RRosternomics
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Athletics OAK

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GM: Sandy Alderson

Overview

REBUILD ↗ rising
cheap & losing · year 1 in this regime · payroll 0.64× league · TAB -2.2
-2.2TAB — talent above budget18th/28
+1.9WAB — realized wins (TAB + luck)12th/28
5.0depth — 2+ WAR regulars21st/28
-8.5dead WAR — sub-replacement drag26th/28
28%dead money %17th/28
0.481win %18th/28
26.4roster fWAR23rd/28
+2surplus $M (value vs cost)7th/28
$21Mpayroll $M24th/28

Roster

CFErnie Young 133GAllen Battle 27GKerwin Moore 18G
LFPhil Plantier 67GJason Giambi 44GDamon Mashore 35G
RFJose Herrera 92GGerónimo Berroa 54GMatt Stairs 29G
SSMike Bordick 155GRafael Bournigal 23GTony Batista 4G
2BRafael Bournigal 64GBrent Gates 63GTony Batista 52G
3BScott Brosius 109GJason Giambi 39GTony Batista 18G
1BMark McGwire 109GJason Giambi 45GTorey Lovullo 42G
STARTERSAriel Prieto 2.2WARWillie Adams 1.4WARDoug Johns 0.9WARDave Telgheder 0.8WARSteve Wojciechowski 0.7WAR
CTerry Steinbach 137GGeorge Williams 43GIzzy Molina 12G
DHGerónimo Berroa 89GMark McGwire 18GPedro Munoz 17G
BULLPEN★ Billy Taylor 17svMike Mohler 0hBuddy Groom 0hJim Corsi 0hMark Acre 0hJohn Briscoe 0hJay Witasick 0hAaron Small 0h
CTerry Steinbach 137 · George Williams 43 · Izzy Molina 12
1BMark McGwire 109 · Jason Giambi 45 · Torey Lovullo 42
2BRafael Bournigal 64 · Brent Gates 63 · Tony Batista 52
3BScott Brosius 109 · Jason Giambi 39 · Tony Batista 18
SSMike Bordick 155 · Rafael Bournigal 23 · Tony Batista 4
LFPhil Plantier 67 · Jason Giambi 44 · Damon Mashore 35
CFErnie Young 133 · Allen Battle 27 · Kerwin Moore 18
RFJose Herrera 92 · Gerónimo Berroa 54 · Matt Stairs 29
DHGerónimo Berroa 89 · Mark McGwire 18 · Pedro Munoz 17
SPAriel Prieto 2.2 · Willie Adams 1.4 · Doug Johns 0.9 · Dave Telgheder 0.8 · Steve Wojciechowski 0.7
BP★ Billy Taylor 17 · Mike Mohler 0 · Buddy Groom 0 · Jim Corsi 0 · Mark Acre 0 · John Briscoe 0 · Jay Witasick 0 · Aaron Small 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.

1996 roster — value & surplus

PlayerAgeServiceGfWARSalary $MSurplus $M
Mark McGwire 32 FA-elig 1307.3 7.0 -0.9
Scott Brosius 29 arb 1145.8 1.0 +3.9
Terry Steinbach 34 FA-elig 1453.9 4.2 -0.9
Geronimo Berroa 31 FA-elig 1532.8 1.1 +1.2
Ariel Prieto 26 pre-arb 212.2 0.2 +1.7
Billy Taylor 34 pre-arb 551.5 0.1 +1.1
Tony Batista 22 pre-arb 741.4 0.1 +1.1
Willie Adams 23 pre-arb 121.4 0.1 +1.0
Jason Giambi 25 pre-arb 1401.2 0.1 +0.9
Ernie Young 26 pre-arb 1411.2 0.1 +0.9
Doug Johns 28 pre-arb 420.9 0.1 +0.6
Dave Telgheder 29 arb 160.8 0.1 +0.5
Steve Wojciechowski 25 – 180.7 – –
Matt Stairs 28 arb 610.7 0.1 +0.5
John Wasdin 23 pre-arb 250.6 0.1 +0.4
Buddy Groom 30 arb 720.6 0.2 +0.3
Mike Mohler 27 arb 720.5 0.2 +0.3
Jim Corsi 34 FA-elig 560.5 0.5 -0.0
Don Wengert 26 pre-arb 360.3 0.1 +0.2
Scott Spiezio 23 – 90.2 – –
Carlos Reyes 27 pre-arb 460.2 0.2 -0.0
Paul Fletcher 29 – 1-0.0 – –
Mark Acre 27 pre-arb 22-0.0 0.1 -0.1
Kerwin Moore 25 pre-arb 22-0.0 0.1 -0.1
Bobby Chouinard 24 – 13-0.0 – –
Aaron Small 24 pre-arb 12-0.0 0.1 -0.1
Brent Gates 26 arb 64-0.1 0.3 -0.4
John Briscoe 28 arb 17-0.2 0.1 -0.3
Webster Garrison 30 – 5-0.2 – –
Rafael Bournigal 30 arb 88-0.2 0.1 -0.3
Damon Mashore 26 pre-arb 50-0.2 0.1 -0.3
Brian Lesher 25 pre-arb 26-0.3 0.1 -0.3
Jay Witasick 23 – 12-0.3 – –
Mike Bordick 30 FA-elig 155-0.3 2.0 -2.3
Izzy Molina 25 pre-arb 14-0.3 0.1 -0.4
Todd Van Poppel↔ DET 24 arb 28-0.4 0.2 -0.6
Steve Montgomery 25 pre-arb 8-0.5 0.1 -0.6
Torey Lovullo 30 FA-elig 65-0.5 0.2 -0.6
George Williams 27 pre-arb 56-0.7 0.1 -0.7
Pedro Munoz 27 FA-elig 34-0.9 0.6 -1.3
Phil Plantier 27 FA-elig 73-1.0 0.5 -1.3
Allen Battle 27 pre-arb 47-1.2 0.1 -1.1
Jose Herrera 23 – 108-1.2 – –

Key additions (new vs 1995)

PlayerfWAR
Billy Taylor1.5
Tony Batista1.4
Willie Adams1.4
Dave Telgheder0.8
Matt Stairs0.7
Buddy Groom0.6

Key subtractions (gone from 1995)

Player1995 fWAR
Todd Stottlemyre4.0
Rickey Henderson2.6
Steve Ontiveros2.4
Stan Javier2.2
Dennis Eckersley0.9
Dave Stewart0.7

Current & Historical Payroll

1996 payroll
$20.9M

What the front office was committed to as of 1996, 1996–2002. 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 (8)

PlayerAgeSvc1996199719981999200020012002
Mark McGwire3210.000$7.0M$4.8MFREE AGENT
Terry Steinbach3410.000$4.2MFREE AGENT
Mike Bordick306.000$2.0MFREE AGENT
Geronimo Berroa317.000$1.1M$1.8MFREE AGENT
Pedro Munoz276.000$595kFREE AGENT
Phil Plantier276.000$500kFREE AGENT
Jim Corsi348.000$450kFREE AGENT
Torey Lovullo308.000$180kFREE AGENT

Arbitration-eligible (9)

PlayerAgeSvc1996199719981999200020012002
Scott Brosius295.000$970kFREE AGENT
Brent Gates263.000$290kARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Todd Van Poppel245.000$241kFREE AGENT
Buddy Groom304.000$195kARB 3FREE AGENT
Mike Mohler273.000$155kARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Rafael Bournigal304.000$150kARB 3FREE AGENT
John Briscoe285.000$150kFREE AGENT
Dave Telgheder293.000$148kARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Matt Stairs284.000$130kARB 3FREE AGENT

Pre-arbitration (26)

PlayerAgeSvc1996199719981999200020012002
Ariel Prieto261.000$181kPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Carlos Reyes272.000$170kARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Mark Acre272.000$140kARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Billy Taylor342.000$135kARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Jason Giambi251.000$120kPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Aaron Small242.000$118kARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Allen Battle271.000$117kPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Don Wengert261.000$117kPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
George Williams271.000$115kPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Doug Johns281.000$114kPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Ernie Young262.000$112kARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
John Wasdin231.000$111kPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Willie Adams230.000$109kPre-ArbPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Tony Batista220.000$109kPre-ArbPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Brian Lesher250.000$109kPre-ArbPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Izzy Molina250.000$109kPre-ArbPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Damon Mashore260.000$109kPre-ArbPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Kerwin Moore250.000$109kPre-ArbPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Steve Montgomery250.000$109kPre-ArbPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Bobby Chouinard240.000—Pre-ArbPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Paul Fletcher29–—
Webster Garrison30–—
Jose Herrera231.000—Pre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Scott Spiezio230.000—Pre-ArbPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Jay Witasick230.000—Pre-ArbPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Steve Wojciechowski251.000—Pre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT

Graphs

Every roster slot ranked best→worst by WAR. Bars = Athletics 1996; 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.