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Cardinals STL

198795–67 (0.586)Lost World Series
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GM: Dal Maxvill

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
$11M
Surplus $M
-1
Win %
0.586
TAB
+1.7
WAB
+12.5
Roster composition
Roster fWAR
36.4
Dead money %
31%
Depth Players
7.0
Dead WAR
-3.8

Offense

PoorAverageGreat

Pitching & Defense

PoorAverageGreat

Roster

1987 depth chart — stacked by playing time

C

RTony Peña Sr.112
RSteve Lake59
RTom Pagnozzi24

1B

RJack Clark126
LDan Driessen21
RJim Lindeman20
LMike Laga12
RTony Peña Sr.4
BJosé Oquendo3
RDavid Green3
RTito Landrum⇄1
RTom Pagnozzi1

2B

BTom Herr137
BJosé Oquendo32
LRod Booker17
RTom Lawless7

3B

BTerry Pendleton158
BJosé Oquendo8
LRod Booker5
RDoug DeCinces⇄4
RTom Lawless3
RSkeeter Barnes1

SS

BOzzie Smith158
BJosé Oquendo23
LRod Booker1
BWillie McGee1

LF

BVince Coleman150
LCurt Ford15
BJosé Oquendo8
LLance Johnson3
LJohn Morris2
RJim Lindeman1
RDavid Green1

CF

BWillie McGee152
LJohn Morris8
RTito Landrum⇄7
LLance Johnson6
BJosé Oquendo3
LCurt Ford2

RF

LJohn Morris68
LCurt Ford61
RJim Lindeman48
BJosé Oquendo37
LLance Johnson17
RDavid Green9
RTony Peña Sr.2
RJack Clark1
LRicky Horton1
RTodd Worrell1
RTom Lawless1

DH

—

Starters

RBob Forsch3.7 WAR
LJoe Magrane3.1 WAR
LGreg Mathews2.7 WAR
RDanny Cox2.0 WAR
LJohn Tudor1.0 WAR
RLee Tunnell0.8 WAR
LTim Conroy0.4 WAR
RRandy O'Neal⇄0.2 WAR
LDave LaPoint⇄-0.2 WAR
LRicky Horton-0.5 WAR

Bullpen

★ RTodd Worrell33 sv
RBill Dawley0 h
LKen Dayley0 h
LPat Perry⇄0 h
LSteve Peters0 h
RRay Soff0 h
RScott Terry0 h
LDave LaPoint⇄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
Joe Magrane3.1
Lee Tunnell0.8
Randy O'Neal0.2
Scott Terry0.1
Tom Pagnozzi0.1
David Green0.1

Key subtractions (gone from 1986)

Player1986 fWAR
Andy Van Slyke3.4
Michael LaValliere1.4
Mike Heath0.2
Jeff Lahti0.1
Bill Earley0.0
Alan Knicely0.0

Contract Value

WAR translated into tier-adjusted market value, then compared with what the player was paid by Cardinals. 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
Ozzie Smith 1987 +6.3 +75.5 1.9 +73.5 $0.3M 1.51× –
Bob Forsch 1987 +3.7 +65.0 0.8 +64.3 $0.2M 2.19× –
Jack Clark 1987 +5.7 +62.1 1.3 +60.8 $0.2M 1.37× –
Joe Magrane 1987 +3.1 +48.1 0.1 +48.1 $0.0M 1.96× –
Greg Mathews 1987 +2.7 +41.9 0.1 +41.8 $0.0M 1.96× –
Todd Worrell 1987 +1.8 +27.8 0.2 +27.6 $0.1M 1.95× –
Terry Pendleton 1987 +2.7 +24.4 0.2 +24.2 $0.1M 1.12× –
Vince Coleman 1987 +2.4 +23.4 0.2 +23.3 $0.1M 1.22× –
Danny Cox 1987 +2.0 +23.6 0.6 +23.0 $0.3M 1.49× –
Curt Ford 1987 +1.6 +15.5 0.1 +15.4 $0.0M 1.22× –
José Oquendo 1987 +1.4 +9.4 0.1 +9.3 $0.1M 0.83× –
John Tudor 1987 +1.0 +8.3 1.1 +7.2 $1.0M 1.02× –
Ken Dayley 1987 +1.3 +6.8 0.3 +6.5 $0.3M 0.67× –
Willie McGee 1987 +1.1 +7.0 0.8 +6.2 $0.7M 0.83× –
Lee Tunnell 1987 +0.8 +4.5 0.1 +4.4 $0.1M 0.67× –
John Morris 1987 +0.6 +4.2 0.1 +4.1 $0.1M 0.83× –
Tim Conroy 1987 +0.4 +3.3 0.1 +3.2 $0.3M 1.02× –
Steve Lake 1987 +0.6 +2.7 0.1 +2.6 $0.1M 0.52× –
Tom Herr 1987 +0.4 +1.8 0.9 +0.9 $2.3M 0.56× –
Tito Landrum↔ 1987 +0.1 +0.6 0.0 +0.5 $0.3M 0.83× –
Steve Peters 1987 +0.1 +0.3 0.1 +0.3 $1.0M 0.67× –
Tom Pagnozzi 1987 +0.1 +0.4 0.1 +0.3 $0.7M 0.52× –
Doug DeCinces↔ 1987 -0.1 -0.5 0.0 -0.5 – 0.58× –
Pat Perry↔ 1987 -0.1 -0.6 0.1 -0.7 – 0.67× –
Dan Driessen 1987 -0.1 -0.7 0.1 -0.8 – 0.56× –
Tom Lawless 1987 -0.2 -0.8 0.1 -0.9 – 0.56× –
Jim Lindeman 1987 -0.2 -1.0 0.1 -1.1 – 0.83× –
Dave LaPoint↔ 1987 -0.2 -1.2 0.0 -1.2 – 0.67× –
Lance Johnson 1987 -0.2 -1.3 0.1 -1.4 – 0.83× –
Bill Dawley 1987 -0.6 -3.5 0.3 -3.7 – 0.67× –
Tony Peña Sr. 1987 -0.8 -3.3 1.2 -4.4 – 0.52× –
Ricky Horton 1987 -0.5 -5.3 0.4 -5.7 – 1.34× –
David Green 1987 +0.1 +0.5 – – – 0.83× –
Mike Laga 1987 -0.4 -1.9 – – – 0.56× –
Randy O'Neal↔ 1987 +0.2 +1.7 – – – 1.02× –
Ray Soff 1987 -0.2 -1.3 – – – 0.67× –
Rod Booker 1987 +0.0 +0.0 – – – 0.56× –
Scott Terry 1987 +0.1 +0.5 – – – 0.67× –
Skeeter Barnes 1987 -0.0 -0.1 – – – 0.58× –
Total—+36.7+437.811.7+427.1—

Trades

Every graded 1987 deal involving the Cardinals — best expected value first. Surplus is realized value in $M; 4 total.

1987 · STL / ATL
STL · Dal Maxvill +$12.0M
Randy O'Neal
ATL · Bobby Cox −$12.0M
Joe Boever
STL came out ahead by $12.0M
1987 · STL / CIN
STL · Dal Maxvill +$20.0M
Scott Terry
CIN · Bill Bergesch −$20.0M
Pat Perry
STL came out ahead by $20.0M
1987 · CHW / STL
CHW · Larry Himes +$23.2M
Dave LaPoint
STL · Dal Maxvill −$23.2M
Bryce Hulstrom
CHW came out ahead by $23.2M
1987 · PIT / STL
PIT · Syd Thrift +$392.8M
Andy Van Slyke, Mike LaValliere, Mike Dunne
STL · Dal Maxvill −$392.8M
Tony Peña
PIT came out ahead by $392.8M

Current & Historical Payroll

1987 payroll
$11.3M

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 (12)

PlayerAgeSvc1987198819891990199119921993
Ozzie Smith329.000$1.9M$2.3M$2.2M$2.0M$2.2M$2.0M$3.0M
Jack Clark3112.000$1.3MFREE AGENT
Tony Peña Sr.307.000$1.2M$1.1M$1.2MFREE AGENT
John Tudor338.000$1.1M$791kFREE AGENT$350k
Tom Herr318.000$925k$745kFREE AGENT
Bob Forsch3713.000$750k$335kFREE AGENT
Tim Conroy279.000$115kFREE AGENT
Dan Driessen3514.000$100kFREE AGENT
Doug DeCinces3614.000$31kFREE AGENT
Tito Landrum327.000$23kFREE AGENT
Dave LaPoint277.000$20kFREE AGENT
David Green266.000—FREE AGENT

Arbitration-eligible (13)

PlayerAgeSvc1987198819891990199119921993
Willie McGee285.000$765kFREE AGENT
Danny Cox274.000$600kARB 3FREE AGENT
Ricky Horton273.000$410kARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Ken Dayley285.000$325kFREE AGENT
Bill Dawley294.000$275kARB 3FREE AGENT
Terry Pendleton263.000$210kARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Tom Lawless305.000$115kFREE AGENT
José Oquendo234.000$100kARB 3FREE AGENT
Steve Lake304.000$95kARB 3FREE AGENT
Lee Tunnell265.000$62kFREE AGENT
Skeeter Barnes304.000—ARB 3FREE AGENT
Mike Laga275.000—FREE AGENT
Randy O'Neal263.000—ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT

Pre-arbitration (14)

PlayerAgeSvc1987198819891990199119921993
Todd Worrell272.000$170kARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Vince Coleman252.000$160kARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Greg Mathews251.000$100kPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Curt Ford262.000$70kARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
John Morris261.000$65kPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Pat Perry282.000$63kARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Lance Johnson230.000$62kPre-ArbPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Tom Pagnozzi240.000$62kPre-ArbPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Joe Magrane220.000$62kPre-ArbPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Steve Peters240.000$62kPre-ArbPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Jim Lindeman251.000$62kPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Rod Booker280.000—Pre-ArbPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Ray Soff281.000—Pre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Scott Terry271.000—Pre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT

Graphs

How each 1987 acquisition stacked onto Cardinals'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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