RRosternomics
𝕏

Athletics OAK

‹ ›

GM: Sandy Alderson

Overview

REBUILD ↘ cooling
cheap & losing · year 2 in this regime · payroll 0.51× league · TAB -9.0
-9.0TAB — talent above budget24th/28
-8.1WAB — realized wins (TAB + luck)21st/28
2.0depth — 2+ WAR regulars27th/28
-6.2dead WAR — sub-replacement drag20th/28
54%dead money %28th/28
0.401win %28th/28
16.8roster fWAR28th/28
-2surplus $M (value vs cost)13th/28
$20Mpayroll $M25th/28

Roster

CFDamon Mashore 71GJason McDonald 66GErnie Young 60G
LFJason Giambi 68GBrian Lesher 31GDamon Mashore 28G
RFMatt Stairs 63GJosé Canseco 27GBen Grieve 24G
SSRafael Bournigal 74GTony Batista 61GScott Brosius 30G
2BScott Spiezio 146GTilson Brito 27GMark Bellhorn 17G
3BScott Brosius 107GDave Magadan 49GMark Bellhorn 40G
1BJason Giambi 51GDave Magadan 30GMatt Stairs 7G
STARTERSJimmy Haynes 1.0WARSteve Karsay 1.0WARMike Oquist 0.9WARAriel Prieto 0.7WARDave Telgheder 0.6WAR
CBrent Mayne 83GGeorge Williams 67GIzzy Molina 48G
DHJosé Canseco 60GDave Magadan 24GJason Giambi 22G
BULLPEN★ Billy Taylor 23svBuddy Groom 0hAaron Small 0hT.J. Mathews 0hDane Johnson 0hMark Acre 0hTim Kubinski 0hJay Witasick 0h
CBrent Mayne 83 · George Williams 67 · Izzy Molina 48
1BJason Giambi 51 · Dave Magadan 30 · Matt Stairs 7
2BScott Spiezio 146 · Tilson Brito 27 · Mark Bellhorn 17
3BScott Brosius 107 · Dave Magadan 49 · Mark Bellhorn 40
SSRafael Bournigal 74 · Tony Batista 61 · Scott Brosius 30
LFJason Giambi 68 · Brian Lesher 31 · Damon Mashore 28
CFDamon Mashore 71 · Jason McDonald 66 · Ernie Young 60
RFMatt Stairs 63 · José Canseco 27 · Ben Grieve 24
DHJosé Canseco 60 · Dave Magadan 24 · Jason Giambi 22
SPJimmy Haynes 1.0 · Steve Karsay 1.0 · Mike Oquist 0.9 · Ariel Prieto 0.7 · Dave Telgheder 0.6
BP★ Billy Taylor 23 · Buddy Groom 0 · Aaron Small 0 · T.J. Mathews 0 · Dane Johnson 0 · Mark Acre 0 · Tim Kubinski 0 · Jay Witasick 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.

1997 roster — value & surplus

PlayerAgeServiceGfWARSalary $MSurplus $M
Mark McGwire↔ STL 33 FA-elig 1053.2 4.8 -1.6
Matt Stairs 29 arb 1332.0 0.2 +1.9
Dave Magadan 34 FA-elig 1281.9 0.3 +1.7
Brent Mayne 29 FA-elig 851.8 0.2 +1.6
Jason Giambi 26 pre-arb 1421.7 0.2 +1.5
George Williams 28 pre-arb 761.5 0.2 +1.4
Scott Spiezio 24 pre-arb 1471.4 0.2 +1.3
Billy Taylor 35 arb 721.3 0.6 +0.8
Geronimo Berroa↔ BAL 32 FA-elig 731.2 1.5 -0.3
Jimmy Haynes 24 pre-arb 131.0 0.2 +0.9
Steve Karsay 25 arb 251.0 0.2 +0.9
Mike Oquist 29 arb 200.9 0.2 +0.7
Aaron Small 25 arb 710.7 0.2 +0.6
Ariel Prieto 27 pre-arb 220.7 0.2 +0.5
Dave Telgheder 30 arb 200.6 0.2 +0.5
Andrew Lorraine 24 arb 120.3 0.2 +0.2
Damon Mashore 27 pre-arb 920.3 0.2 +0.2
Jason McDonald 25 – 780.2 – –
Mike Mohler 28 arb 640.2 0.2 -0.0
Jose Canseco 32 FA-elig 1080.2 4.2 -4.0
Mark Acre 28 arb 150.1 0.2 -0.0
Brad Rigby 24 pre-arb 140.1 0.1 -0.0
Dane Johnson 34 arb 380.1 0.2 -0.1
Mark Bellhorn 22 pre-arb 680.1 0.1 -0.1
Steve Wojciechowski 26 pre-arb 20.1 0.2 -0.1
Buddy Groom 31 arb 780.1 0.4 -0.3
Tilson Brito↔ TOR 25 pre-arb 170.0 0.0 -0.0
Ben Grieve 21 – 240.0 – –
Rafael Bournigal 31 arb 790.0 0.2 -0.2
John Johnstone↔ SFG 28 – 5-0.0 – –
Scott Sheldon 28 – 13-0.0 – –
Willie Adams 24 pre-arb 13-0.0 0.2 -0.2
Tim Kubinski 25 pre-arb 11-0.1 0.1 -0.2
Don Wengert 27 pre-arb 49-0.1 0.2 -0.3
Jay Witasick 24 – 8-0.1 – –
T.J. Mathews↔ STL 27 pre-arb 24-0.1 0.1 -0.2
Billy Brewer↔ PHI 29 arb 3-0.1 0.0 -0.2
Carlos Reyes 28 arb 37-0.2 0.2 -0.4
Gary Haught 26 – 6-0.2 – –
Scott Brosius 30 FA-elig 129-0.3 2.5 -2.8
Tony Batista 23 pre-arb 68-0.3 0.2 -0.5
Pat Lennon 29 FA-elig 56-0.4 0.1 -0.5
Steve Montgomery 26 – 4-0.4 – –
Miguel Tejada 23 pre-arb 26-0.5 0.1 -0.6
Eric Ludwick↔ STL 25 pre-arb 6-0.5 0.1 -0.6
Izzy Molina 26 pre-arb 48-0.5 0.2 -0.7
Brian Lesher 26 pre-arb 46-0.8 0.2 -0.9
Richie Lewis↔ CIN 31 arb 14-0.8 0.2 -1.1
Ernie Young 27 arb 71-0.9 0.2 -1.1

Key additions (new vs 1996)

PlayerfWAR
Dave Magadan1.9
Brent Mayne1.8
Jimmy Haynes1.0
Steve Karsay1.0
Mike Oquist0.9
Andrew Lorraine0.3

Key subtractions (gone from 1996)

Player1996 fWAR
Terry Steinbach3.9
Doug Johns0.9
John Wasdin0.6
Jim Corsi0.5
Paul Fletcher-0.0
Kerwin Moore-0.0

Current & Historical Payroll

1997 payroll
$19.9M

What the front office was committed to as of 1997, 1997–2003. 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 (7)

PlayerAgeSvc1997199819992000200120022003
Mark McGwire3311.000$4.8MFREE AGENT
Jose Canseco3212.000$4.2MFREE AGENT
Scott Brosius306.000$2.5MFREE AGENT
Geronimo Berroa328.000$1.5MFREE AGENT
Dave Magadan3411.000$255k$475kFREE AGENT
Brent Mayne297.000$225kFREE AGENT
Pat Lennon296.000$150kFREE AGENT

Arbitration-eligible (17)

PlayerAgeSvc1997199819992000200120022003
Billy Taylor353.000$575kARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Buddy Groom315.000$390kFREE AGENT
Mike Mohler284.000$250kARB 3FREE AGENT
Carlos Reyes283.000$200kARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Mike Oquist294.000$195kARB 3FREE AGENT
Ernie Young273.000$195kARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Richie Lewis315.000$194kFREE AGENT
Dane Johnson343.000$172kARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Mark Acre283.000$165kARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Dave Telgheder304.000$165kARB 3FREE AGENT
Matt Stairs295.000$165kFREE AGENT
Rafael Bournigal315.000$162kFREE AGENT
Steve Karsay254.000$160kARB 3FREE AGENT
Aaron Small253.000$155kARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Andrew Lorraine243.000$154kARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Billy Brewer294.000$21kARB 3FREE AGENT
John Johnstone284.000—ARB 3FREE AGENT

Pre-arbitration (25)

PlayerAgeSvc1997199819992000200120022003
Jason Giambi262.000$205kARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Ariel Prieto272.000$194kARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Don Wengert272.000$172kARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
George Williams282.000$165kARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Jimmy Haynes242.000$165kARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Tony Batista231.000$162kPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Willie Adams241.000$158kPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Damon Mashore271.000$154kPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Steve Wojciechowski262.000$154kARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Izzy Molina261.000$152kPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Brian Lesher261.000$152kPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Scott Spiezio241.000$151kPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Mark Bellhorn220.000$150kPre-ArbPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Brad Rigby240.000$150kPre-ArbPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Miguel Tejada230.000$150kPre-ArbPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Tim Kubinski250.000$150kPre-ArbPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
T.J. Mathews272.000$90kARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Eric Ludwick251.000$85kPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Tilson Brito251.000$41kPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Ben Grieve210.000—Pre-ArbPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Gary Haught26–—
Jason McDonald250.000—Pre-ArbPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Steve Montgomery261.000—Pre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Scott Sheldon280.000—Pre-ArbPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Jay Witasick241.000—Pre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT

Graphs

Every roster slot ranked best→worst by WAR. Bars = Athletics 1997; 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.