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Mariners SEA

198778–84 (0.481)
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GM: Dick Balderson

Overview

Ranks vs the 30 teams in 1987, or a custom range (defaults to every team-season since 1985, when our data starts).

to

Front Office

PoorAverageGreat
Value
Payroll $M
$5M
Surplus $M
+5
Win %
0.481
TAB
+10.0
WAB
+6.5
Roster composition
Roster fWAR
34.3
Dead money %
30%
Depth Players
7.0
Dead WAR
-3.3

Offense

PoorAverageGreat

Pitching & Defense

PoorAverageGreat

Roster

1987 depth chart — stacked by playing time

C

LScott Bradley81
RDave Valle75
RBob Kearney24
LJerry Narron3

1B

LAlvin Davis157
BJohn Moses16
RBrick Smith3
RDave Valle2
LKen Phelps1

2B

BHarold Reynolds160
RDomingo Ramos6
RRick Renteria4

3B

RJim Presley148
REdgar Martinez12
LScott Bradley9
RDomingo Ramos7

SS

RRey Quinones135
RDomingo Ramos25
RMario Diaz10
RJim Presley4
RRick Renteria1

LF

RPhil Bradley158
RMickey Brantley Sr.6
RJohn Christensen2
RDave Hengel2
RDonell Nixon1
LJim Weaver1

CF

BJohn Moses97
RMickey Brantley Sr.51
RDonell Nixon32
LMike Kingery6
LJim Weaver2

RF

LMike Kingery111
RJohn Christensen41
RMickey Brantley Sr.35
RDave Hengel7
BJohn Moses4
LJim Weaver2
LScott Bradley2
RDave Valle1

DH

LKen Phelps104
RGary Matthews Sr.⇄29
RDave Valle11
RMickey Brantley Sr.7
RDonell Nixon5
RJohn Christensen3
LScott Bradley2
RRick Renteria1

Starters

LMark Langston6.4 WAR
RMike Moore3.1 WAR
RMike Morgan3.1 WAR
LLee Guetterman1.4 WAR
RJerry Reed1.3 WAR
RScott Bankhead0.9 WAR
LDennis Powell0.4 WAR
RMike Campbell0.2 WAR
RMike Trujillo0.1 WAR
RClay Parker-0.0 WAR

Bullpen

★ REdwin Nunez12 sv
LBill Wilkinson0 h
RJerry Reed0 h
LStan Clarke0 h
RSteve Shields0 h
LDennis Powell0 h
RRoy Thomas0 h
RMark Huismann⇄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 1986)

PlayerfWAR
Bill Wilkinson1.9
Mike Kingery1.8
Scott Bankhead0.9
Dennis Powell0.4
Edgar Martinez0.3
Mike Campbell0.2

Key subtractions (gone from 1986)

Player1986 fWAR
Matt Young1.7
Bill Swift1.5
Dave Henderson1.4
Danny Tartabull1.0
Pete Ladd0.7
Steve Fireovid0.3

Contract Value

WAR translated into tier-adjusted market value, then compared with what the player was paid by Mariners. Guaranteed contracts from the 2015-present contract-data period use the known contract period through 1987; everyone else is shown as a 1987 season snapshot.

PlayerPeriodfWARTier Market $MPaid $MSurplus $M$ / WARTierContract
Mark Langston 1987 +6.4 +127.2 0.4 +126.8 $0.1M 2.50× –
Mike Moore 1987 +3.1 +48.4 0.5 +47.9 $0.2M 1.96× –
Mike Morgan 1987 +3.1 +48.0 0.2 +47.9 $0.1M 1.96× –
Phil Bradley 1987 +3.4 +42.9 0.8 +42.1 $0.2M 1.60× –
Bill Wilkinson 1987 +1.9 +29.6 0.1 +29.5 $0.0M 1.95× –
Ken Phelps 1987 +2.7 +29.1 0.3 +28.8 $0.1M 1.33× –
Mike Kingery 1987 +1.8 +17.1 0.1 +17.0 $0.1M 1.22× –
Harold Reynolds 1987 +2.2 +14.1 0.1 +13.9 $0.1M 0.82× –
Jerry Reed 1987 +1.3 +13.6 0.1 +13.5 $0.1M 1.34× –
Jim Presley 1987 +1.8 +12.0 0.2 +11.8 $0.1M 0.85× –
Lee Guetterman 1987 +1.4 +11.2 0.1 +11.1 $0.1M 1.02× –
Scott Bankhead 1987 +0.9 +7.2 0.1 +7.1 $0.1M 1.02× –
Dave Valle 1987 +1.4 +5.7 0.1 +5.6 $0.1M 0.52× –
Mickey Brantley Sr. 1987 +0.8 +5.0 0.1 +5.0 $0.1M 0.83× –
Rey Quinones 1987 +0.5 +2.6 0.1 +2.6 $0.2M 0.61× –
Domingo Ramos 1987 +0.5 +2.6 0.1 +2.5 $0.2M 0.61× –
Ed Nunez 1987 +0.2 +2.6 0.2 +2.4 $1.0M 1.34× –
Dennis Powell 1987 +0.4 +2.2 0.1 +2.1 $0.2M 0.67× –
Mike Campbell 1987 +0.2 +1.9 0.1 +1.9 $0.3M 1.02× –
Scott Bradley 1987 +0.1 +0.4 0.1 +0.3 $1.2M 0.52× –
Mike Trujillo 1987 +0.1 +0.3 0.1 +0.2 $1.7M 0.67× –
Jerry Narron 1987 -0.2 -0.8 0.1 -0.8 – 0.52× –
John Christensen 1987 -0.2 -1.3 0.1 -1.4 – 0.83× –
Gary Matthews Sr.↔ 1987 -0.5 -2.7 0.4 -3.2 – 0.69× –
John Moses 1987 -0.9 -6.3 0.1 -6.4 – 0.83× –
Bob Kearney 1987 +0.0 +0.1 0.1 -0.0 $4.3M 0.52× –
Alvin Davis 1987 +2.9 +25.0 – – – 1.07× –
Brick Smith 1987 -0.2 -0.8 – – – 0.56× –
Clay Parker 1987 -0.0 -0.1 – – – 0.67× –
Dave Hengel 1987 -0.2 -1.0 – – – 0.83× –
Donell Nixon 1987 +0.1 +0.6 – – – 0.83× –
Edgar Martinez 1987 +0.3 +1.4 – – – 0.58× –
Jim Weaver 1987 -0.1 -0.4 – – – 0.83× –
Mario Diaz 1987 +0.0 +0.2 – – – 0.61× –
Mark Huismann↔ 1987 +0.2 +1.3 – – – 0.67× –
Mike Brown 1987 +0.0 +0.0 – – – 0.67× –
Rich Monteleone 1987 -0.1 -0.7 – – – 0.67× –
Rick Renteria 1987 -0.1 -0.6 – – – 0.56× –
Roy Thomas 1987 +0.1 +0.3 – – – 0.67× –
Stan Clarke 1987 -0.6 -3.0 – – – 0.67× –
Steve Shields 1987 -0.3 -1.4 – – – 0.67× –
Total—+34.4+433.54.8+408.2—

Trades

Every graded 1987 deal involving the Mariners — best expected value first. Surplus is realized value in $M; 10 total.

1987 · SEA / KCR
SEA · Dick Balderson +$0.8M
Ricky Rojas
KCR · John Schuerholz −$0.8M
Ross Jones
SEA came out ahead by $0.8M
1987 · NYY / SEA
NYY · Woody Woodward +$43.2M
Lee Guetterman, Clay Parker, Wade Taylor
SEA · Dick Balderson −$43.2M
Steve Trout, Henry Cotto
NYY came out ahead by $43.2M
1987 · DET / SEA
DET · Bill Lajoie +$2.4M
Stan Clarke
SEA · Dick Balderson −$2.4M
Bruce Fields
DET came out ahead by $2.4M
1987 · CLE / SEA
CLE · Joe Klein +$0.0M
Mark Huismann
SEA · Dick Balderson +$0.0M
Dave Gallagher
Even trade
1987 · BAL / SEA
BAL · Hank Peters +$0.0M
Mike Brown
SEA · Dick Balderson +$0.0M
Nelson Simmons
Even trade
1987 · CHC / SEA
CHC · Dallas Green +$15.2M
Dave Hartnett
SEA · Dick Balderson −$15.2M
Gary Matthews
CHC came out ahead by $15.2M
1987 · HOU / SEA
HOU · Bill Wood +$3.2M
Doug Givler
SEA · Dick Balderson −$3.2M
Julio Solano
HOU came out ahead by $3.2M
1987 · DET / SEA
DET · Bill Lajoie +$0.0M
Karl Best
SEA · Dick Balderson +$0.0M
Bryan Kelly
Even trade
1987 · PHI / SEA
PHI · Bill Giles +$23.2M
Phil Bradley, Tim Fortugno
SEA · Dick Balderson −$23.2M
Glenn Wilson, Dave Brundage, Mike Jackson
PHI came out ahead by $23.2M
1987 · SEA / BAL
SEA · Dick Balderson +$0.8M
Ken Dixon
BAL · Hank Peters −$0.8M
Mike Morgan
SEA came out ahead by $0.8M

Current & Historical Payroll

1987 payroll
$4.7M

What the front office was committed to as of 1987, 1987–1993. 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 (7)

PlayerAgeSvc1987198819891990199119921993
Gary Matthews Sr.3615.000$445kFREE AGENT
Ken Phelps327.000$300k$412kFREE AGENT
Mike Morgan279.000$185kFREE AGENT
Bob Kearney308.000$125kFREE AGENT
Jerry Reed316.000$114k$125k$265k$334kFREE AGENT
Domingo Ramos299.000$80kFREE AGENT
Jerry Narron318.000$62kFREE AGENT

Arbitration-eligible (14)

PlayerAgeSvc1987198819891990199119921993
Phil Bradley284.000$750kARB 3FREE AGENT
Mike Moore275.000$536kFREE AGENT
Mark Langston263.000$420kARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Ed Nunez245.000$240kFREE AGENT
Jim Presley253.000$235kARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Harold Reynolds264.000$122kARB 3FREE AGENT
John Moses295.000$110kFREE AGENT
Scott Bradley273.000$110kARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Dave Valle263.000$100kARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Lee Guetterman283.000$82kARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
John Christensen263.000$80kARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Mike Brown285.000—FREE AGENT
Alvin Davis263.000—ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Mark Huismann294.000—ARB 3FREE AGENT

Pre-arbitration (20)

PlayerAgeSvc1987198819891990199119921993
Mike Trujillo272.000$110kARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Mike Kingery261.000$92kPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Rey Quinones231.000$85kPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Mickey Brantley Sr.261.000$78kPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Scott Bankhead231.000$75kPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Dennis Powell232.000$70kARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Mike Campbell230.000$62kPre-ArbPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Bill Wilkinson222.000$62kARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Stan Clarke26–—
Mario Diaz250.000—Pre-ArbPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Dave Hengel25–—
Edgar Martinez240.000—Pre-ArbPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Rich Monteleone240.000—Pre-ArbPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Donell Nixon250.000—Pre-ArbPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Clay Parker240.000—Pre-ArbPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Rick Renteria251.000—Pre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Steve Shields282.000—ARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Brick Smith28–—
Roy Thomas34–—
Jim Weaver27–—

Graphs

How each 1987 acquisition stacked onto Mariners'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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