RRosternomics
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Mariners SEA

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GM: Dick Balderson

Overview

REBUILD ↘ cooling
cheap & losing · year 1 in this regime · payroll 0.54× league · TAB -7.1
-7.1TAB — talent above budget20th/26
-6.8WAB — realized wins (TAB + luck)17th/26
6.0depth — 2+ WAR regulars16th/26
-10.0dead WAR — sub-replacement drag26th/26
46%dead money %23rd/26
0.414win %25th/26
19.5roster fWAR26th/26
+0surplus $M (value vs cost)10th/26
$6Mpayroll $M26th/26

Roster

CFJohn Moses 91GMickey Brantley Sr. 25GPhil Bradley 5G
LFPhil Bradley 138GDanny Tartabull 14GBarry Bonnell 9G
RFDanny Tartabull 87GIvan Calderon 31GDave Henderson 31G
SSRey Quinones 98GDomingo Ramos 21GRoss Jones 4G
2BHarold Reynolds 126GDanny Tartabull 31GDomingo Ramos 16G
3BJim Presley 155GDomingo Ramos 8GRoss Jones 2G
1BAlvin Davis 101GKen Phelps 55GBarry Bonnell 8G
STARTERSMark Langston 4.1WARMike Moore 3.7WARMike Morgan 2.5WARMatt Young 1.7WARBill Swift 1.5WAR
CBob Kearney 79GScott Bradley 59GSteve Yeager 49G
DHKen Phelps 50GAlvin Davis 32GDave Henderson 22G
BULLPEN★ Pete Ladd 6svMark Huismann 0hLee Guetterman 0hKarl Best 0hMike Trujillo 0hEd Nunez 0hJerry Reed 0hSteve Fireovid 0h
CBob Kearney 79 · Scott Bradley 59 · Steve Yeager 49
1BAlvin Davis 101 · Ken Phelps 55 · Barry Bonnell 8
2BHarold Reynolds 126 · Danny Tartabull 31 · Domingo Ramos 16
3BJim Presley 155 · Domingo Ramos 8 · Ross Jones 2
SSRey Quinones 98 · Domingo Ramos 21 · Ross Jones 4
LFPhil Bradley 138 · Danny Tartabull 14 · Barry Bonnell 9
CFJohn Moses 91 · Mickey Brantley Sr. 25 · Phil Bradley 5
RFDanny Tartabull 87 · Ivan Calderon 31 · Dave Henderson 31
DHKen Phelps 50 · Alvin Davis 32 · Dave Henderson 22
SPMark Langston 4.1 · Mike Moore 3.7 · Mike Morgan 2.5 · Matt Young 1.7 · Bill Swift 1.5
BP★ Pete Ladd 6 · Mark Huismann 0 · Lee Guetterman 0 · Karl Best 0 · Mike Trujillo 0 · Ed Nunez 0 · Jerry Reed 0 · Steve Fireovid 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.

1986 roster — value & surplus

PlayerAgeServiceGfWARSalary $MSurplus $M
Mark Langston 25 pre-arb 374.1 0.2 +1.0
Mike Moore 26 arb 383.7 0.4 +0.7
Phil Bradley 27 arb 1432.9 0.5 +0.4
Mike Morgan 26 FA-elig 372.5 0.1 +0.6
Ken Phelps 31 FA-elig 1252.1 0.2 +0.4
Jim Presley 24 pre-arb 1552.1 0.2 +0.4
Matt Young 27 arb 651.7 0.2 +0.3
Bill Swift 24 pre-arb 291.5 0.1 +0.4
Dave Henderson↔ BOS 27 arb 1031.4 0.3 +0.1
Scott Bradley↔ CHW 26 pre-arb 681.1 0.1 +0.3
Bob Kearney 29 FA-elig 811.0 0.3 +0.0
Danny Tartabull 23 pre-arb 1371.0 0.1 +0.2
Alvin Davis 25 pre-arb 1350.9 0.4 -0.1
Dave Valle 25 – 220.7 – –
Pete Ladd 29 FA-elig 520.7 0.2 +0.0
Lee Guetterman 27 – 410.4 – –
Jerry Reed 30 arb 110.4 0.1 +0.0
Mike Trujillo↔ BOS 26 pre-arb 110.3 0.1 +0.0
Steve Fireovid 29 arb 100.3 0.1 +0.0
Spike Owen↔ BOS 25 arb 1120.2 0.2 -0.1
Jim Beattie 31 FA-elig 90.2 0.6 -0.5
Karl Best 27 arb 260.1 0.1 -0.0
Paul Mirabella 32 – 80.0 – –
Steve Yeager 37 FA-elig 500.0 0.4 -0.4
Ed Nunez 23 – 14-0.1 – –
Mark Huismann↔ KCR 28 arb 36-0.2 0.1 -0.1
Mickey Brantley Sr. 25 pre-arb 27-0.2 0.1 -0.1
Mike Brown↔ BOS 27 arb 6-0.2 0.0 -0.1
Milt Wilcox 36 FA-elig 13-0.2 0.1 -0.2
Ricky Nelson 27 – 10-0.3 – –
Gorman Thomas↔ MIL 35 FA-elig 57-0.3 0.3 -0.4
Ross Jones 26 – 11-0.6 – –
Domingo Ramos 28 FA-elig 49-0.6 0.1 -0.3
Barry Bonnell 32 – 17-0.6 – –
Dave Hengel 24 – 21-0.7 – –
Ivan Calderon↔ CHW 24 – 37-0.7 – –
Al Cowens 34 FA-elig 28-0.9 0.4 -0.6
Harold Reynolds 25 arb 126-1.2 0.1 -0.5
John Moses 28 arb 103-1.5 0.1 -0.5
Rey Quinones↔ BOS 22 pre-arb 36-1.6 0.0 -0.5

Key additions (new vs 1985)

PlayerfWAR
Scott Bradley1.1
Pete Ladd0.7
Lee Guetterman0.4
Jerry Reed0.4
Mike Trujillo0.3
Steve Fireovid0.3

Key subtractions (gone from 1985)

Player1985 fWAR
Jack Perconte2.1
Roy Thomas0.7
Ed Vande Berg0.5
Brian Snyder0.5
Darnell Coles0.2
Frank Wills0.1

Current & Historical Payroll

1986 payroll
$6.0M

What the front office was committed to as of 1986, 1986–1992. 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)

PlayerAgeSvc1986198719881989199019911992
Jim Beattie318.000$575kFREE AGENT
Steve Yeager3714.000$413kFREE AGENT
Al Cowens3412.000$360kFREE AGENT
Gorman Thomas3513.000$339kFREE AGENT
Bob Kearney297.000$300k$125kFREE AGENT
Ken Phelps316.000$235k$300k$412kFREE AGENT
Pete Ladd297.000$160kFREE AGENT
Milt Wilcox3616.000$150kFREE AGENT
Mike Morgan268.000$125k$185kFREE AGENT
Domingo Ramos288.000$85k$80kFREE AGENT
Barry Bonnell329.000—FREE AGENT
Paul Mirabella328.000—FREE AGENT

Arbitration-eligible (13)

PlayerAgeSvc1986198719881989199019911992
Phil Bradley273.000$475kARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Mike Moore264.000$400kARB 3FREE AGENT
Dave Henderson275.000$305kFREE AGENT
Matt Young273.000$205kARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Spike Owen253.000$185kARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Harold Reynolds253.000$85kARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
John Moses284.000$82kARB 3FREE AGENT
Jerry Reed305.000$82kFREE AGENT
Mark Huismann283.000$78kARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Karl Best273.000$70kARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Steve Fireovid295.000$64kFREE AGENT
Mike Brown274.000$23kARB 3FREE AGENT
Ed Nunez234.000—ARB 3FREE AGENT

Pre-arbitration (15)

PlayerAgeSvc1986198719881989199019911992
Alvin Davis252.000$400kARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Mark Langston252.000$242kARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Jim Presley242.000$192kARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Danny Tartabull232.000$85kARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Bill Swift241.000$75kPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Mike Trujillo261.000$67kPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Mickey Brantley Sr.250.000$60kPre-ArbPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Scott Bradley262.000$59kARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Rey Quinones220.000$22kPre-ArbPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Ivan Calderon242.000—ARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Lee Guetterman272.000—ARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Dave Hengel24–—
Ross Jones262.000—ARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Ricky Nelson27–—
Dave Valle252.000—ARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT

Graphs

Every roster slot ranked best→worst by WAR. Bars = Mariners 1986; 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.