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Cardinals STL

198986–76 (0.531)
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GM: Dal Maxvill

Overview

Ranks vs the 30 teams in 1989, 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
+1
Win %
0.531
TAB
+10.4
WAB
+2.5
Roster composition
Roster fWAR
46.1
Dead money %
28%
Depth Players
9.0
Dead WAR
-1.9

Offense

PoorAverageGreat

Pitching & Defense

PoorAverageGreat

Roster

1989 depth chart — stacked by playing time

C

RTony Peña Sr.134
RTom Pagnozzi38
RTodd Zeile23
LTim Jones1

1B

RPedro Guerrero160
RJim Lindeman42
LDenny Walling20
LLeon Durham18
RTom Pagnozzi2
BJosé Oquendo1
RTom Brunansky1

2B

BJosé Oquendo156
LTim Jones12
LRod Booker5

3B

BTerry Pendleton161
LDenny Walling9
LTim Jones5
RCraig Wilson2
LRod Booker1
RTom Pagnozzi1

SS

BOzzie Smith153
LTim Jones12
BJosé Oquendo7

LF

BVince Coleman142
LMilt Thompson23
LJohn Morris10
LDenny Walling3
RJim Lindeman3
LTim Jones1

CF

LMilt Thompson123
BWillie McGee47
LJohn Morris11
RTom Brunansky1

RF

RTom Brunansky155
LJohn Morris32
LDenny Walling3
LMilt Thompson3
RJim Lindeman2
RTodd Worrell1
RTony Peña Sr.1

DH

—

Starters

LJoe Magrane4.8 WAR
RJose DeLeon4.2 WAR
RKen Hill1.8 WAR
RScott Terry1.3 WAR
RTed Power0.9 WAR
LRicky Horton⇄0.6 WAR
RCris Carpenter0.5 WAR
RDon Heinkel0.4 WAR
RBob Tewksbury0.2 WAR
RMatt Kinzer-0.3 WAR

Bullpen

★ RTodd Worrell20 sv
LKen Dayley0 h
LFrank DiPino0 h
RDan Quisenberry0 h
RJohn Costello0 h
RMatt Kinzer0 h
RBob Tewksbury0 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 1988)

PlayerfWAR
Milt Thompson4.5
Ted Power0.9
Ricky Horton0.6
Frank DiPino0.4
Don Heinkel0.4
Bob Tewksbury0.2

Key subtractions (gone from 1988)

Player1988 fWAR
John Tudor2.3
Larry McWilliams0.9
Danny Cox0.8
Bob Forsch0.4
Steve Lake0.4
Greg Mathews0.3

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 1989; everyone else is shown as a 1989 season snapshot.

PlayerPeriodfWARTier Market $MPaid $MSurplus $M$ / WARTierContract
Joe Magrane 1989 +4.8 +83.9 0.3 +83.5 $0.1M 2.19× –
Ozzie Smith 1989 +6.7 +81.3 2.2 +79.0 $0.3M 1.51× –
Jose DeLeon 1989 +4.2 +72.8 0.7 +72.2 $0.2M 2.19× –
Milt Thompson 1989 +4.5 +64.3 0.5 +63.8 $0.1M 1.79× –
José Oquendo 1989 +5.7 +63.2 0.5 +62.7 $0.1M 1.38× –
Terry Pendleton 1989 +4.3 +42.7 0.7 +42.0 $0.2M 1.25× –
Pedro Guerrero 1989 +3.1 +26.1 1.8 +24.3 $0.6M 1.07× –
Tom Brunansky 1989 +2.4 +23.0 1.2 +21.8 $0.5M 1.22× –
Ken Hill 1989 +1.8 +21.2 0.1 +21.1 $0.0M 1.49× –
Vince Coleman 1989 +2.1 +20.3 0.8 +19.5 $0.4M 1.22× –
Scott Terry 1989 +1.3 +10.3 0.1 +10.2 $0.1M 1.02× –
Dan Quisenberry 1989 +0.9 +9.9 0.1 +9.8 $0.1M 1.34× –
Tony Peña Sr. 1989 +1.8 +10.9 1.2 +9.7 $0.7M 0.76× –
Ted Power 1989 +0.9 +7.2 0.1 +7.0 $0.2M 1.02× –
Ricky Horton↔ 1989 +0.6 +5.0 0.0 +5.0 $0.0M 1.02× –
Ken Dayley 1989 +0.4 +4.2 0.9 +3.3 $2.4M 1.34× –
Denny Walling 1989 +0.8 +3.6 0.6 +3.0 $0.8M 0.56× –
Don Heinkel 1989 +0.4 +2.9 0.1 +2.8 $0.2M 1.02× –
Frank DiPino 1989 +0.4 +2.1 0.5 +1.6 $1.2M 0.67× –
Tim Jones 1989 +0.4 +1.6 0.1 +1.5 $0.2M 0.56× –
John Costello 1989 +0.1 +0.3 0.1 +0.2 $1.4M 0.67× –
Todd Zeile 1989 -0.0 -0.0 0.1 -0.1 – 0.52× –
John Morris 1989 -0.1 -0.5 0.1 -0.6 – 0.83× –
Todd Worrell 1989 +0.0 +0.1 0.9 -0.7 $65.6M 1.34× –
Leon Durham 1989 -0.3 -1.3 0.2 -1.4 – 0.56× –
Willie McGee 1989 -0.1 -0.8 1.4 -2.2 – 0.83× –
Tom Pagnozzi 1989 -0.8 -3.1 0.1 -3.2 – 0.52× –
Bob Tewksbury 1989 +0.2 +1.8 – – – 1.02× –
Craig Wilson 1989 -0.1 -0.4 – – – 0.58× –
Cris Carpenter 1989 +0.5 +2.5 – – – 0.67× –
Jim Lindeman 1989 -0.3 -1.3 – – – 0.56× –
Matt Kinzer 1989 -0.3 -1.4 – – – 0.67× –
Rod Booker 1989 -0.0 -0.1 – – – 0.56× –
Total—+46.3+552.315.4+535.8—

Trades

Every graded 1989 deal involving the Cardinals — best expected value first. Surplus is realized value in $M; 2 total.

1989 · STL / DET
STL · Dal Maxvill +$1.6M
Pat Austin, Bill Henderson, Marcos Betances
DET · Bill Lajoie −$1.6M
Jim Lindeman, Matt Kinzer
STL came out ahead by $1.6M
1989 · SDP / STL
SDP · Jack McKeon +$0.8M
Jeremy Hernandez
STL · Dal Maxvill −$0.8M
Randy Byers
SDP came out ahead by $0.8M

Current & Historical Payroll

1989 payroll
$15.4M

What the front office was committed to as of 1989, 1989–1995. 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 (13)

PlayerAgeSvc1989199019911992199319941995
Ozzie Smith3411.000$2.2M$2.0M$2.2M$2.0M$3.0M$3.0M$3.0M
Pedro Guerrero3311.000$1.8M$2.1M$2.3M$2.4MFREE AGENT
Willie McGee307.000$1.4M$1.2MFREE AGENT
Tom Brunansky288.000$1.2M$1.3MFREE AGENT
Tony Peña Sr.329.000$1.2MFREE AGENT
Ken Dayley307.000$925k$925kFREE AGENT
Jose DeLeon286.000$662k$1.7M$2.4M$2.2MFREE AGENT
Denny Walling3514.000$615k$500kFREE AGENT
José Oquendo256.000$525k$575k$775k$2.0M$2.0M$2.1M$2.2M
Frank DiPino328.000$452k$650kFREE AGENT
Leon Durham319.000$175kFREE AGENT
Ted Power348.000$150kFREE AGENT
Dan Quisenberry3610.000$62kFREE AGENT

Arbitration-eligible (9)

PlayerAgeSvc1989199019911992199319941995
Todd Worrell294.000$875kARB 3FREE AGENT
Vince Coleman274.000$775kARB 3FREE AGENT
Terry Pendleton285.000$710kFREE AGENT
Milt Thompson305.000$505kFREE AGENT
Scott Terry293.000$105kARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
John Morris283.000$95kARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Ricky Horton295.000$22kFREE AGENT
Jim Lindeman273.000—ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Bob Tewksbury283.000—ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT

Pre-arbitration (11)

PlayerAgeSvc1989199019911992199319941995
Joe Magrane242.000$320kARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Tom Pagnozzi262.000$90kARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
John Costello281.000$85kPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Don Heinkel291.000$85kPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Ken Hill231.000$70kPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Tim Jones261.000$70kPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Todd Zeile230.000$68kPre-ArbPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Rod Booker302.000—ARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Cris Carpenter241.000—Pre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Matt Kinzer26–—
Craig Wilson240.000—Pre-ArbPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT

Graphs

How each 1989 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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