RRosternomics
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Athletics OAK

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GM: Billy Beane

Overview

REBUILD ↘ cooling
cheap & losing · year 3 in this regime · payroll 0.54× league · TAB -6.2
-6.2TAB — talent above budget22nd/30
+0.1WAB — realized wins (TAB + luck)16th/30
3.0depth — 2+ WAR regulars27th/30
-6.3dead WAR — sub-replacement drag22nd/30
26%dead money %12th/30
0.457win %21st/30
20.4roster fWAR26th/30
+1surplus $M (value vs cost)9th/30
$22Mpayroll $M26th/30

Roster

CFRyan Christenson 113GJason McDonald 33GRickey Henderson 24G
LFRickey Henderson 142GMatt Stairs 11GJason McDonald 11G
RFBen Grieve 151GJason McDonald 25GRyan Christenson 4G
SSMiguel Tejada 104GRafael Bournigal 38GJorge Velandia 7G
2BScott Spiezio 112GRafael Bournigal 48GBip Roberts 31G
3BEd Sprague Jr. 128GMike Blowers 120GDave Magadan 30G
1BJason Giambi 146GJack Voigt 27GMike Blowers 8G
STARTERSKenny Rogers 4.5WARJimmy Haynes 1.7WARMike Oquist 1.4WARTom Candiotti 1.3WARGil Heredia 1.0WAR
CA.J. Hinch 118GMike Macfarlane 73GIzzy Molina 5G
DHMatt Stairs 119GKevin Mitchell 20GJason Giambi 7G
BULLPEN★ Billy Taylor 33svBuddy Groom 0hT.J. Mathews 0hMike Mohler 0hMark Holzemer 0hJim Dougherty 0hDave Telgheder 0hJay Witasick 0h
CA.J. Hinch 118 · Mike Macfarlane 73 · Izzy Molina 5
1BJason Giambi 146 · Jack Voigt 27 · Mike Blowers 8
2BScott Spiezio 112 · Rafael Bournigal 48 · Bip Roberts 31
3BEd Sprague Jr. 128 · Mike Blowers 120 · Dave Magadan 30
SSMiguel Tejada 104 · Rafael Bournigal 38 · Jorge Velandia 7
LFRickey Henderson 142 · Matt Stairs 11 · Jason McDonald 11
CFRyan Christenson 113 · Jason McDonald 33 · Rickey Henderson 24
RFBen Grieve 151 · Jason McDonald 25 · Ryan Christenson 4
DHMatt Stairs 119 · Kevin Mitchell 20 · Jason Giambi 7
SPKenny Rogers 4.5 · Jimmy Haynes 1.7 · Mike Oquist 1.4 · Tom Candiotti 1.3 · Gil Heredia 1.0
BP★ Billy Taylor 33 · Buddy Groom 0 · T.J. Mathews 0 · Mike Mohler 0 · Mark Holzemer 0 · Jim Dougherty 0 · Dave Telgheder 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.

1998 roster — value & surplus

PlayerAgeServiceGfWARSalary $MSurplus $M
Kenny Rogers 33 FA-elig 344.5 5.0 -0.2
Matt Stairs 30 FA-elig 1493.1 0.3 +3.0
Jason Giambi 27 arb 1532.6 0.3 +2.5
Rickey Henderson 39 FA-elig 1521.9 1.1 +0.9
Jimmy Haynes 25 arb 331.7 0.2 +1.7
Ben Grieve 22 pre-arb 1551.5 0.2 +1.5
Mike Oquist 30 arb 311.4 0.2 +1.3
Tom Candiotti 41 FA-elig 331.3 2.9 -1.4
Jason McDonald 26 pre-arb 701.1 0.2 +1.0
Billy Taylor 36 arb 701.1 1.1 +0.0
Gil Heredia 32 FA-elig 81.0 0.3 +0.8
Dave Magadan 35 FA-elig 350.9 0.5 +0.5
Bip Roberts↔ DET 34 FA-elig 610.8 1.5 -0.6
Buddy Groom 32 FA-elig 750.6 0.6 +0.1
T.J. Mathews 28 arb 660.6 0.3 +0.3
Mike Fetters↔ ANA 33 FA-elig 480.5 2.0 -1.4
A.J. Hinch 24 pre-arb 1200.5 0.2 +0.4
Tim Worrell↔ CLE 30 arb 250.4 0.6 -0.1
Ryan Christenson 24 pre-arb 1170.3 0.2 +0.2
Mike Macfarlane↔ KCR 34 FA-elig 780.2 0.7 -0.4
Mike Mohler 29 arb 570.2 0.5 -0.3
Eric Chavez 20 pre-arb 160.2 0.2 +0.0
Mark Bellhorn 23 – 110.1 – –
Aaron Small↔ ARI 26 arb 240.1 0.1 -0.0
Izzy Molina 27 pre-arb 60.0 0.2 -0.1
Brian Lesher 27 pre-arb 70.0 0.2 -0.1
Mike Neill 28 – 60.0 – –
Jorge Velandia 23 – 8-0.0 – –
Jason Wood↔ DET 28 pre-arb 3-0.0 0.0 -0.1
Mark Holzemer 28 arb 13-0.0 0.2 -0.3
Steve Connelly 24 – 3-0.0 – –
Shane Mack↔ KCR 34 FA-elig 3-0.0 0.0 -0.1
Ariel Prieto 28 – 2-0.1 – –
Scott Spiezio 25 pre-arb 114-0.1 0.2 -0.3
Dave Telgheder 31 arb 8-0.2 0.2 -0.5
Jim Dougherty 30 – 9-0.3 – –
Jay Witasick 25 – 7-0.4 – –
Blake Stein 24 pre-arb 24-0.4 0.2 -0.6
Miguel Tejada 24 pre-arb 105-0.5 0.2 -0.7
Kevin Mitchell 36 FA-elig 51-0.6 0.2 -0.8
Mike Blowers 33 FA-elig 129-0.6 0.5 -1.2
Jack Voigt 32 – 57-0.6 – –
Rafael Bournigal 32 FA-elig 85-0.7 0.4 -1.1
Kurt Abbott↔ COL 29 arb 35-0.7 0.5 -1.3
Ed Sprague Jr.↔ TOR 30 FA-elig 27-0.9 0.5 -1.4

Key additions (new vs 1997)

PlayerfWAR
Kenny Rogers4.5
Rickey Henderson1.9
Tom Candiotti1.3
Gil Heredia1.0
Bip Roberts0.8
Mike Fetters0.5

Key subtractions (gone from 1997)

Player1997 fWAR
Mark McGwire3.2
Brent Mayne1.8
George Williams1.5
Geronimo Berroa1.2
Steve Karsay1.0
Andrew Lorraine0.3

Current & Historical Payroll

1998 payroll
$22.4M

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 (16)

PlayerAgeSvc1998199920002001200220032004
Kenny Rogers339.000$5.0M$3.1MFREE AGENT
Tom Candiotti4115.000$2.9M$1.8MFREE AGENT
Mike Fetters339.000$2.0MFREE AGENT
Bip Roberts3412.000$1.5MFREE AGENT
Rickey Henderson3919.000$1.1MFREE AGENT
Mike Macfarlane3411.000$698k$600kFREE AGENT
Buddy Groom326.000$595k$850kFREE AGENT
Ed Sprague Jr.307.000$481kFREE AGENT
Mike Blowers339.000$475kFREE AGENT
Dave Magadan3512.000$475kFREE AGENT
Rafael Bournigal326.000$385kFREE AGENT
Matt Stairs306.000$325k$1.9M$3.0MFREE AGENT
Gil Heredia327.000$275k$450k$2.1M$3.3MFREE AGENT
Kevin Mitchell3614.000$225kFREE AGENT
Shane Mack3411.000$20kFREE AGENT
Jack Voigt326.000—FREE AGENT

Arbitration-eligible (13)

PlayerAgeSvc1998199920002001200220032004
Billy Taylor364.000$1.1MARB 3FREE AGENT
Tim Worrell305.000$581kFREE AGENT
Mike Mohler295.000$525kFREE AGENT
Kurt Abbott295.000$455kFREE AGENT
T.J. Mathews283.000$315kARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Jason Giambi273.000$315kARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Mark Holzemer285.000$250kFREE AGENT
Mike Oquist305.000$215kFREE AGENT
Dave Telgheder315.000$200kFREE AGENT
Jimmy Haynes253.000$188kARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Aaron Small264.000$101kARB 3FREE AGENT
Jim Dougherty303.000—ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Ariel Prieto283.000—ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT

Pre-arbitration (16)

PlayerAgeSvc1998199920002001200220032004
Scott Spiezio252.000$205kARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Izzy Molina272.000$175kARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Jason McDonald261.000$174kPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Brian Lesher272.000$174kARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Ben Grieve221.000$172kPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Miguel Tejada241.000$172kPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Eric Chavez200.000$170kPre-ArbPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
A.J. Hinch240.000$170kPre-ArbPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Blake Stein240.000$170kPre-ArbPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Ryan Christenson240.000$170kPre-ArbPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Jason Wood280.000$39kPre-ArbPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Mark Bellhorn231.000—Pre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Jorge Velandia231.000—Pre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Jay Witasick252.000—ARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Mike Neill28–—
Steve Connelly24–—

Graphs

Every roster slot ranked best→worst by WAR. Bars = Athletics 1998; 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.