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Cardinals STL

199070–92 (0.432)
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GM: Dal Maxvill

Overview

Ranks vs the 30 teams in 1990, or a custom range (defaults to every team-season since 1985, when our data starts).

to

Front Office

PoorAverageGreat
Value
Payroll $M
$20M
Surplus $M
-3
Win %
0.432
TAB
+2.0
WAB
-13.8
Roster composition
Roster fWAR
37.9
Dead money %
42%
Depth Players
9.0
Dead WAR
-3.2

Offense

PoorAverageGreat

Pitching & Defense

PoorAverageGreat

Roster

1990 depth chart — stacked by playing time

C

RTodd Zeile105
RTom Pagnozzi63
RRay Stephens5

1B

RPedro Guerrero132
BDave Collins49
LDenny Walling15
RTodd Zeile11
LRod Brewer9
RRex Hudler⇄6
RTom Pagnozzi2
RCraig Wilson1

2B

BJosé Oquendo150
LTim Jones19
BGeronimo Pena11
RRex Hudler⇄10
RCraig Wilson9

3B

BTerry Pendleton117
RTodd Zeile24
RCraig Wilson13
LDenny Walling11
RRex Hudler⇄6
LTim Jones6

SS

BOzzie Smith140
LTim Jones29
BJosé Oquendo4
RRex Hudler⇄1

LF

BVince Coleman118
RBernard Gilkey18
RRex Hudler⇄17
LMilt Thompson12
RCraig Wilson7
BFelix Jose⇄5
BDave Collins4
LDenny Walling3
RTodd Zeile1

CF

LRay Lankford35
LMilt Thompson14
BFelix Jose⇄5
RRex Hudler⇄3
RBernard Gilkey1
BDave Collins1
LJohn Morris1

RF

LMilt Thompson96
RRex Hudler⇄27
BFelix Jose⇄15
BDave Collins8
RCraig Wilson7
BWillie McGee⇄6
LDenny Walling5
LJohn Morris5
BVince Coleman2

DH

—

Starters

LJoe Magrane3.4 WAR
RBob Tewksbury3.1 WAR
RBryn Smith2.9 WAR
RJose DeLeon2.5 WAR
LJohn Tudor2.3 WAR
RKen Hill1.2 WAR
ROmar Olivares0.7 WAR
LGreg Mathews0.4 WAR
RScott Terry0.0 WAR

Bullpen

★ RLee Smith⇄31 sv
LFrank DiPino0 h
LKen Dayley0 h
RTom Niedenfuer0 h
RScott Terry0 h
LRicky Horton0 h
RMike Perez0 h
LTim Sherrill0 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 1989)

PlayerfWAR
Bryn Smith2.9
John Tudor2.3
Lee Smith2.0
Rex Hudler1.9
Ray Lankford0.8
Bernard Gilkey0.8

Key subtractions (gone from 1989)

Player1989 fWAR
Tony Peña Sr.1.8
Dan Quisenberry0.9
Ted Power0.9
Don Heinkel0.4
Todd Worrell0.0
Rod Booker-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 1990; everyone else is shown as a 1990 season snapshot.

PlayerPeriodfWARTier Market $MPaid $MSurplus $M$ / WARTierContract
Willie McGee↔ 1990 +4.2 +59.6 1.2 +58.3 $0.3M 1.79× –
Joe Magrane 1990 +3.4 +52.5 0.3 +52.2 $0.1M 1.96× –
Bob Tewksbury 1990 +3.1 +48.2 0.1 +48.1 $0.0M 1.96× –
Bryn Smith 1990 +2.9 +45.0 1.6 +43.5 $0.5M 1.96× –
Vince Coleman 1990 +3.3 +42.7 1.0 +41.7 $0.3M 1.60× –
Jose DeLeon 1990 +2.5 +39.8 1.7 +38.2 $0.7M 1.96× –
Lee Smith↔ 1990 +2.0 +30.8 1.0 +29.8 $0.5M 1.95× –
John Tudor 1990 +2.3 +27.9 0.3 +27.5 $0.1M 1.49× –
Ozzie Smith 1990 +3.1 +29.4 2.0 +27.4 $0.6M 1.18× –
Rex Hudler↔ 1990 +1.9 +18.7 0.1 +18.6 $0.1M 1.22× –
Todd Zeile 1990 +2.5 +15.1 0.1 +15.0 $0.0M 0.76× –
Tom Pagnozzi 1990 +1.9 +11.7 0.1 +11.6 $0.1M 0.76× –
Ken Hill 1990 +1.2 +9.5 0.1 +9.4 $0.1M 1.02× –
José Oquendo 1990 +1.5 +6.5 0.6 +6.0 $0.4M 0.56× –
Omar Olivares 1990 +0.7 +5.6 0.1 +5.5 $0.1M 1.02× –
Ray Lankford 1990 +0.8 +5.5 0.1 +5.4 $0.1M 0.83× –
Bernard Gilkey 1990 +0.8 +5.3 0.1 +5.2 $0.1M 0.83× –
Greg Mathews 1990 +0.4 +2.9 0.1 +2.8 $0.3M 1.02× –
Milt Thompson 1990 +0.5 +3.6 0.9 +2.7 $1.6M 0.83× –
Felix Jose↔ 1990 +0.3 +2.2 0.0 +2.2 $0.1M 0.83× –
Ken Dayley 1990 +0.5 +2.4 0.9 +1.5 $2.0M 0.67× –
Mike Perez 1990 +0.2 +1.1 0.1 +1.0 $0.5M 0.67× –
Howard Hilton 1990 -0.0 -0.1 0.1 -0.2 – 0.67× –
Rod Brewer 1990 -0.0 -0.1 0.1 -0.2 – 0.56× –
Scott Terry 1990 +0.0 +0.1 0.4 -0.2 $14.4M 0.67× –
Tim Jones 1990 -0.1 -0.3 0.1 -0.4 – 0.61× –
Frank DiPino 1990 +0.0 +0.0 0.7 -0.6 $1219.7M 0.67× –
Geronimo Pena 1990 -0.1 -0.5 0.1 -0.6 – 0.56× –
John Costello↔ 1990 -0.1 -0.6 0.1 -0.6 – 0.67× –
Pedro Guerrero 1990 +0.3 +1.5 2.1 -0.6 $6.2M 0.56× –
Cris Carpenter 1990 -0.1 -0.7 0.1 -0.8 – 0.67× –
Dave Collins 1990 -0.1 -0.6 0.2 -0.8 – 0.56× –
Ray Stephens 1990 -0.2 -1.0 0.1 -1.1 – 0.52× –
Ernie Camacho↔ 1990 -0.2 -1.2 0.1 -1.2 – 0.67× –
Ricky Horton 1990 -0.3 -1.6 0.1 -1.8 – 0.67× –
Craig Wilson 1990 -0.4 -1.8 0.1 -1.9 – 0.58× –
John Morris 1990 -0.3 -1.8 0.2 -2.0 – 0.83× –
Tom Brunansky↔ 1990 -0.4 -2.6 0.2 -2.8 – 0.83× –
Denny Walling 1990 -0.8 -3.6 0.5 -4.1 – 0.56× –
Terry Pendleton 1990 +0.4 +1.9 1.9 +0.0 $4.5M 0.58× –
Tim Sherrill 1990 +0.0 +0.1 0.1 -0.0 $5.8M 0.67× –
Stan Clarke 1990 +0.1 +0.4 – – – 0.67× –
Tom Niedenfuer 1990 +0.3 +1.6 – – – 0.67× –
Total—+38.0+455.119.8+433.7—

Trades

Every graded 1990 deal involving the Cardinals — best expected value first. Surplus is realized value in $M; 4 total.

1990 · STL / OAK
STL · Dal Maxvill +$56.8M
Félix José, Stan Royer, Daryl Green
OAK · Sandy Alderson −$56.8M
Willie McGee
STL came out ahead by $56.8M
1990 · WSN / STL
WSN · Dave Dombrowski +$2.4M
John Costello
STL · Dal Maxvill −$2.4M
Rex Hudler
WSN came out ahead by $2.4M
1990 · STL / BOS
STL · Dal Maxvill +$16.8M
Lee Smith
BOS · Lou Gorman −$16.8M
Tom Brunansky
STL came out ahead by $16.8M
1990 · STL / SDP
STL · Dal Maxvill +$19.2M
Omar Olivares
SDP · Jack McKeon −$19.2M
Alex Cole, Steve Peters
STL came out ahead by $19.2M

Current & Historical Payroll

1990 payroll
$19.6M

What the front office was committed to as of 1990, 1990–1996. 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 (19)

PlayerAgeSvc1990199119921993199419951996
Pedro Guerrero3412.000$2.1M$2.3M$2.4MFREE AGENT
Ozzie Smith3512.000$2.0M$2.2M$2.0M$3.0M$3.0M$3.0M$3.5M
Terry Pendleton296.000$1.9MFREE AGENT
Jose DeLeon297.000$1.7M$2.4M$2.2MFREE AGENT
Bryn Smith349.000$1.6M$2.1M$2.2MFREE AGENT
Willie McGee318.000$1.2MFREE AGENT$600k
Lee Smith3210.000$994k$2.8M$2.8M$2.3MFREE AGENT
Ken Dayley318.000$925kFREE AGENT
Milt Thompson316.000$867k$1.5M$1.6MFREE AGENT
Frank DiPino339.000$650kFREE AGENT
José Oquendo267.000$575k$775k$2.0M$2.0M$2.1M$2.2MFREE AGENT
Denny Walling3615.000$500kFREE AGENT
John Tudor3611.000$350kFREE AGENT
Dave Collins3715.000$225kFREE AGENT
Tom Brunansky299.000$193kFREE AGENT
Rex Hudler296.000$129k$300k$400kFREE AGENT
Ricky Horton306.000$120kFREE AGENT
Ernie Camacho3510.000$64kFREE AGENT
Tom Niedenfuer309.000—FREE AGENT

Arbitration-eligible (7)

PlayerAgeSvc1990199119921993199419951996
Vince Coleman285.000$1.0MFREE AGENT
Scott Terry304.000$370kARB 3FREE AGENT
Joe Magrane253.000$300kARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
John Morris294.000$208kARB 3FREE AGENT
Greg Mathews284.000$125kARB 3FREE AGENT
Bob Tewksbury294.000$100kARB 3FREE AGENT
Tom Pagnozzi273.000$100kARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT

Pre-arbitration (17)

PlayerAgeSvc1990199119921993199419951996
Tim Sherrill240.000$100kPre-ArbPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Cris Carpenter252.000$100kARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Rod Brewer240.000$100kPre-ArbPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Ray Lankford230.000$100kPre-ArbPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Omar Olivares220.000$100kPre-ArbPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Ken Hill242.000$100kARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Bernard Gilkey230.000$100kPre-ArbPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Howard Hilton260.000$100kPre-ArbPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Tim Jones272.000$100kARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Craig Wilson251.000$100kPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Ray Stephens270.000$100kPre-ArbPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Geronimo Pena230.000$100kPre-ArbPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Mike Perez250.000$100kPre-ArbPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Todd Zeile241.000$100kPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
John Costello292.000$52kARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Felix Jose252.000$20kARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Stan Clarke29–—

Graphs

How each 1990 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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