RRosternomics
𝕏

Pirates PIT

‹ ›

GM: Larry Doughty

Overview

REBUILD ↘ cooling
cheap & losing · year 1 in this regime · payroll 0.85× league · TAB -1.2
-1.2TAB — talent above budget14th/26
-5.9WAB — realized wins (TAB + luck)20th/26
8.0depth — 2+ WAR regulars8th/26
-5.4dead WAR — sub-replacement drag18th/26
30%dead money %16th/26
0.457win %20th/26
31.1roster fWAR16th/26
+0surplus $M (value vs cost)9th/26
$12Mpayroll $M17th/26

Roster

CFAndy Van Slyke 123GR.J. Reynolds 30GJohn Cangelosi 24G
LFBarry Bonds 156GBilly Hatcher 98GJohn Cangelosi 12G
RFR.J. Reynolds 72GGary Redus 12GJohn Cangelosi 10G
SSJay Bell 78GRey Quinones 76GRafael Belliard 40G
2BJosé Lind 151GRafael Belliard 20GJeff King 7G
3BBobby Bonilla 156GJeff King 13GRafael Belliard 6G
1BGary Redus 72GBenny Distefano 48GJeff King 46G
STARTERSDoug Drabek 2.2WARJohn Smiley 2.2WARBob Walk 1.8WARJeff Robinson 0.9WARRick Reed 0.6WAR
CJunior Ortiz 84GMichael LaValliere 65GDann Bilardello 33G
BULLPEN★ Bill Landrum 26svBob Kipper 0hDoug Bair 0hMike Smith 0hBob Patterson 0hMiguel Garcia 0hLogan Easley 0hBrian Fisher 0h
CJunior Ortiz 84 · Michael LaValliere 65 · Dann Bilardello 33
1BGary Redus 72 · Benny Distefano 48 · Jeff King 46
2BJosé Lind 151 · Rafael Belliard 20 · Jeff King 7
3BBobby Bonilla 156 · Jeff King 13 · Rafael Belliard 6
SSJay Bell 78 · Rey Quinones 76 · Rafael Belliard 40
LFBarry Bonds 156 · Billy Hatcher 98 · John Cangelosi 12
CFAndy Van Slyke 123 · R.J. Reynolds 30 · John Cangelosi 24
RFR.J. Reynolds 72 · Gary Redus 12 · John Cangelosi 10
SPDoug Drabek 2.2 · John Smiley 2.2 · Bob Walk 1.8 · Jeff Robinson 0.9 · Rick Reed 0.6
BP★ Bill Landrum 26 · Bob Kipper 0 · Doug Bair 0 · Mike Smith 0 · Bob Patterson 0 · Miguel Garcia 0 · Logan Easley 0 · Brian Fisher 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.

1989 roster — value & surplus

PlayerAgeServiceGfWARSalary $MSurplus $M
Barry Bonds 24 arb 1597.1 0.4 +2.2
Bobby Bonilla 26 arb 1634.3 0.7 +0.8
Glenn Wilson↔ HOU 30 FA-elig 1003.1 0.6 +0.5
Andy Van Slyke 28 FA-elig 1303.0 2.1 -1.1
Gary Redus 32 FA-elig 982.4 0.5 +0.3
R.J. Reynolds 30 FA-elig 1252.3 0.4 +0.4
John Smiley 24 arb 282.2 0.2 +0.6
Doug Drabek 26 arb 402.2 0.3 +0.5
Bob Walk 32 FA-elig 331.8 0.8 -0.2
Michael LaValliere 28 arb 681.2 0.5 -0.0
Bill Landrum 31 arb 561.1 0.1 +0.3
Jeff Robinson 28 arb 500.9 0.8 -0.4
Jay Bell 23 arb 780.7 0.1 +0.2
Doug Bair 39 FA-elig 440.7 0.1 +0.1
John Cangelosi 26 arb 1120.7 0.2 +0.1
Rick Reed 24 pre-arb 150.6 0.1 +0.1
Bob Kipper 24 arb 520.5 0.2 -0.0
Neal Heaton 29 FA-elig 440.5 0.7 -0.5
Jeff King 24 pre-arb 750.4 0.1 +0.1
Stan Belinda 22 – 80.3 – –
Bob Patterson 30 – 120.2 – –
Billy Hatcher↔ HOU 28 arb 270.1 0.1 -0.1
Scott Little 26 – 30.1 – –
Steve Carter 24 – 90.0 – –
Dann Bilardello 30 – 330.0 – –
Mike Smith 28 – 160.0 – –
Dorn Taylor 30 – 10-0.0 – –
Jim Gott 29 FA-elig 1-0.0 0.6 -0.6
Scott Medvin 27 – 6-0.0 – –
Mike Dunne↔ SEA 26 pre-arb 3-0.0 0.0 -0.0
Miguel Garcia 22 – 11-0.1 – –
Sid Bream 28 FA-elig 19-0.1 0.5 -0.5
Albert Hall 31 – 20-0.1 – –
Morris Madden 28 – 10-0.1 – –
Rafael Belliard 27 FA-elig 67-0.2 0.2 -0.3
Logan Easley 27 – 10-0.2 – –
Brian Fisher 27 arb 9-0.3 0.4 -0.5
Roger Samuels 28 – 5-0.3 – –
Benny Distefano 27 arb 96-0.3 0.1 -0.2
Jose Lind 25 pre-arb 153-0.4 0.2 -0.3
Ken Oberkfell↔ SFG 33 FA-elig 14-0.5 0.1 -0.3
Randy Kramer 28 – 36-0.6 – –
Tom Prince 24 – 21-0.6 – –
Junior Ortiz 29 FA-elig 91-0.7 0.3 -0.5
Rey Quinones↔ SEA 25 arb 71-1.1 0.2 -0.6

Key additions (new vs 1988)

PlayerfWAR
Bill Landrum1.1
Jay Bell0.7
Doug Bair0.7
Neal Heaton0.5
Jeff King0.4
Stan Belinda0.3

Key subtractions (gone from 1988)

Player1988 fWAR
Dave LaPoint0.5
Darnell Coles0.4
Randy Milligan0.3
Felix Fermin0.3
Barry Jones0.1
Dave Rucker0.0

Current & Historical Payroll

1989 payroll
$11.6M

What the front office was committed to as of 1989, 1989–1995. 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 (14)

PlayerAgeSvc1989199019911992199319941995
Andy Van Slyke286.000$2.1M$1.2M$2.2M$4.3M$4.9M$3.5MFREE AGENT
Bob Walk329.000$800k$850k$850k$2.0M$2.2MFREE AGENT
Neal Heaton297.000$650k$700k$1.0MFREE AGENT
Jim Gott297.000$600kFREE AGENT$900k
Glenn Wilson307.000$586kFREE AGENT
Sid Bream286.000$510k$510kFREE AGENT
Gary Redus327.000$500k$500k$600k$825kFREE AGENT
R.J. Reynolds306.000$425k$535kFREE AGENT
Junior Ortiz297.000$300kFREE AGENT
Rafael Belliard277.000$225k$380kFREE AGENT
Doug Bair3913.000$150k$325kFREE AGENT
Ken Oberkfell3312.000$105kFREE AGENT
Dann Bilardello306.000—FREE AGENT
Albert Hall318.000—FREE AGENT

Arbitration-eligible (15)

PlayerAgeSvc1989199019911992199319941995
Jeff Robinson285.000$750kFREE AGENT
Bobby Bonilla263.000$740kARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Michael LaValliere285.000$482kFREE AGENT
Brian Fisher274.000$404kARB 3FREE AGENT
Barry Bonds243.000$360kARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Doug Drabek263.000$325kARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
John Smiley243.000$230kARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Bob Kipper244.000$230kARB 3FREE AGENT
Rey Quinones253.000$196kARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
John Cangelosi264.000$152kARB 3FREE AGENT
Billy Hatcher285.000$99kFREE AGENT
Jay Bell233.000$85kARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Benny Distefano275.000$85kFREE AGENT
Bill Landrum313.000$75kARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Bob Patterson304.000—ARB 3FREE AGENT

Pre-arbitration (16)

PlayerAgeSvc1989199019911992199319941995
Jose Lind252.000$180kARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Jeff King240.000$68kPre-ArbPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Rick Reed241.000$68kPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Mike Dunne262.000$37kARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Stan Belinda220.000—Pre-ArbPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Steve Carter24–—
Logan Easley27–—
Miguel Garcia22–—
Randy Kramer281.000—Pre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Scott Little26–—
Morris Madden28–—
Scott Medvin27–—
Tom Prince242.000—ARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Roger Samuels281.000—Pre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Mike Smith28–—
Dorn Taylor30–—

Graphs

Every roster slot ranked best→worst by WAR. Bars = Pirates 1989; 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.