RRosternomics
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Mariners SEA

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GM: Woody Woodward

Overview

CONTEND ↘ cooling
expensive & winning · year 4 in this regime · payroll 1.24× league · TAB +5.2
+5.2TAB — talent above budget8th/30
-8.2WAB — realized wins (TAB + luck)25th/30
8.0depth — 2+ WAR regulars5th/30
-4.8dead WAR — sub-replacement drag15th/30
29%dead money %18th/30
0.472win %19th/30
41.8roster fWAR8th/30
-6surplus $M (value vs cost)15th/30
$52Mpayroll $M10th/30

Roster

CFKen Griffey Jr. 158GCharles Gipson 11GRob Ducey 6G
LFShane Monahan 61GRich Amaral 43GRob Ducey 23G
RFJay Buhner 70GRob Ducey 61GRyan Radmanovich 24G
SSAlex Rodriguez 160GGiomar Guevara 5GRico Rossy 4G
2BDavid Bell 116GRich Amaral 11GCarlos Guillén 10G
3BRuss Davis 137GRico Rossy 25GDavid Bell 15G
1BDavid Segui 134GRaul Ibanez 16GJeff Huson 7G
STARTERSJamie Moyer 5.2WARJeff Fassero 3.0WARBill Swift 0.8WARMac Suzuki 0.3WARKen Cloude 0.2WAR
CDan Wilson 94GJoe Oliver 77GJohn Marzano 48G
DHEdgar Martinez 147GKen Griffey Jr. 3GJay Buhner 1G
BULLPEN★ Mike Timlin 19svBobby Ayala 0hHeathcliff Slocumb 0hBob Wells 0hGreg McCarthy 0hJose Paniagua 0hSteve Gajkowski 0hFelipe Lira 0h
CDan Wilson 94 · Joe Oliver 77 · John Marzano 48
1BDavid Segui 134 · Raul Ibanez 16 · Jeff Huson 7
2BDavid Bell 116 · Rich Amaral 11 · Carlos Guillén 10
3BRuss Davis 137 · Rico Rossy 25 · David Bell 15
SSAlex Rodriguez 160 · Giomar Guevara 5 · Rico Rossy 4
LFShane Monahan 61 · Rich Amaral 43 · Rob Ducey 23
CFKen Griffey Jr. 158 · Charles Gipson 11 · Rob Ducey 6
RFJay Buhner 70 · Rob Ducey 61 · Ryan Radmanovich 24
DHEdgar Martinez 147 · Ken Griffey Jr. 3 · Jay Buhner 1
SPJamie Moyer 5.2 · Jeff Fassero 3.0 · Bill Swift 0.8 · Mac Suzuki 0.3 · Ken Cloude 0.2
BP★ Mike Timlin 19 · Bobby Ayala 0 · Heathcliff Slocumb 0 · Bob Wells 0 · Greg McCarthy 0 · Jose Paniagua 0 · Steve Gajkowski 0 · Felipe Lira 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.

1998 roster — value & surplus

PlayerAgeServiceGfWARSalary $MSurplus $M
Alex Rodriguez 22 arb 1617.9 2.2 +6.3
Ken Griffey Jr. 28 FA-elig 1616.6 8.2 -1.1
Edgar Martinez 35 FA-elig 1545.5 3.5 +2.4
Jamie Moyer 35 FA-elig 345.2 2.0 +3.6
Randy Johnson↔ HOU 34 FA-elig 234.2 4.1 +0.5
Jeff Fassero 35 FA-elig 323.0 5.0 -1.7
David Segui 31 FA-elig 1432.9 2.4 +0.8
Joey Cora↔ CLE 33 FA-elig 1312.0 1.4 +0.7
Mike Timlin 32 FA-elig 701.8 3.0 -1.1
Rob Ducey 33 FA-elig 971.0 0.4 +0.7
Glenallen Hill↔ CHC 33 FA-elig 740.9 0.2 +0.8
Bill Swift 36 FA-elig 290.8 0.4 +0.4
Bobby Ayala 28 FA-elig 620.8 1.5 -0.6
Dan Wilson 29 FA-elig 960.7 2.5 -1.8
Paul Abbott 30 FA-elig 40.6 0.2 +0.4
Carlos Guillén 22 pre-arb 100.4 0.2 +0.3
David Bell↔ CLE 25 arb 210.4 0.0 +0.4
Mac Suzuki 23 pre-arb 60.3 0.2 +0.2
Dave McCarty 28 arb 80.3 0.2 +0.1
John Marzano 35 FA-elig 500.2 0.3 -0.1
Jay Buhner 33 FA-elig 720.2 5.4 -5.2
Rico Rossy 34 FA-elig 370.2 0.2 +0.0
Ken Cloude 23 pre-arb 300.2 0.2 +0.0
Heathcliff Slocumb 32 FA-elig 570.2 3.0 -2.8
Giomar Guevara 25 pre-arb 110.1 0.2 -0.0
Tony Fossas↔ CHC 40 FA-elig 230.1 0.4 -0.2
Jose Paniagua 24 pre-arb 180.1 0.2 -0.1
David Holdridge 29 pre-arb 70.1 0.2 -0.1
Rick Wilkins↔ NYM 31 FA-elig 190.1 0.3 -0.3
Raul Chavez 25 – 1-0.0 – –
Paul Spoljaric 27 arb 53-0.0 0.3 -0.3
Rich Amaral 36 FA-elig 73-0.0 0.6 -0.6
Rickey Cradle 25 – 5-0.0 – –
Andrew Lorraine 25 – 4-0.0 – –
Felipe Lira 26 – 7-0.2 – –
Raul Ibanez 26 pre-arb 37-0.2 0.2 -0.4
Joe Oliver↔ DET 32 FA-elig 29-0.2 0.3 -0.5
Jim Bullinger 32 FA-elig 2-0.2 0.4 -0.6
Steve Gajkowski 28 – 9-0.3 – –
Charles Gipson 25 pre-arb 44-0.3 0.2 -0.5
Robert Perez↔ WSN 29 arb 17-0.3 0.1 -0.4
Ryan Radmanovich 26 – 25-0.4 – –
Russ Davis 28 arb 141-0.4 1.0 -1.5
Jeff Huson 33 FA-elig 31-0.5 0.2 -0.7
Greg McCarthy 29 pre-arb 29-0.5 0.2 -0.7
Bob Wells 31 arb 30-0.6 0.5 -1.1
Shane Monahan 23 pre-arb 62-0.6 0.2 -0.8

Key additions (new vs 1997)

PlayerfWAR
David Segui2.9
Glenallen Hill0.9
Bill Swift0.8
Paul Abbott0.6
Carlos Guillén0.4
David Bell0.4

Key subtractions (gone from 1997)

Player1997 fWAR
Paul Sorrento2.3
José Cruz Jr.1.5
Roberto Kelly1.0
Mike Blowers0.5
Lee Tinsley0.2
Dan Rohrmeier0.1

Current & Historical Payroll

1998 payroll
$51.6M

What the front office was committed to as of 1998, 1998–2004. 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 (24)

PlayerAgeSvc1998199920002001200220032004
Ken Griffey Jr.289.000$8.2M$8.8MFREE AGENT
Jay Buhner3311.000$5.4M$4.8M$1.4M$1.9MFREE AGENT
Jeff Fassero357.000$5.0M$4.1MFREE AGENT
Randy Johnson3410.000$4.1MFREE AGENT
Edgar Martinez3511.000$3.5M$3.5M$5.4M$5.5M$7.1M$4.0M$3.0M
Mike Timlin327.000$3.0MFREE AGENT
Heathcliff Slocumb327.000$3.0MFREE AGENT
Dan Wilson296.000$2.5M$3.6M$4.0M$4.4M$4.5M$3.5M$3.5M
David Segui318.000$2.4M$1.9MFREE AGENT
Jamie Moyer3512.000$2.0M$2.3M$6.0M$6.5M$6.5M$6.5M$7.0M
Bobby Ayala286.000$1.5MFREE AGENT
Joey Cora3311.000$1.4MFREE AGENT
Rich Amaral367.000$550kFREE AGENT
Bill Swift3613.000$425kFREE AGENT
Jim Bullinger326.000$400kFREE AGENT
Rob Ducey3311.000$375kFREE AGENT
Tony Fossas4010.000$365kFREE AGENT
Rick Wilkins317.000$336kFREE AGENT
John Marzano3511.000$300kFREE AGENT
Joe Oliver329.000$275kFREE AGENT$500k
Jeff Huson3310.000$225kFREE AGENT
Glenallen Hill339.000$197kFREE AGENT
Rico Rossy347.000$185kFREE AGENT
Paul Abbott308.000$175k$235k$285k$1.7M$3.4MFREE AGENT

Arbitration-eligible (9)

PlayerAgeSvc1998199920002001200220032004
Alex Rodriguez224.000$2.2MARB 3FREE AGENT
Russ Davis284.000$1.0MARB 3FREE AGENT
Bob Wells314.000$475kARB 3FREE AGENT
Paul Spoljaric274.000$255kARB 3FREE AGENT
Dave McCarty285.000$200kFREE AGENT
Robert Perez294.000$53kARB 3FREE AGENT
David Bell253.000$32kARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Felipe Lira263.000—ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Andrew Lorraine254.000—ARB 3FREE AGENT

Pre-arbitration (14)

PlayerAgeSvc1998199920002001200220032004
Jose Paniagua242.000$185kARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Greg McCarthy292.000$180kARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Ken Cloude231.000$174kPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Giomar Guevara251.000$170kPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
David Holdridge290.000$170kPre-ArbPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Raul Ibanez262.000$170kARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Charles Gipson250.000$170kPre-ArbPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Mac Suzuki232.000$170kARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Carlos Guillén220.000$170kPre-ArbPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Shane Monahan230.000$170kPre-ArbPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Raul Chavez252.000—ARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Ryan Radmanovich26–—
Steve Gajkowski28–—
Rickey Cradle25–—

Graphs

Every roster slot ranked best→worst by WAR. Bars = Mariners 1998; 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.