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Pirates PIT

199779–83 (0.488)
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GM: Cam Bonifay

Overview

Ranks vs the 30 teams in 1997, or a custom range (defaults to every team-season since 1985, when our data starts).

to

Front Office

PoorAverageGreat
Value
Payroll $M
$11M
Surplus $M
+13
Win %
0.488
TAB
+2.2
WAB
+13.5
Roster composition
Roster fWAR
20.8
Dead money %
49%
Depth Players
7.0
Dead WAR
-11.1

Offense

PoorAverageGreat

Pitching & Defense

PoorAverageGreat

Roster

1997 depth chart — stacked by playing time

C

RJason Kendall142
RKeith Osik32

1B

RKevin Young77
LMark Johnson63
REddie Williams⇄26
BDale Sveum21
RMark Smith9
RFreddy Garcia2
RKeith Osik1

2B

LTony Womack152
RJoe Randa13
BAbraham O. Nunez9
RKeith Osik4
BDale Sveum2
RKevin Polcovich2

3B

RJoe Randa120
BDale Sveum47
RKevin Young12
RFreddy Garcia10
RKeith Osik1
RKevin Polcovich1

SS

RKevin Polcovich80
RKevin Elster39
BDale Sveum28
RShawon Dunston⇄18
RLou Collier18
BAbraham O. Nunez12
LTony Womack4

LF

LAl Martin110
REmil Brown30
RMark Smith21
LMidre Cummings⇄14
BTurner Ward11
RKevin Young10

CF

RJermaine Allensworth104
BAdrian Brown35
BTurner Ward31
REmil Brown8
RJose Guillen4

RF

RJose Guillen134
BTurner Ward23
RMark Smith22
REmil Brown4
BAdrian Brown3
RKevin Young1

DH

RMark Smith5
LMark Johnson1

Starters

RJon Lieber3.1 WAR
RFrancisco Cordova3.0 WAR
REsteban Loaiza2.8 WAR
RJason Schmidt2.3 WAR
LSteve Cooke1.0 WAR
RJose Silva0.3 WAR
LChris Peters-0.6 WAR

Bullpen

★ RRich Loiselle29 sv
RMarc Wilkins0 h
LRicardo Rincon0 h
RClint Sodowsky0 h
LMatt Ruebel0 h
LJason Christiansen0 h
LChris Peters0 h
RDave Wainhouse0 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 1996)

PlayerfWAR
Joe Randa3.7
Kevin Young3.0
Turner Ward1.4
Mark Smith1.3
Ricardo Rincon1.1
Shawon Dunston0.9

Key subtractions (gone from 1996)

Player1996 fWAR
Jeff King3.8
Denny Neagle3.2
Danny Darwin2.8
Orlando Merced2.8
Jay Bell2.0
Dan Plesac1.6

Contract Value

WAR translated into tier-adjusted market value, then compared with what the player was paid by Pirates. Guaranteed contracts from the 2015-present contract-data period use the known contract period through 1997; everyone else is shown as a 1997 season snapshot.

PlayerPeriodfWARTier Market $MPaid $MSurplus $M$ / WARTierContract
Jon Lieber 1997 +3.1 +49.0 0.3 +48.7 $0.1M 1.96× –
Francisco Cordova 1997 +3.0 +46.2 0.2 +46.0 $0.1M 1.96× –
Esteban Loaiza 1997 +2.8 +44.3 0.2 +44.1 $0.1M 1.96× –
Jason Kendall 1997 +4.5 +40.1 0.2 +39.9 $0.1M 1.12× –
Joe Randa 1997 +3.7 +37.5 0.2 +37.3 $0.1M 1.25× –
Jason Schmidt 1997 +2.3 +27.8 0.2 +27.6 $0.1M 1.49× –
Kevin Young 1997 +3.0 +25.3 0.4 +24.9 $0.1M 1.07× –
Rich Loiselle 1997 +1.0 +10.7 0.2 +10.5 $0.2M 1.34× –
Turner Ward 1997 +1.4 +9.1 0.3 +8.8 $0.2M 0.83× –
Mark Smith 1997 +1.3 +8.8 0.1 +8.6 $0.1M 0.83× –
Steve Cooke 1997 +1.0 +8.4 0.3 +8.1 $0.3M 1.02× –
Ricardo Rincon 1997 +1.1 +5.7 0.1 +5.5 $0.1M 0.67× –
Shawon Dunston↔ 1997 +0.9 +4.6 0.3 +4.3 $0.3M 0.61× –
Jason Christiansen 1997 +0.4 +2.3 0.2 +2.1 $0.4M 0.67× –
Al Martin 1997 +0.6 +4.0 2.3 +1.7 $3.8M 0.83× –
Abraham O. Nunez 1997 +0.3 +1.6 0.1 +1.5 $0.5M 0.61× –
Dale Sveum 1997 +0.4 +1.9 0.4 +1.5 $1.0M 0.58× –
Kevin Polcovich 1997 +0.3 +1.4 0.1 +1.3 $0.5M 0.61× –
Jeff Wallace 1997 +0.2 +1.2 0.1 +1.1 $0.7M 0.67× –
Keith Osik 1997 +0.1 +0.5 0.2 +0.4 $1.3M 0.52× –
John Ericks 1997 -0.0 -0.1 0.2 -0.3 – 1.34× –
Marc Wilkins 1997 -0.1 -0.5 0.2 -0.6 – 0.67× –
David Wainhouse 1997 -0.1 -0.5 0.2 -0.7 – 0.67× –
Mark Johnson 1997 -0.1 -0.6 0.2 -0.8 – 0.56× –
Jason Johnson 1997 -0.1 -0.7 0.1 -0.9 – 0.67× –
Kevin Elster 1997 +0.0 +0.1 1.6 -1.5 $62.3M 0.61× –
Eddie Williams↔ 1997 -0.3 -1.4 0.2 -1.6 – 0.56× –
Matt Ruebel 1997 -0.3 -1.6 0.2 -1.7 – 0.67× –
Paul Wagner↔ 1997 -0.4 -2.1 0.3 -2.3 – 0.67× –
Jeff Granger 1997 -0.4 -2.4 0.2 -2.6 – 0.67× –
Emil Brown 1997 -0.5 -3.1 0.1 -3.2 – 0.83× –
Tony Womack 1997 -0.9 -4.1 0.2 -4.3 – 0.56× –
Midre Cummings↔ 1997 -0.7 -4.4 0.1 -4.5 – 0.83× –
Jermaine Allensworth 1997 -1.4 -9.2 0.2 -9.3 – 0.83× –
Jose Guillen 1997 -3.1 -20.4 0.1 -20.6 – 0.83× –
Adrian Brown 1997 -1.3 -8.7 – – – 0.83× –
Chris Peters 1997 -0.6 -3.1 – – – 0.67× –
Clint Sodowsky 1997 -0.1 -0.6 – – – 0.67× –
Elmer Dessens 1997 +0.0 +0.2 – – – 0.67× –
Freddy Garcia 1997 -0.4 -1.7 – – – 0.58× –
Jose Silva 1997 +0.3 +1.3 – – – 0.67× –
Lou Collier 1997 -0.2 -1.1 – – – 0.61× –
Ramon Morel↔ 1997 -0.1 -0.7 – – – 0.67× –
Total—+20.6+265.010.5+269.0—

Trades

Every graded 1997 deal involving the Pirates — best expected value first. Surplus is realized value in $M; 3 total.

1997 · PIT / SDP
PIT · Cam Bonifay +$5.6M
Hal Garrett, Mark Smith
SDP · Kevin Towers −$5.6M
Trey Beamon, Angelo Encarnación
PIT came out ahead by $5.6M
1997 · NYM / PIT
NYM · Joe McIlvaine +$0.0M
Wes Chamberlain, Ramon Espinosa
PIT · Cam Bonifay +$0.0M
John Carter, Erick Ojeda
Even trade
1997 · LAD / PIT
LAD · Fred Claire +$2.4M
Hal Garrett
PIT · Cam Bonifay −$2.4M
Eddie Williams
LAD came out ahead by $2.4M

Current & Historical Payroll

1997 payroll
$10.7M

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 (6)

PlayerAgeSvc1997199819992000200120022003
Kevin Elster3211.000$1.6MFREE AGENT
Dale Sveum3311.000$400kFREE AGENT$200k
Shawon Dunston3412.000$317kFREE AGENT
Turner Ward327.000$300k$825k$706kFREE AGENT
Eddie Williams3211.000$197kFREE AGENT
David Wainhouse296.000$160kFREE AGENT

Arbitration-eligible (9)

PlayerAgeSvc1997199819992000200120022003
Al Martin295.000$2.3MFREE AGENT
Kevin Young285.000$400kFREE AGENT
Jon Lieber273.000$335kARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Steve Cooke275.000$300kFREE AGENT
Paul Wagner295.000$262kFREE AGENT
Jeff Granger254.000$200kARB 3FREE AGENT
Tony Womack274.000$160kARB 3FREE AGENT
Mark Smith273.000$150kARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Midre Cummings254.000$81kARB 3FREE AGENT

Pre-arbitration (28)

PlayerAgeSvc1997199819992000200120022003
Mark Johnson292.000$238kARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Jason Kendall231.000$235kPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Joe Randa272.000$220kARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Jason Schmidt242.000$210kARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Francisco Cordova251.000$210kPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Esteban Loaiza252.000$200kARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
John Ericks292.000$200kARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Jason Christiansen272.000$195kARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Keith Osik281.000$175kPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Marc Wilkins261.000$162kPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Jermaine Allensworth251.000$160kPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Matt Ruebel271.000$160kPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Rich Loiselle251.000$155kPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Emil Brown220.000$150kPre-ArbPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Abraham O. Nunez210.000$150kPre-ArbPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Jose Guillen210.000$150kPre-ArbPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Jason Johnson230.000$150kPre-ArbPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Kevin Polcovich270.000$150kPre-ArbPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Ricardo Rincon270.000$150kPre-ArbPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Jeff Wallace210.000$150kPre-ArbPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Adrian Brown230.000—Pre-ArbPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Lou Collier230.000—Pre-ArbPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Elmer Dessens261.000—Pre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Freddy Garcia242.000—ARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Ramon Morel222.000—ARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Chris Peters251.000—Pre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Jose Silva231.000—Pre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Clint Sodowsky242.000—ARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT

Graphs

How each 1997 acquisition stacked onto Pirates's playoff-odds curve. The side table is ranked by PPA.

Rosternomics — front-office performance, roster value, and transaction history. Follow @rosternomics on X.
Decision-maker records extend to 1933; resource-controlled WAR and payroll metrics cover 1985–2026. Data sources include FanGraphs, Baseball-Reference, the Chadwick Bureau register, the Lahman Database, prospect rankings from Baseball America, MLB Pipeline, and FanGraphs, 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).
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