RRosternomics
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Giants SFG

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GM: Brian Sabean

Overview

CONTEND ↗ rising
expensive & winning · year 2 in this regime · payroll 1.04× league · TAB +8.2
+8.2TAB — talent above budget5th/30
+6.0WAB — realized wins (TAB + luck)6th/30
8.0depth — 2+ WAR regulars5th/30
-2.8dead WAR — sub-replacement drag5th/30
14%dead money %2nd/30
0.546win %8th/30
43.2roster fWAR6th/30
+3surplus $M (value vs cost)7th/30
$43Mpayroll $M16th/30

Roster

CFEllis Burks 114GStan Javier 29GAlex Diaz 15G
LFBarry Bonds 155GMarvin Benard 12GJoe Carter 7G
RFStan Javier 95GMarvin Benard 64GJoe Carter 61G
SSRich Aurilia 120GRey Sanchez 76GShawon Dunston 23G
2BJeff Kent 134GRey Sanchez 36GShawon Dunston 25G
3BBill Mueller 137GCharlie Hayes 46G
1BJ.T. Snow 136GCharlie Hayes 45GJoe Carter 17G
STARTERSMark Gardner 2.2WARShawn Estes 1.9WAROrel Hershiser 1.5WARKirk Rueter 1.1WARRuss Ortiz 0.9WAR
CBrian Johnson 95GBrent Mayne 88GDoug Mirabelli 10G
DHCharlie Hayes 2GChris Jones 2GMarvin Benard 1G
BULLPEN★ Robb Nen 40svJose Mesa 0hJohn Johnstone 0hRich Rodriguez 0hJulian Tavarez 0hAlvin Morman 0hChris Brock 0hCory Bailey 0h
CBrian Johnson 95 · Brent Mayne 88 · Doug Mirabelli 10
1BJ.T. Snow 136 · Charlie Hayes 45 · Joe Carter 17
2BJeff Kent 134 · Rey Sanchez 36 · Shawon Dunston 25
3BBill Mueller 137 · Charlie Hayes 46
SSRich Aurilia 120 · Rey Sanchez 76 · Shawon Dunston 23
LFBarry Bonds 155 · Marvin Benard 12 · Joe Carter 7
CFEllis Burks 114 · Stan Javier 29 · Alex Diaz 15
RFStan Javier 95 · Marvin Benard 64 · Joe Carter 61
DHCharlie Hayes 2 · Chris Jones 2 · Marvin Benard 1
SPMark Gardner 2.2 · Shawn Estes 1.9 · Orel Hershiser 1.5 · Kirk Rueter 1.1 · Russ Ortiz 0.9
BP★ Robb Nen 40 · Jose Mesa 0 · John Johnstone 0 · Rich Rodriguez 0 · Julian Tavarez 0 · Alvin Morman 0 · Chris Brock 0 · Cory Bailey 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
Barry Bonds 33 FA-elig 1568.5 8.9 +0.3
Jeff Kent 30 FA-elig 1374.2 3.4 +1.2
Robb Nen 28 arb 783.5 4.1 -0.3
Bill Mueller 27 pre-arb 1453.1 0.3 +3.1
Darryl Hamilton↔ COL 33 FA-elig 972.8 1.8 +1.3
Mark Gardner 36 FA-elig 332.2 1.1 +1.3
Marvin Benard 27 arb 1212.1 0.2 +2.0
Stan Javier 34 FA-elig 1352.1 1.8 +0.5
Shawn Estes 25 arb 271.9 0.7 +1.5
Rich Aurilia 26 arb 1221.9 0.3 +1.8
Rey Sanchez 30 FA-elig 1091.7 0.5 +1.3
Orel Hershiser 39 FA-elig 341.5 3.7 -2.2
Charlie Hayes 33 FA-elig 1111.3 1.8 -0.4
Brian Johnson 30 arb 991.1 1.0 +0.2
Kirk Rueter 27 arb 341.1 1.8 -0.7
J.T. Snow 30 FA-elig 1381.0 2.8 -1.6
Ellis Burks↔ COL 33 FA-elig 420.9 1.4 -0.5
Russ Ortiz 24 pre-arb 220.9 0.2 +0.8
Steve Reed↔ CLE 33 FA-elig 500.7 0.7 +0.1
Armando Rios 26 – 120.5 – –
Brent Mayne 30 FA-elig 940.5 0.7 -0.2
John Johnstone 29 arb 700.4 0.2 +0.2
Jose Mesa↔ CLE 32 FA-elig 320.4 0.7 -0.2
Rich Rodriguez 35 FA-elig 680.3 0.7 -0.3
Ramon Martinez 25 – 190.3 – –
Doug Mirabelli 27 – 100.2 – –
Julian Tavarez 25 arb 600.2 1.1 -0.9
LeJon Powell 24 – 80.1 – –
Danny Darwin 42 FA-elig 330.1 0.7 -0.6
Chris Brock 28 pre-arb 130.1 0.2 -0.1
Jeff Ball 29 – 2-0.0 – –
Cory Bailey 27 – 5-0.1 – –
Joe Carter↔ BAL 38 FA-elig 41-0.1 1.0 -1.1
Jacob Cruz↔ CLE 25 pre-arb 3-0.1 0.1 -0.2
Dean Hartgraves 31 – 5-0.1 – –
Jim Poole↔ CLE 32 FA-elig 26-0.2 0.7 -0.9
Wilson Delgado 25 – 10-0.2 – –
Alvin Morman↔ CLE 29 pre-arb 9-0.4 0.0 -0.5
Chris Jones↔ ARI 32 FA-elig 43-0.5 0.3 -0.8
Alex Diaz 29 – 34-0.6 – –
Shawon Dunston↔ CLE 35 FA-elig 36-0.7 0.4 -1.1

Key additions (new vs 1997)

PlayerfWAR
Robb Nen3.5
Rey Sanchez1.7
Orel Hershiser1.5
Charlie Hayes1.3
Ellis Burks0.9
Russ Ortiz0.9

Key subtractions (gone from 1997)

Player1997 fWAR
Jose Vizcaino2.1
Rod Beck1.1
Roberto Hernandez0.8
Wilson Alvarez0.6
Rick Wilkins0.6
Doug Henry0.4

Current & Historical Payroll

1998 payroll
$43.4M

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 (20)

PlayerAgeSvc1998199920002001200220032004
Barry Bonds3312.000$8.9M$9.4M$10.7M$10.3M$15.0M$15.5M$18.0M
Orel Hershiser3915.000$3.7MFREE AGENT
Jeff Kent306.000$3.4M$5.8M$6.0M$6.0M$6.0MFREE AGENT
J.T. Snow306.000$2.8M$3.0M$4.8M$5.8M$5.9M$6.8M$1.5M
Darryl Hamilton3310.000$1.8MFREE AGENT
Charlie Hayes3310.000$1.8M$1.9MFREE AGENT
Stan Javier3414.000$1.8M$1.5MFREE AGENT
Ellis Burks3311.000$1.4M$4.5M$5.5MFREE AGENT
Mark Gardner369.000$1.1M$2.0M$3.0M$1.8MFREE AGENT
Joe Carter3815.000$1.0MFREE AGENT
Jose Mesa3211.000$716kFREE AGENT
Steve Reed336.000$714kFREE AGENT
Danny Darwin4220.000$710kFREE AGENT
Rich Rodriguez358.000$710k$730kFREE AGENT
Brent Mayne308.000$700k$750kFREE AGENT
Jim Poole328.000$684kFREE AGENT
Rey Sanchez307.000$500kFREE AGENT
Shawon Dunston3513.000$367kFREE AGENT$1.0M$1.1M
Chris Jones327.000$307kFREE AGENT
Alex Diaz296.000—FREE AGENT

Arbitration-eligible (10)

PlayerAgeSvc1998199920002001200220032004
Robb Nen285.000$4.1MFREE AGENT
Kirk Rueter275.000$1.8MFREE AGENT
Julian Tavarez255.000$1.1MFREE AGENT
Brian Johnson304.000$1.0MARB 3FREE AGENT
Shawn Estes253.000$650kARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Rich Aurilia263.000$265kARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Marvin Benard273.000$250kARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
John Johnstone295.000$230kFREE AGENT
Cory Bailey275.000—FREE AGENT
Dean Hartgraves313.000—ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT

Pre-arbitration (11)

PlayerAgeSvc1998199920002001200220032004
Bill Mueller272.000$300kARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Chris Brock281.000$190kPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Russ Ortiz240.000$170kPre-ArbPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Jacob Cruz252.000$129kARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Alvin Morman292.000$50kARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Wilson Delgado252.000—ARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Doug Mirabelli272.000—ARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
LeJon Powell241.000—Pre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Jeff Ball29–—
Ramon Martinez250.000—Pre-ArbPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Armando Rios260.000—Pre-ArbPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT

Graphs

Every roster slot ranked best→worst by WAR. Bars = Giants 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.