Pirates — Front Office

Overview

Ranks vs the 30 teams in 1985, or a custom range (defaults to every team-season since 1985, when our data starts).

Front Office

PoorAverageGreat

Value

Payroll $M

$10M

Surplus $M

-4

Win %

0.354

TAB

-10.2

WAB

-24.4

Roster composition

Roster fWAR

23.8

Dead money %

32%

Depth Players

3.0

Dead WAR

-5.1

Offense

PoorAverageGreat

Pitching & Defense

PoorAverageGreat

Roster

1985 depth chart — stacked by playing time

C

RTony Peña Sr.146

RJunior Ortiz23

1B

LJason Thompson114

LSid Bream⇄26

BLee Mazzilli19

RBill Madlock⇄12

RBill Almon7

RTony Peña Sr.1

2B

BJohnny Ray151

RJim Morrison15

RDenny Gonzalez6

3B

RJim Morrison59

RDenny Gonzalez21

RBill Almon7

SS

RSam Khalifa95

RBill Almon43

RJohnnie LeMaster⇄22

RTim Foli13

RRafael Belliard12

RJerry Dybzinski5

LF

LSteve Kemp63

LJoe Orsulak41

RBill Almon26

BR.J. Reynolds⇄25

RSixto Lezcano25

RDenny Gonzalez13

BLee Mazzilli3

RScott Loucks3

RJim Morrison1

CF

LMarvell Wynne100

LJoe Orsulak72

RBill Almon6

BR.J. Reynolds⇄6

BLee Mazzilli3

LTrench Davis2

RF

RMike Brown⇄57

LJoe Orsulak16

RSixto Lezcano16

RScott Loucks1

DH

—

Starters

RRick Reuschel5.5 WAR

RRick Rhoden3.0 WAR

RJose DeLeon1.5 WAR

RBob Walk1.1 WAR

RDon Robinson1.1 WAR

RLee Tunnell0.9 WAR

RJim Winn0.2 WAR

LBob Kipper⇄0.1 WAR

LLarry McWilliams0.0 WAR

RMike Bielecki-0.4 WAR

Bullpen

★ RCecilio Guante5 sv

LAl Holland⇄0 h

LJohn Candelaria⇄0 h

LRod Scurry⇄0 h

LPat Clements⇄0 h

RRay Krawczyk0 h

LBob Kipper⇄0 h

RKent Tekulve⇄0 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 1984)

Player	fWAR
Rick Reuschel	5.5
Rick Rhoden	3.0
Tony Peña Sr.	2.5
Jose DeLeon	1.5
Mike Brown	1.5
Cecilio Guante	1.4

Key subtractions (gone from 1984)

Player	1984 fWAR
—

Contract Value

WAR translated into tier-adjusted market value, then compared with what the player was paid by Pirates. Guaranteed modern contracts use the known contract period through 1985; everyone else is shown as a 1985 season snapshot.

Player	Period	fWAR	Tier Market $M	Paid $M	Surplus $M	$ / WAR	Tier	Contract
Rick Reuschel	1985	+5.5	+109.2	0.2	+109.0	$0.0M	2.50×	–
Rick Rhoden	1985	+3.0	+46.5	0.6	+45.9	$0.2M	1.96×	–
Jose DeLeon	1985	+1.5	+18.3	0.2	+18.2	$0.1M	1.49×	–
Cecilio Guante	1985	+1.4	+14.7	0.1	+14.6	$0.1M	1.34×	–
Tony Peña Sr.	1985	+2.5	+15.0	1.1	+13.9	$0.4M	0.76×	–
Lee Tunnell	1985	+0.9	+7.6	0.1	+7.4	$0.1M	1.02×	–
Bill Almon	1985	+1.2	+6.0	0.3	+5.7	$0.2M	0.61×	–
Don Robinson	1985	+1.1	+6.1	0.5	+5.6	$0.5M	0.67×	–
Al Holland↔	1985	+0.9	+4.9	0.4	+4.5	$0.5M	0.67×	–
Joe Orsulak	1985	+0.6	+4.1	0.1	+4.1	$0.1M	0.83×	–
Lee Mazzilli	1985	+1.1	+4.7	0.6	+4.1	$0.6M	0.56×	–
Bill Madlock↔	1985	+0.9	+4.2	0.7	+3.4	$0.8M	0.56×	–
Jason Thompson	1985	+0.9	+4.0	1.1	+2.9	$1.2M	0.56×	–
Sixto Lezcano	1985	+0.4	+2.5	0.4	+2.1	$1.1M	0.83×	–
Johnny Ray	1985	+0.6	+2.6	0.6	+2.0	$1.1M	0.56×	–
John Candelaria↔	1985	+0.4	+2.1	0.5	+1.6	$1.2M	0.67×	–
Rod Scurry↔	1985	+0.0	+0.1	0.3	-0.2	$14.6M	0.67×	–
Larry McWilliams	1985	+0.0	+0.2	0.8	-0.6	$30.9M	1.02×	–
Kent Tekulve↔	1985	-0.1	-0.7	0.0	-0.8	–	0.67×	–
Johnnie LeMaster↔	1985	-0.2	-0.8	0.2	-1.0	–	0.61×	–
Jim Morrison	1985	-0.2	-1.1	0.2	-1.3	–	0.58×	–
George Hendrick↔	1985	-1.1	-7.1	0.6	-7.7	–	0.83×	–
Bob Kipper↔	1985	+0.1	+0.7	–	–	–	1.02×	–
Bob Walk	1985	+1.1	+8.7	–	–	–	1.02×	–
Dave Tomlin	1985	-0.0	-0.1	–	–	–	0.67×	–
Denny Gonzalez	1985	-0.3	-1.4	–	–	–	0.58×	–
Doug Frobel↔	1985	-0.7	-4.7	–	–	–	0.83×	–
Jerry Dybzinski	1985	-0.1	-0.4	–	–	–	0.61×	–
Jim Winn	1985	+0.2	+1.0	–	–	–	0.67×	–
Junior Ortiz	1985	+0.3	+1.2	–	–	–	0.52×	–
Marvell Wynne	1985	-1.8	-11.7	–	–	–	0.83×	–
Mike Bielecki	1985	-0.4	-3.3	–	–	–	1.02×	–
Mike Brown↔	1985	+1.5	+9.7	–	–	–	0.83×	–
Pat Clements↔	1985	+0.1	+0.6	–	–	–	0.67×	–
R.J. Reynolds↔	1985	+1.2	+8.0	–	–	–	0.83×	–
Rafael Belliard	1985	+0.1	+0.4	–	–	–	0.61×	–
Ray Krawczyk	1985	-0.1	-0.4	–	–	–	0.67×	–
Sam Khalifa	1985	+1.0	+5.0	–	–	–	0.61×	–
Scott Loucks	1985	+0.0	+0.1	–	–	–	0.83×	–
Sid Bream↔	1985	+0.1	+0.5	–	–	–	0.56×	–
Steve Kemp	1985	+0.3	+2.1	–	–	–	0.83×	–
Tim Foli	1985	+0.0	+0.1	–	–	–	0.61×	–
Trench Davis	1985	-0.2	-1.1	–	–	–	0.83×	–
Total	—	+23.7	+258.1	9.6	+233.4	—

Trades

Every graded 1985 deal involving the Pirates — best expected value first. Surplus is realized value in $M; 5 total.

1985 · PIT / LAD

PIT · Joe Brown +$93.6M

R. J. Reynolds, Cecil Espy, Sid Bream

LAD · Al Campanis −$93.6M

Bill Madlock

PIT came out ahead by $93.6M

1985 · PIT / PHI

PIT · Joe Brown +$4.8M

Mike Diaz

PHI · Bill Giles −$4.8M

Steve Herz

PIT came out ahead by $4.8M

1985 · CLE / PIT

CLE · Phil Seghi +$12.0M

Scott Bailes

PIT · Joe Brown −$12.0M

Johnnie LeMaster

CLE came out ahead by $12.0M

1985 · PIT / PHI

PIT · Joe Brown +$24.8M

Al Holland, Frankie Griffin

PHI · Bill Giles −$24.8M

Kent Tekulve

PIT came out ahead by $24.8M

1985 · PIT / ANA

PIT · Joe Brown +$30.4M

Pat Clements, Mike Brown, Bob Kipper

ANA · Mike Port −$30.4M

John Candelaria, Al Holland, George Hendrick

PIT came out ahead by $30.4M

Current & Historical Payroll

1985 payroll

$9.7M

What the front office was committed to as of 1985, 1985–1991. 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 (17)

Player	Age	Svc	1985	1986	1987	1988
Jason Thompson	30	9.000	$1.1M	FREE AGENT
Larry McWilliams	31	7.000	$797k	$1.1M	FREE AGENT
Bill Madlock	34	12.000	$745k	FREE AGENT
Rick Rhoden	32	11.000	$645k	$620k	FREE AGENT
Lee Mazzilli	30	9.000	$600k	$366k	FREE AGENT
George Hendrick	35	14.000	$598k	FREE AGENT
Don Robinson	28	7.000	$520k	$670k	$507k	FREE AGENT
John Candelaria	31	10.000	$453k	FREE AGENT
Sixto Lezcano	31	11.000	$425k	FREE AGENT
Al Holland	32	8.000	$424k	FREE AGENT
Bill Almon	32	11.000	$255k	$260k	$180k	FREE AGENT
Johnnie LeMaster	31	10.000	$244k	FREE AGENT
Jim Morrison	32	8.000	$232k	$318k	$234k	FREE AGENT
Rick Reuschel	36	13.000	$200k	$700k	$551k	FREE AGENT
Kent Tekulve	38	11.000	$41k	FREE AGENT
Steve Kemp	30	8.000	—	FREE AGENT
Dave Tomlin	36	13.000	—	FREE AGENT

Arbitration-eligible (8)

Player	Age	Svc	1985	1986	1987	1988
Tony Peña Sr.	28	5.000	$1.1M	FREE AGENT
Johnny Ray	28	4.000	$632k	ARB 3	FREE AGENT
Rod Scurry	29	5.000	$300k	FREE AGENT
Cecilio Guante	25	3.000	$150k	ARB 2	ARB 3	FREE AGENT
Lee Tunnell	24	3.000	$130k	ARB 2	ARB 3	FREE AGENT
Rafael Belliard	23	3.000	—	ARB 2	ARB 3	FREE AGENT
Junior Ortiz	25	3.000	—	ARB 2	ARB 3	FREE AGENT
Bob Walk	28	5.000	—	FREE AGENT

Pre-arbitration (18)

Player	Age	Svc	1985	1986	1987	1988	1989	1990	1991
Jose DeLeon	24	2.000	$155k	ARB 1	ARB 2	ARB 3	FREE AGENT
Joe Orsulak	23	2.000	$60k	ARB 1	ARB 2	ARB 3	FREE AGENT
Mike Bielecki	25	1.000	—	Pre-Arb	ARB 1	ARB 2	ARB 3	FREE AGENT
Sid Bream	24	2.000	—	ARB 1	ARB 2	ARB 3	FREE AGENT
Mike Brown	25	–	—
Pat Clements	23	0.000	—	Pre-Arb	Pre-Arb	ARB 1	ARB 2	ARB 3	FREE AGENT
Trench Davis	24	–	—
Jerry Dybzinski	29	–	—
Tim Foli	34	–	—
Doug Frobel	26	–	—
Denny Gonzalez	21	–	—
Sam Khalifa	21	–	—
Bob Kipper	20	0.000	—	Pre-Arb	Pre-Arb	ARB 1	ARB 2	ARB 3	FREE AGENT
Ray Krawczyk	25	1.000	—	Pre-Arb	ARB 1	ARB 2	ARB 3	FREE AGENT
Scott Loucks	28	–	—
R.J. Reynolds	26	2.000	—	ARB 1	ARB 2	ARB 3	FREE AGENT
Jim Winn	25	2.000	—	ARB 1	ARB 2	ARB 3	FREE AGENT
Marvell Wynne	25	2.000	—	ARB 1	ARB 2	ARB 3	FREE AGENT

Graphs

Regime	Seasons	Win %	Playoff %	Pennant %	WS %
WINDOW	290	52.1	30.0	4.8	1.0
CONTEND	310	56.8	62.9	19.0	10.0
FORCED-SPEND	260	48.0	9.2	1.5	1.5
REBUILD	328	43.3	1.2	0.3	0.3

How each 1985 acquisition stacked onto Pirates's playoff-odds curve. The side table is ranked by playoff points added.

Pirates PIT

Overview

Front Office

Offense

Pitching & Defense

Roster

1985 depth chart — stacked by playing time

C

1B

2B

3B

SS

LF

CF

RF

DH

Starters

Bullpen

Key additions (new vs 1984)

Key subtractions (gone from 1984)

Contract Value

Trades

Current & Historical Payroll

Guaranteed / signed (17)

Arbitration-eligible (8)

Pre-arbitration (18)

Graphs

What each regime is worth — every settled team-season since 1985

Pirates PIT

Overview

Front Office

Offense All positionsC1B2B3BSSOF (LF/CF/RF)LFCFRFINF (1B/2B/3B/SS)Middle infield (2B/SS)C/DH

Pitching & Defense ALL SP RP

Roster

1985 depth chart — stacked by playing time

C

1B

2B

3B

SS

LF

CF

RF

DH

Starters

Bullpen

Key additions (new vs 1984)

Key subtractions (gone from 1984)

Contract Value

Trades

Current & Historical Payroll

Guaranteed / signed (17)

Arbitration-eligible (8)

Pre-arbitration (18)

Graphs

What each regime is worth — every settled team-season since 1985

Offense

Pitching & Defense