RRosternomics
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Cardinals STL

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GM: Walt Jocketty

Overview

CONTEND ↗ rising
expensive & winning · year 3 in this regime · payroll 1.29× league · TAB +3.5
+3.5TAB — talent above budget12th/30
-2.2WAB — realized wins (TAB + luck)18th/30
7.0depth — 2+ WAR regulars11th/30
-4.9dead WAR — sub-replacement drag17th/30
26%dead money %13th/30
0.512win %13th/30
40.8roster fWAR10th/30
-11surplus $M (value vs cost)22nd/30
$54Mpayroll $M8th/30

Roster

CFRay Lankford 145GBrian Jordan 33GWillie McGee 7G
LFRon Gant 104GWillie McGee 56GJohn Mabry 46G
RFBrian Jordan 124GWillie McGee 38GJohn Mabry 37G
SSLuis Ordaz 54GPlacido Polanco 28GDavid Howard 16G
2BDelino DeShields 111GPat Kelly 41GDavid Howard 19G
3BFernando Tatis 149GJohn Mabry 38GDavid Howard 14G
1BMark McGwire 151GJohn Mabry 16GBrian R. Hunter 10G
STARTERSKent Mercker 2.4WARMatt Morris 2.1WARJuan Acevedo 1.4WARKent Bottenfield 1.1WARManny Aybar 1.1WAR
CEli Marrero 73GTom Lampkin 62GTom Pagnozzi 44G
DHBrian Jordan 3GWillie McGee 3GBrian R. Hunter 1G
BULLPEN★ Jeff Brantley 14svJohn Frascatore 0hLance Painter 0hRick Croushore 0hCurtis King 0hMike Busby 0hBryan Eversgerd 0hJose Jimenez 0h
CEli Marrero 73 · Tom Lampkin 62 · Tom Pagnozzi 44
1BMark McGwire 151 · John Mabry 16 · Brian R. Hunter 10
2BDelino DeShields 111 · Pat Kelly 41 · David Howard 19
3BFernando Tatis 149 · John Mabry 38 · David Howard 14
SSLuis Ordaz 54 · Placido Polanco 28 · David Howard 16
LFRon Gant 104 · Willie McGee 56 · John Mabry 46
CFRay Lankford 145 · Brian Jordan 33 · Willie McGee 7
RFBrian Jordan 124 · Willie McGee 38 · John Mabry 37
DHBrian Jordan 3 · Willie McGee 3 · Brian R. Hunter 1
SPKent Mercker 2.4 · Matt Morris 2.1 · Juan Acevedo 1.4 · Kent Bottenfield 1.1 · Manny Aybar 1.1
BP★ Jeff Brantley 14 · John Frascatore 0 · Lance Painter 0 · Rick Croushore 0 · Curtis King 0 · Mike Busby 0 · Bryan Eversgerd 0 · Jose Jimenez 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
Mark McGwire 34 FA-elig 1558.5 8.9 +0.2
Brian Jordan 31 FA-elig 1506.9 3.7 +3.8
Ray Lankford 31 FA-elig 1546.2 4.7 +2.0
Todd Stottlemyre↔ TEX 33 FA-elig 233.1 3.4 -0.1
Kent Mercker 30 FA-elig 322.4 1.3 +1.3
Delino DeShields 29 FA-elig 1172.1 3.0 -0.8
Matt Morris 23 pre-arb 172.1 0.3 +1.9
Ron Gant 33 FA-elig 1211.9 5.5 -3.4
Gary Gaetti↔ CHC 39 FA-elig 911.6 0.7 +1.0
Juan Acevedo 28 arb 501.4 0.2 +1.3
Kent Bottenfield 29 FA-elig 441.1 0.8 +0.4
J.D. Drew 22 – 141.1 – –
Manny Aybar 26 pre-arb 201.1 0.2 +1.0
Eli Marrero 24 pre-arb 831.1 0.2 +1.0
Mark Petkovsek 32 FA-elig 481.0 0.5 +0.6
Donovan Osborne 29 FA-elig 141.0 3.8 -2.7
Fernando Tatis↔ TEX 23 pre-arb 550.9 0.1 +0.9
Royce Clayton↔ TEX 28 FA-elig 900.6 2.2 -1.5
Mike Busby 25 pre-arb 260.5 0.2 +0.4
Tom Lampkin 34 FA-elig 930.4 0.5 -0.1
Jose Jimenez 24 – 40.4 – –
Darren Oliver↔ TEX 27 arb 110.3 1.1 -0.8
Pat Kelly 30 FA-elig 530.1 0.3 -0.2
Shawn Gilbert↔ NYM 33 – 40.0 – –
Mark Little 25 – 70.0 – –
Bobby Witt↔ TEX 34 FA-elig 170.0 1.7 -1.7
Brian R. Hunter 30 FA-elig 62-0.0 0.3 -0.3
Joe McEwing 25 – 10-0.0 – –
Braden Looper 23 pre-arb 4-0.0 0.2 -0.2
David Bell↔ CLE 25 arb 4-0.0 0.0 -0.0
Rick Croushore 27 – 41-0.1 – –
Lance Painter 30 arb 65-0.1 0.4 -0.5
Bryan Eversgerd 29 arb 8-0.1 0.2 -0.3
Cliff Politte 24 pre-arb 8-0.1 0.2 -0.3
Brady Raggio 25 – 4-0.1 – –
Curtis King 27 – 36-0.1 – –
Tom Pagnozzi 35 FA-elig 51-0.1 2.1 -2.3
David Howard 31 FA-elig 46-0.2 0.8 -1.0
Sean Lowe 27 – 4-0.2 – –
Placido Polanco 22 pre-arb 45-0.3 0.2 -0.5
John Frascatore 28 arb 69-0.3 0.2 -0.5
Willie McGee 39 FA-elig 120-0.3 1.4 -1.7
Jeff Brantley 34 FA-elig 48-0.6 2.8 -3.4
Luis Ordaz 22 pre-arb 57-1.0 0.2 -1.2
John Mabry 27 arb 142-1.4 1.4 -2.9

Key additions (new vs 1997)

PlayerfWAR
Kent Mercker2.4
Juan Acevedo1.4
Kent Bottenfield1.1
J.D. Drew1.1
Fernando Tatis0.9
Jose Jimenez0.4

Key subtractions (gone from 1997)

Player1997 fWAR
Andy Benes5.4
Alan Benes3.5
Rigo Beltran1.0
T.J. Mathews0.6
Dmitri Young0.5
Micah Franklin0.3

Current & Historical Payroll

1998 payroll
$53.6M

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
Mark McGwire3412.000$8.9M$9.4M$9.3M$11.0MFREE AGENT
Ron Gant3311.000$5.5MFREE AGENT
Ray Lankford318.000$4.7M$6.6M$7.6M$5.6MFREE AGENT$650k
Donovan Osborne296.000$3.8M$5.1MFREE AGENT
Brian Jordan316.000$3.7MFREE AGENT
Todd Stottlemyre3310.000$3.4MFREE AGENT
Delino DeShields298.000$3.0MFREE AGENT
Jeff Brantley3410.000$2.8MFREE AGENT
Royce Clayton287.000$2.2MFREE AGENT
Tom Pagnozzi3511.000$2.1MFREE AGENT
Bobby Witt3412.000$1.7MFREE AGENT
Willie McGee3916.000$1.4M$1.0MFREE AGENT
Kent Mercker309.000$1.3M$2.1MFREE AGENT
David Howard317.000$850k$950kFREE AGENT
Kent Bottenfield296.000$800k$850kFREE AGENT
Gary Gaetti3917.000$711kFREE AGENT
Tom Lampkin3410.000$500kFREE AGENT
Mark Petkovsek327.000$475kFREE AGENT
Pat Kelly307.000$325kFREE AGENT
Brian R. Hunter307.000$300kFREE AGENT

Arbitration-eligible (7)

PlayerAgeSvc1998199920002001200220032004
John Mabry274.000$1.4MARB 3FREE AGENT
Darren Oliver275.000$1.1MFREE AGENT
Lance Painter305.000$430kFREE AGENT
John Frascatore284.000$240kARB 3FREE AGENT
Juan Acevedo283.000$200kARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Bryan Eversgerd294.000$185kARB 3FREE AGENT
David Bell253.000$6kARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT

Pre-arbitration (18)

PlayerAgeSvc1998199920002001200220032004
Matt Morris231.000$300kPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Manny Aybar261.000$175kPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Eli Marrero241.000$172kPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Mike Busby252.000$172kARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Luis Ordaz221.000$172kPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Braden Looper230.000$170kPre-ArbPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Placido Polanco220.000$170kPre-ArbPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Cliff Politte240.000$170kPre-ArbPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Fernando Tatis231.000$62kPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Shawn Gilbert33–—
Curtis King271.000—Pre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Sean Lowe271.000—Pre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Brady Raggio25–—
Rick Croushore270.000—Pre-ArbPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Joe McEwing250.000—Pre-ArbPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
J.D. Drew220.000—Pre-ArbPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Jose Jimenez240.000—Pre-ArbPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Mark Little250.000—Pre-ArbPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT

Graphs

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