Rosternomics
Log in Sign up 𝕏

Cardinals STL

198876–86 (0.469)
‹ Previous Next ›

GM: Dal Maxvill

Overview

Ranks vs the 30 teams in 1988, or a custom range (defaults to every team-season since 1985, when our data starts).

to

Front Office

PoorAverageGreat
Value
Payroll $M
$15M
Surplus $M
-5
Win %
0.469
TAB
-7.3
WAB
-8.7
Roster composition
Roster fWAR
29.6
Dead money %
25%
Depth Players
7.0
Dead WAR
-4.9

Offense

PoorAverageGreat

Pitching & Defense

PoorAverageGreat

Roster

1988 depth chart — stacked by playing time

C

RTony Peña Sr.142
RTom Pagnozzi28
RSteve Lake19
BJosé Oquendo1

1B

RBob Horner57
RPedro Guerrero⇄38
LMike Laga37
RTom Pagnozzi28
BJosé Oquendo16
RMike Fitzgerald12
LCurt Ford7
RJim Lindeman3
RTony Peña Sr.3
LDenny Walling⇄1
LDuane Walker1
RTom Lawless1

2B

BLuis Alicea91
BJosé Oquendo69
BTom Herr⇄15
LTim Jones8
RTom Lawless5
LRod Booker1

3B

BTerry Pendleton101
BJosé Oquendo47
RTom Lawless24
LDenny Walling⇄15
LRod Booker13
RTom Pagnozzi5
LTim Jones1

SS

BOzzie Smith150
BJosé Oquendo17
LTim Jones9

LF

BVince Coleman127
LCurt Ford24
LJohn Morris11
RPedro Guerrero⇄6
RJim Lindeman4
RTom Lawless4
LDenny Walling⇄3
LDuane Walker2
BJosé Oquendo2
RTom Brunansky⇄2
RJose DeLeon1

CF

BWillie McGee135
BVince Coleman23
BJosé Oquendo4
LCurt Ford3
LJohn Morris3

RF

RTom Brunansky⇄155
LCurt Ford13
BJosé Oquendo9
RJim Lindeman8
LDuane Walker2
RTom Lawless2
LJohn Morris2
LDenny Walling⇄1
RJose DeLeon1

DH

—

Starters

RJose DeLeon3.7 WAR
LJoe Magrane3.2 WAR
LJohn Tudor⇄2.3 WAR
RScott Terry2.0 WAR
LLarry McWilliams0.9 WAR
RDanny Cox0.8 WAR
RCris Carpenter0.7 WAR
RBob Forsch⇄0.4 WAR
LGreg Mathews0.3 WAR
RKen Hill0.1 WAR
RRandy O'Neal-0.3 WAR

Bullpen

★ RTodd Worrell32 sv
LKen Dayley0 h
LSteve Peters0 h
RJohn Costello0 h
RDan Quisenberry⇄0 h
RScott Arnold0 h
RKen Hill0 h
LGibson Alba0 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 1987)

PlayerfWAR
Jose DeLeon3.7
Tom Brunansky2.0
Larry McWilliams0.9
Cris Carpenter0.7
Pedro Guerrero0.6
Tim Jones0.2

Key subtractions (gone from 1987)

Player1987 fWAR
Jack Clark5.7
Lee Tunnell0.8
Tim Conroy0.4
Tito Landrum0.1
David Green0.1
Skeeter Barnes-0.0

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 1988; everyone else is shown as a 1988 season snapshot.

PlayerPeriodfWARTier Market $MPaid $MSurplus $M$ / WARTierContract
Ozzie Smith 1988 +5.8 +70.3 2.3 +67.9 $0.4M 1.51× –
Jose DeLeon 1988 +3.7 +64.8 0.4 +64.4 $0.1M 2.19× –
Joe Magrane 1988 +3.2 +50.7 0.1 +50.6 $0.0M 1.96× –
John Tudor↔ 1988 +2.3 +27.9 0.8 +27.1 $0.3M 1.49× –
Tom Brunansky↔ 1988 +2.0 +19.3 1.0 +18.3 $0.5M 1.22× –
Willie McGee 1988 +1.9 +18.4 1.2 +17.2 $0.6M 1.22× –
Scott Terry 1988 +2.0 +16.0 0.1 +15.9 $0.0M 0.98× –
José Oquendo 1988 +2.3 +14.8 0.3 +14.5 $0.1M 0.82× –
Tony Peña Sr. 1988 +2.3 +14.2 1.1 +13.1 $0.5M 0.76× –
Terry Pendleton 1988 +1.7 +11.4 0.7 +10.8 $0.4M 0.85× –
Todd Worrell 1988 +0.8 +8.5 0.2 +8.3 $0.3M 1.34× –
Ken Dayley 1988 +0.8 +8.2 0.6 +7.6 $0.8M 1.34× –
Danny Cox 1988 +0.8 +6.2 0.8 +5.5 $1.0M 1.02× –
Larry McWilliams 1988 +0.9 +4.8 0.1 +4.7 $0.1M 0.67× –
Vince Coleman 1988 +0.5 +3.7 0.7 +3.0 $1.3M 0.83× –
Greg Mathews 1988 +0.3 +2.5 0.1 +2.4 $0.4M 1.02× –
Pedro Guerrero↔ 1988 +0.6 +2.8 0.7 +2.1 $1.2M 0.56× –
Bob Forsch↔ 1988 +0.4 +2.2 0.3 +1.9 $0.8M 0.67× –
Steve Lake 1988 +0.4 +1.5 0.2 +1.2 $0.7M 0.52× –
Tim Jones 1988 +0.2 +1.0 0.1 +0.9 $0.3M 0.61× –
Tom Lawless 1988 +0.2 +0.7 0.1 +0.6 $0.8M 0.58× –
Rod Booker 1988 +0.1 +0.5 0.1 +0.4 $0.7M 0.58× –
Tom Pagnozzi 1988 +0.1 +0.5 0.1 +0.4 $0.7M 0.56× –
Ken Hill 1988 +0.1 +0.4 0.1 +0.3 $0.8M 0.67× –
Tom Herr↔ 1988 +0.1 +0.3 0.1 +0.1 $2.3M 0.56× –
Bob Horner 1988 +0.1 +0.4 0.9 -0.5 $10.3M 0.56× –
Dan Quisenberry↔ 1988 +0.0 +0.2 1.0 -0.8 $26.1M 0.67× –
John Morris 1988 -0.1 -0.7 0.1 -0.8 – 0.83× –
Jim Lindeman 1988 -0.2 -1.6 0.1 -1.7 – 0.83× –
Curt Ford 1988 -0.3 -1.7 0.1 -1.8 – 0.83× –
Denny Walling↔ 1988 -0.5 -2.3 0.1 -2.4 – 0.58× –
Mike Laga 1988 -1.2 -5.3 0.1 -5.4 – 0.56× –
John Costello 1988 +0.0 +0.1 0.1 +0.0 $4.7M 0.67× –
Cris Carpenter 1988 +0.7 +5.7 – – – 1.02× –
Duane Walker 1988 -0.1 -0.7 – – – 0.83× –
Gibson Alba 1988 +0.0 +0.2 – – – 0.67× –
Luis Alicea 1988 -0.8 -3.6 – – – 0.56× –
Mike Fitzgerald 1988 -0.4 -1.6 – – – 0.56× –
Randy O'Neal 1988 -0.3 -2.2 – – – 1.02× –
Scott Arnold 1988 +0.1 +0.7 – – – 0.67× –
Steve Peters 1988 -1.0 -5.6 – – – 0.67× –
Total—+29.5+333.614.8+325.8—

Trades

Every graded 1988 deal involving the Cardinals — best expected value first. Surplus is realized value in $M; 6 total.

1988 · LAD / STL
LAD · Fred Claire +$10.4M
John Tudor
STL · Dal Maxvill −$10.4M
Pedro Guerrero
LAD came out ahead by $10.4M
1988 · STL / CHW
STL · Dal Maxvill +$18.4M
José DeLeón
CHW · Larry Himes −$18.4M
Ricky Horton, Lance Johnson
STL came out ahead by $18.4M
1988 · HOU / STL
HOU · Bill Wood +$3.2M
Bob Forsch
STL · Dal Maxvill −$3.2M
Denny Walling
HOU came out ahead by $3.2M
1988 · MIN / STL
MIN · Andy MacPhail +$8.8M
Tom Herr
STL · Dal Maxvill −$8.8M
Tom Brunansky
MIN came out ahead by $8.8M
1988 · STL / PHI
STL · Dal Maxvill +$96.0M
Milt Thompson
PHI · Woody Woodward −$96.0M
Steve Lake, Curt Ford
STL came out ahead by $96.0M
1988 · STL / WSN
STL · Dal Maxvill +$2.4M
Bob Sudo
WSN · Bill Stoneman −$2.4M
Marty Pevey
STL came out ahead by $2.4M

Current & Historical Payroll

1988 payroll
$14.7M

What the front office was committed to as of 1988, 1988–1994. 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 (16)

PlayerAgeSvc1988198919901991199219931994
Ozzie Smith3310.000$2.3M$2.2M$2.0M$2.2M$2.0M$3.0M$3.0M
Willie McGee296.000$1.2M$1.4M$1.2MFREE AGENT
Tony Peña Sr.318.000$1.1M$1.2MFREE AGENT
Tom Brunansky277.000$1.0M$1.2M$1.3MFREE AGENT
Dan Quisenberry359.000$973k$62kFREE AGENT
Bob Horner3010.000$950kFREE AGENT
John Tudor349.000$791kFREE AGENT$350k
Pedro Guerrero3210.000$735k$1.8M$2.1M$2.3M$2.4MFREE AGENT
Ken Dayley296.000$610k$925k$925kFREE AGENT
Bob Forsch3814.000$335kFREE AGENT
Denny Walling3413.000$130k$615k$500kFREE AGENT
Tom Herr329.000$130kFREE AGENT
Tom Lawless316.000$125kFREE AGENT
Mike Laga286.000$100kFREE AGENT
Larry McWilliams3410.000$62kFREE AGENT
Duane Walker316.000—FREE AGENT

Arbitration-eligible (9)

PlayerAgeSvc1988198919901991199219931994
Danny Cox285.000$750kFREE AGENT
Vince Coleman263.000$700kARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Terry Pendleton274.000$660kARB 3FREE AGENT
Jose DeLeon275.000$375kFREE AGENT
José Oquendo245.000$275kFREE AGENT
Steve Lake315.000$240kFREE AGENT
Todd Worrell283.000$200kARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Curt Ford273.000$100kARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Randy O'Neal274.000—ARB 3FREE AGENT

Pre-arbitration (16)

PlayerAgeSvc1988198919901991199219931994
Greg Mathews262.000$125kARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Joe Magrane231.000$100kPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
John Morris272.000$75kARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Jim Lindeman262.000$75kARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Scott Terry282.000$75kARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Tom Pagnozzi251.000$72kPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Rod Booker291.000$70kPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Tim Jones250.000$62kPre-ArbPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Ken Hill220.000$62kPre-ArbPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
John Costello270.000$62kPre-ArbPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Gibson Alba28–—
Luis Alicea220.000—Pre-ArbPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Scott Arnold25–—
Cris Carpenter230.000—Pre-ArbPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Mike Fitzgerald24–—
Steve Peters251.000—Pre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT

Graphs

How each 1988 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).
Privacy Policy · Terms of Service · © 2026 Rosternomics