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Rays TBR

199863–99 (0.389)
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GM: Chuck Lamar

Overview

Ranks vs the 30 teams in 1998, or a custom range (defaults to every team-season since 1985, when our data starts).

to

Front Office

PoorAverageGreat
Value
Payroll $M
$27M
Surplus $M
+0
Win %
0.389
TAB
-4.6
WAB
-13.5
Roster composition
Roster fWAR
24.4
Dead money %
44%
Depth Players
5.0
Dead WAR
-3.7

Offense

PoorAverageGreat

Pitching & Defense

PoorAverageGreat

Roster

1998 depth chart — stacked by playing time

C

RJohn Flaherty91
RMike DiFelice84
RTim Laker⇄2

1B

LFred McGriff135
LPaul Sorrento27
RScott McClain5
RAaron Ledesma2
LDave Martinez1

2B

RMiguel Cairo148
RAaron Ledesma19
RBobby Smith6
RDave Silvestri2

3B

RBobby Smith97
LWade Boggs78
RAaron Ledesma7
RDave Silvestri3
RScott McClain3

SS

BKevin Stocker110
RAaron Ledesma58
RBobby Smith7
RDave Silvestri1

LF

BQuinton McCracken58
RMike Kelly43
LRich Butler39
RBubba Trammell23
BRandy Winn16
RJerome Walton4
LPaul Sorrento4
LKerry Robinson2

CF

BQuinton McCracken103
BRandy Winn69
LDave Martinez2

RF

LDave Martinez85
RMike Kelly51
LRich Butler22
RBubba Trammell16
LPaul Sorrento14
BRandy Winn13
RJerome Walton4

DH

LPaul Sorrento81
LWade Boggs32
RBubba Trammell18
LFred McGriff14
RAaron Ledesma3
RJerome Walton2
RBobby Smith1
LDave Martinez1
RMike Kelly1
RTim Laker⇄1

Starters

LTony Saunders3.3 WAR
RRolando Arrojo3.2 WAR
LWilson Alvarez1.3 WAR
RBryan Rekar0.6 WAR
RJulio Santana⇄0.4 WAR
RRick White0.3 WAR
RJason Johnson0.2 WAR
RRick Gorecki0.2 WAR
RDave Eiland0.0 WAR
LTerrell Wade-0.0 WAR
LMatt Ruebel-0.2 WAR
RDennis Springer-1.0 WAR

Bullpen

★ RRoberto Hernandez26 sv
RJim Mecir0 h
REsteban Yan0 h
RAlbie Lopez0 h
LScott Aldred0 h
RRick White0 h
LRamon Tatis0 h
RDan Carlson0 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 1997)

PlayerfWAR
Tony Saunders3.3
Rolando Arrojo3.2
Fred McGriff3.1
Miguel Cairo2.4
Bobby Smith2.4
Aaron Ledesma1.7

Key subtractions (gone from 1997)

Player1997 fWAR
—

Contract Value

WAR translated into tier-adjusted market value, then compared with what the player was paid by Rays. Guaranteed contracts from the 2015-present contract-data period use the known contract period through 1998; everyone else is shown as a 1998 season snapshot.

PlayerPeriodfWARTier Market $MPaid $MSurplus $M$ / WARTierContract
Tony Saunders 1998 +3.3 +51.4 0.2 +51.2 $0.1M 1.96× –
Rolando Arrojo 1998 +3.2 +50.4 0.2 +50.2 $0.1M 1.96× –
Fred McGriff 1998 +3.1 +26.5 5.5 +21.0 $1.8M 1.07× –
Bobby Smith 1998 +2.4 +16.1 0.2 +15.9 $0.1M 0.85× –
Miguel Cairo 1998 +2.4 +16.0 0.2 +15.8 $0.1M 0.82× –
Aaron Ledesma 1998 +1.7 +11.8 0.2 +11.6 $0.1M 0.89× –
Quinton McCracken 1998 +1.5 +10.0 0.3 +9.7 $0.2M 0.83× –
Jim Mecir 1998 +1.3 +7.1 0.2 +6.9 $0.2M 0.67× –
Wilson Alvarez 1998 +1.3 +10.6 4.5 +6.1 $3.5M 1.02× –
Bubba Trammell 1998 +0.9 +6.0 0.2 +5.8 $0.2M 0.83× –
Wade Boggs 1998 +1.4 +6.5 1.1 +5.4 $0.8M 0.58× –
Bryan Rekar 1998 +0.6 +5.1 0.2 +4.9 $0.3M 1.02× –
Albie Lopez 1998 +0.7 +4.0 0.2 +3.7 $0.3M 0.67× –
Kevin Stocker 1998 +1.1 +5.5 1.8 +3.7 $1.6M 0.61× –
Julio Santana↔ 1998 +0.4 +3.6 0.2 +3.4 $0.4M 1.02× –
Scott Aldred 1998 +0.4 +2.3 0.3 +2.0 $0.6M 0.67× –
Jason Johnson 1998 +0.2 +1.8 0.2 +1.6 $0.8M 1.02× –
Randy Winn 1998 +0.3 +1.8 0.2 +1.6 $0.6M 0.83× –
Mike DiFelice 1998 +0.4 +1.6 0.2 +1.3 $0.6M 0.52× –
Rick White 1998 +0.3 +1.6 0.2 +1.3 $0.8M 0.67× –
Esteban Yan 1998 +0.2 +1.3 0.2 +1.1 $0.8M 0.67× –
Rick Gorecki 1998 +0.2 +1.3 0.2 +1.1 $1.3M 1.02× –
Dave Martinez 1998 +0.3 +1.8 1.5 +0.3 $5.6M 0.83× –
Roberto Hernandez 1998 +0.4 +3.8 4.0 -0.2 $11.4M 1.34× –
Terrell Wade 1998 -0.0 -0.0 0.2 -0.3 – 1.02× –
Dan Carlson 1998 -0.1 -0.5 0.2 -0.7 – 0.67× –
Mike Kelly 1998 -0.1 -0.8 0.2 -1.1 – 0.83× –
Rich Butler 1998 -0.1 -1.0 0.2 -1.1 – 0.83× –
Ramón Tatis 1998 -0.4 -2.0 0.2 -2.2 – 0.67× –
Paul Sorrento 1998 -0.1 -0.8 2.0 -2.8 – 0.69× –
John Flaherty 1998 -0.6 -2.5 1.6 -4.1 – 0.52× –
Dennis Springer 1998 -1.0 -8.5 0.2 -8.8 – 1.02× –
Brad Pennington 1998 +0.0 +0.0 – – – 0.67× –
Dave Eiland 1998 +0.0 +0.0 – – – 1.02× –
Dave Silvestri 1998 -0.5 -2.2 – – – 0.58× –
Eddie Gaillard 1998 -0.2 -0.9 – – – 0.67× –
Jerome Walton 1998 +0.1 +0.5 – – – 0.83× –
Kerry Robinson 1998 -0.1 -0.5 – – – 0.83× –
Matt Ruebel 1998 -0.2 -0.9 – – – 0.67× –
Mike Duvall 1998 +0.0 +0.1 – – – 0.67× –
Scott McClain 1998 -0.3 -1.1 – – – 0.56× –
Tim Laker↔ 1998 -0.1 -0.3 – – – 0.69× –
Total—+24.3+226.527.0+204.3—

Trades

Every graded 1998 deal involving the Rays — best expected value first. Surplus is realized value in $M.

No graded trades on record for the Rays in 1998.

Current & Historical Payroll

1998 payroll
$27.1M

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 (12)

PlayerAgeSvc1998199920002001200220032004
Fred McGriff3412.000$5.5M$5.2M$5.9M$4.3MFREE AGENT
Wilson Alvarez289.000$4.5M$4.5MFREE AGENT$8.0M
Roberto Hernandez337.000$4.0M$6.2M$6.0MFREE AGENT
Paul Sorrento329.000$2.0M$3.0MFREE AGENT
John Flaherty306.000$1.6M$1.3M$2.9M$3.0M$3.2MFREE AGENT
Dave Martinez3312.000$1.5M$2.0M$712kFREE AGENT
Wade Boggs4016.000$1.1M$750kFREE AGENT
Scott Aldred308.000$275k$306kFREE AGENT
Dave Eiland3110.000—$280k$300kFREE AGENT
Tim Laker286.000—FREE AGENT
Dave Silvestri306.000—FREE AGENT
Jerome Walton329.000—FREE AGENT

Arbitration-eligible (11)

PlayerAgeSvc1998199920002001200220032004
Kevin Stocker285.000$1.8MFREE AGENT
Quinton McCracken273.000$270kARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Rick White294.000$250kARB 3FREE AGENT
Dennis Springer333.000$245kARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Albie Lopez265.000$245kFREE AGENT
Mike Kelly284.000$235kARB 3FREE AGENT
Terrell Wade253.000$222kARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Jim Mecir283.000$205kARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Aaron Ledesma273.000$195kARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Bryan Rekar263.000$190kARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Brad Pennington295.000—FREE AGENT

Pre-arbitration (19)

PlayerAgeSvc1998199920002001200220032004
Rolando Arrojo320.000$245kPre-ArbPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Tony Saunders241.000$215kPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Mike DiFelice292.000$210kARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Ramón Tatis251.000$205kPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Rick Gorecki241.000$200kPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Miguel Cairo242.000$195kARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Esteban Yan232.000$195kARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Julio Santana251.000$181kPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Bubba Trammell261.000$180kPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Dan Carlson282.000$175kARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Jason Johnson241.000$170kPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Rich Butler251.000$170kPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Randy Winn240.000$170kPre-ArbPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Bobby Smith240.000$170kPre-ArbPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Eddie Gaillard27–—
Matt Ruebel282.000—ARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Scott McClain26–—
Mike Duvall230.000—Pre-ArbPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Kerry Robinson240.000—Pre-ArbPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT

Graphs

How each 1998 acquisition stacked onto Rays'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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