RRosternomics
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Phillies PHI

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GM: Lee Thomas

Overview

REBUILD ↘ cooling
cheap & losing · year 2 in this regime · payroll 0.73× league · TAB -8.6
-8.6TAB — talent above budget22nd/28
-9.9WAB — realized wins (TAB + luck)25th/28
2.0depth — 2+ WAR regulars27th/28
-9.6dead WAR — sub-replacement drag27th/28
36%dead money %21st/28
0.420win %24th/28
21.8roster fWAR25th/28
-7surplus $M (value vs cost)16th/28
$29Mpayroll $M22nd/28

Roster

CFMidre Cummings 53GRicky Otero 40GWendell Magee 38G
LFGregg Jefferies 124GRuben Amaro Jr. 26GBilly McMillon 20G
RFTony Barron 53GDerrick May 49GRuben Amaro Jr. 15G
SSKevin Stocker 147GDesi Relaford 12GKevin Sefcik 10G
2BMickey Morandini 146GKevin Sefcik 22GRex Hudler 6G
3BScott Rolen 155GKevin Jordan 12GKevin Sefcik 4G
1BRico Brogna 145GKevin Jordan 25GMike Robertson 5G
STARTERSCurt Schilling 8.2WARGarrett Stephenson 1.6WARMark Leiter 1.6WARTyler Green 0.9WARMike Grace 0.7WAR
CMike Lieberthal 129GMark Parent 38GBobby Estalella 11G
DHKevin Jordan 1GMike Lieberthal 1GMike Robertson 1G
BULLPEN★ Ricky Bottalico 34svJerry Spradlin 0hReggie Harris 0hWayne Gomes 0hRon Blazier 0hErik Plantenberg 0hBilly Brewer 0hKen Ryan 0h
CMike Lieberthal 129 · Mark Parent 38 · Bobby Estalella 11
1BRico Brogna 145 · Kevin Jordan 25 · Mike Robertson 5
2BMickey Morandini 146 · Kevin Sefcik 22 · Rex Hudler 6
3BScott Rolen 155 · Kevin Jordan 12 · Kevin Sefcik 4
SSKevin Stocker 147 · Desi Relaford 12 · Kevin Sefcik 10
LFGregg Jefferies 124 · Ruben Amaro Jr. 26 · Billy McMillon 20
CFMidre Cummings 53 · Ricky Otero 40 · Wendell Magee 38
RFTony Barron 53 · Derrick May 49 · Ruben Amaro Jr. 15
DHKevin Jordan 1 · Mike Lieberthal 1 · Mike Robertson 1
SPCurt Schilling 8.2 · Garrett Stephenson 1.6 · Mark Leiter 1.6 · Tyler Green 0.9 · Mike Grace 0.7
BP★ Ricky Bottalico 34 · Jerry Spradlin 0 · Reggie Harris 0 · Wayne Gomes 0 · Ron Blazier 0 · Erik Plantenberg 0 · Billy Brewer 0 · Ken Ryan 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
Curt Schilling 30 FA-elig 358.2 3.5 +4.9
Scott Rolen 22 pre-arb 1564.2 0.1 +4.2
Midre Cummings↔ PIT 25 arb 631.9 0.1 +1.9
Darren Daulton↔ MIA 35 FA-elig 841.8 3.0 -1.1
Mike Lieberthal 25 arb 1341.6 0.2 +1.4
Mark Leiter 34 FA-elig 311.6 1.9 -0.3
Garrett Stephenson 25 pre-arb 201.6 0.1 +1.5
Kevin Stocker 27 arb 1491.4 0.9 +0.6
Tony Barron 30 pre-arb 571.4 0.1 +1.3
Mickey Morandini 31 FA-elig 1501.3 1.9 -0.5
Tyler Green 27 arb 140.9 0.2 +0.7
Ricky Bottalico 27 arb 690.8 0.4 +0.4
Mike Grace 27 pre-arb 60.7 0.2 +0.5
Bobby Estalella 22 – 130.6 – –
Billy McMillon↔ MIA 25 pre-arb 240.6 0.1 +0.5
Gregg Jefferies 29 FA-elig 1300.6 5.5 -4.9
Jerry Spradlin 30 arb 760.5 0.1 +0.4
Matt Beech 25 pre-arb 240.4 0.1 +0.3
Ruben Amaro Jr. 32 FA-elig 1170.4 0.3 +0.1
Bobby Munoz 29 arb 80.2 0.2 +0.0
Mark Portugal 34 FA-elig 30.2 2.4 -2.2
Rex Hudler 36 FA-elig 500.1 1.1 -1.0
Rob Butler 27 – 430.1 – –
Ricky Otero 25 – 500.1 – –
Erik Plantenberg 28 arb 350.1 0.1 -0.1
Reggie Harris 28 FA-elig 500.0 0.2 -0.1
Billy Brewer↔ OAK 29 arb 250.0 0.2 -0.2
Ron Blazier 25 pre-arb 36-0.0 0.1 -0.2
Ryan Karp 27 pre-arb 15-0.0 0.1 -0.2
Danny Tartabull 34 FA-elig 3-0.1 2.0 -2.2
Mike Robertson 26 pre-arb 22-0.1 0.1 -0.3
Desi Relaford 23 – 15-0.2 – –
Wayne Gomes 24 pre-arb 37-0.2 0.1 -0.4
Ryan Nye 24 – 4-0.2 – –
Kevin Sefcik 26 pre-arb 61-0.2 0.1 -0.4
Darrin Winston 30 – 7-0.3 – –
Edgar Ramos 22 pre-arb 4-0.3 0.1 -0.4
Scott Ruffcorn 27 arb 18-0.4 0.2 -0.6
Ken Ryan 28 arb 22-0.5 0.9 -1.4
Mike Mimbs 28 pre-arb 17-0.6 0.2 -0.8
Derrick May 28 FA-elig 83-0.8 0.3 -1.1
Calvin Maduro 22 pre-arb 16-0.8 0.1 -1.0
Kevin Jordan 27 pre-arb 84-0.9 0.2 -1.0
Wendell Magee 24 pre-arb 38-0.9 0.1 -1.1
Mark Parent 35 FA-elig 39-1.1 0.4 -1.5
Rico Brogna 27 arb 148-1.9 0.5 -2.4

Key additions (new vs 1996)

PlayerfWAR
Midre Cummings1.9
Mark Leiter1.6
Garrett Stephenson1.6
Tony Barron1.4
Tyler Green0.9
Billy McMillon0.6

Key subtractions (gone from 1996)

Player1996 fWAR
Jim Eisenreich2.7
Benito Santiago2.6
Lenny Dykstra1.7
Sid Fernandez1.7
Terry Mulholland1.3
Mark Whiten1.2

Current & Historical Payroll

1997 payroll
$28.8M

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 (12)

PlayerAgeSvc1997199819992000200120022003
Gregg Jefferies2910.000$5.5M$5.2MFREE AGENT
Curt Schilling309.000$3.5M$4.7M$5.2M$3.1MFREE AGENT
Darren Daulton3514.000$3.0MFREE AGENT
Mark Portugal3412.000$2.4M$2.4MFREE AGENT
Danny Tartabull3413.000$2.0MFREE AGENT
Mark Leiter347.000$1.9M$2.0MFREE AGENT
Mickey Morandini317.000$1.9MFREE AGENT$542k
Rex Hudler3613.000$1.1M$1.1MFREE AGENT
Mark Parent3511.000$400k$400kFREE AGENT
Derrick May287.000$300kFREE AGENT
Ruben Amaro Jr.326.000$275k$265kFREE AGENT
Reggie Harris287.000$175kFREE AGENT

Arbitration-eligible (13)

PlayerAgeSvc1997199819992000200120022003
Ken Ryan285.000$900kFREE AGENT
Kevin Stocker274.000$890kARB 3FREE AGENT
Rico Brogna275.000$450kFREE AGENT
Ricky Bottalico273.000$425kARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Mike Lieberthal253.000$215kARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Bobby Munoz294.000$200kARB 3FREE AGENT
Tyler Green274.000$180kARB 3FREE AGENT
Billy Brewer294.000$179kARB 3FREE AGENT
Scott Ruffcorn274.000$158kARB 3FREE AGENT
Erik Plantenberg284.000$150kARB 3FREE AGENT
Jerry Spradlin304.000$150kARB 3FREE AGENT
Midre Cummings254.000$99kARB 3FREE AGENT
Rob Butler274.000—ARB 3FREE AGENT

Pre-arbitration (21)

PlayerAgeSvc1997199819992000200120022003
Mike Mimbs282.000$200kARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Mike Grace272.000$185kARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Kevin Jordan272.000$175kARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Scott Rolen221.000$150kPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Tony Barron301.000$150kPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Matt Beech251.000$150kPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Ron Blazier251.000$150kPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Wayne Gomes240.000$150kPre-ArbPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Wendell Magee241.000$150kPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Ryan Karp272.000$150kARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Calvin Maduro221.000$150kPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Garrett Stephenson251.000$150kPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Mike Robertson261.000$150kPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Edgar Ramos220.000$150kPre-ArbPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Kevin Sefcik262.000$150kARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Billy McMillon251.000$99kPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Bobby Estalella221.000—Pre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Ryan Nye24–—
Ricky Otero252.000—ARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Desi Relaford231.000—Pre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Darrin Winston300.000—Pre-ArbPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT

Graphs

Every roster slot ranked best→worst by WAR. Bars = Phillies 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.