 – – – 0.67× –
Jim Corsi 1988 +0.2 +1.0 – – – 0.67× –
Lance Blankenship 1988 -0.2 -0.7 – – – 0.56× –
Orlando Mercado 1988 -0.1 -0.6 – – – 0.52× –
Rich Bordi 1988 +0.2 +1.2 – – – 1.02× –
Total—+49.0+608.110.8+595.2—

Trades

Every graded 1988 deal involving the Athletics — best expected value first. Surplus is realized value in $M; 2 total.

1988 · OAK / SFG
OAK · Sandy Alderson +$6.4M
Charlie Corbell
SFG · Al Rosen −$6.4M
Rod Beck
OAK came out ahead by $6.4M
1988 · OAK / MIN
OAK · Sandy Alderson +$0.0M
Joe Klink
MIN · Andy MacPhail +$0.0M
Russ Kibler
Even trade

Current & Historical Payroll

1988 payroll
$10.7M

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 (16)

PlayerAgeSvc1988198919901991199219931994
Carney Lansford3110.000$1.3M$1.4M$1.3M$1.3M$1.1MFREE AGENT
Dave Parker3715.000$1.0M$1.1MFREE AGENT
Bob Welch3110.000$938k$1.2M$1.1M$3.5M$3.5M$3.5M$3.5M
Rick Honeycutt3411.000$855k$650k$750k$1.4M$1.4M$725kFREE AGENT
Matt Sinatro287.000$700kFREE AGENT
Dennis Eckersley3313.000$650k$1.1M$788k$3.0M$3.1M$3.8M$3.8M
Dave Stewart3110.000$600k$1.2M$950k$3.2M$3.2MFREE AGENT
Storm Davis266.000$550k$588kFREE AGENT$502k
Don Baylor3918.000$495kFREE AGENT
Gene Nelson277.000$450k$615k$650k$1.1M$1.2MFREE AGENT
Glenn Hubbard3010.000$425k$375kFREE AGENT
Ron Hassey3510.000$300k$600k$700kFREE AGENT
Dave Henderson297.000$225k$850k$850k$2.5M$2.6M$2.2MFREE AGENT
Tony Phillips296.000$200k$450kFREE AGENT
Rich Bordi298.000—FREE AGENT
Ed Jurak306.000—FREE AGENT

Arbitration-eligible (5)

PlayerAgeSvc1988198919901991199219931994
Curt Young285.000$410kFREE AGENT
Jose Canseco233.000$325kARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Steve Ontiveros273.000$200kARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Mike Gallego273.000$100kARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Stan Javier244.000$78kARB 3FREE AGENT

Pre-arbitration (14)

PlayerAgeSvc1988198919901991199219931994
Mark McGwire242.000$250kARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Terry Steinbach262.000$125kARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Luis Polonia241.000$115kPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Eric Plunk242.000$90kARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Greg Cadaret261.000$86kPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Todd Burns240.000$62kPre-ArbPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Doug Jennings230.000$62kPre-ArbPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Walt Weiss241.000$62kPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Lance Blankenship240.000—Pre-ArbPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Jim Corsi260.000—Pre-ArbPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Felix Jose230.000—Pre-ArbPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Orlando Mercado26–—
Dave Otto231.000—Pre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Jeff Shaver24–—

Graphs

How each 1988 acquisition stacked onto Athletics'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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