Rosternomics
Log in Sign up 𝕏

Rangers TEX

199690–72 (0.556)Made Playoffs
‹ Previous Next ›

GM: Douglas Melvin

Overview

Ranks vs the 30 teams in 1996, or a custom range (defaults to every team-season since 1985, when our data starts).

to

Front Office

PoorAverageGreat
Value
Payroll $M
$40M
Surplus $M
-1
Win %
0.556
TAB
+9.8
WAB
+5.6
Roster composition
Roster fWAR
46.4
Dead money %
15%
Depth Players
10.0
Dead WAR
-1.3

Offense

PoorAverageGreat

Pitching & Defense

PoorAverageGreat

Roster

1996 depth chart — stacked by playing time

C

RIvan Rodriguez146
RDave Valle35
BMickey Tettleton5
RKevin Brown2

1B

LWill Clark117
BMickey Tettleton23
RRene Gonzales23
LLee Stevens18
RCraig Worthington6
RDave Valle5
BKurt Stillwell1
LRusty Greer1

2B

BMark McLemore147
BKurt Stillwell21
RRene Gonzales5
BLou Frazier1

3B

RDean Palmer154
RRene Gonzales15
RCraig Worthington7
BKurt Stillwell6
RLuis Ortiz2
RJack Voigt1

SS

RKevin Elster157
RRene Gonzales10
BKurt Stillwell9
RBenji Gil5

LF

LRusty Greer136
RDamon Buford14
BLou Frazier12
LWarren Newson8
LLee Stevens5
RJack Voigt2
RRikkert Faneyte2
RRene Gonzales1

CF

LDarryl Hamilton147
RDamon Buford25
RRikkert Faneyte4
BLou Frazier3
LRusty Greer1

RF

RJuan Gonzalez102
LWarren Newson58
RDamon Buford44
RJack Voigt1
BMark McLemore1

DH

BMickey Tettleton115
RJuan Gonzalez32
LWarren Newson8
RIvan Rodriguez6
RDean Palmer1
RLuis Ortiz1

Starters

RKen Hill5.6 WAR
RBobby Witt2.5 WAR
RRoger Pavlik2.4 WAR
LDarren Oliver2.3 WAR
RJohn Burkett⇄2.0 WAR
RKevin Gross1.3 WAR
RJose Alberro-0.0 WAR
RRick Helling⇄-0.3 WAR

Bullpen

★ RMike Henneman31 sv
LDennis Cook0 h
RJeff Russell0 h
LEd Vosberg0 h
RGil Heredia0 h
RMark Brandenburg⇄0 h
LMike Stanton⇄0 h
RMatt Whiteside0 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 1995)

PlayerfWAR
Ken Hill5.6
John Burkett2.0
Kevin Elster1.5
Mike Stanton0.5
Mike Henneman0.4
Damon Buford0.4

Key subtractions (gone from 1995)

Player1995 fWAR
Bob Tewksbury3.1
Kenny Rogers3.0
Roger McDowell0.9
Otis Nixon0.7
Jeff Frye0.6
Mike Pagliarulo0.4

Contract Value

WAR translated into tier-adjusted market value, then compared with what the player was paid by Rangers. Guaranteed contracts from the 2015-present contract-data period use the known contract period through 1996; everyone else is shown as a 1996 season snapshot.

PlayerPeriodfWARTier Market $MPaid $MSurplus $M$ / WARTierContract
Ken Hill 1996 +5.6 +111.5 3.1 +108.4 $0.6M 2.50× –
Rusty Greer 1996 +4.8 +68.1 0.3 +67.9 $0.1M 1.79× –
Ivan Rodriguez 1996 +5.6 +57.7 4.0 +53.7 $0.7M 1.28× –
Bobby Witt 1996 +2.5 +39.9 1.4 +38.5 $0.5M 1.96× –
Mark McLemore 1996 +4.1 +39.7 1.2 +38.5 $0.3M 1.20× –
Juan Gonzalez 1996 +3.5 +44.3 7.4 +36.8 $2.1M 1.60× –
Darren Oliver 1996 +2.3 +27.2 0.2 +27.0 $0.1M 1.49× –
Roger Pavlik 1996 +2.4 +28.2 1.2 +27.0 $0.5M 1.49× –
Dean Palmer 1996 +3.0 +26.4 2.0 +24.4 $0.7M 1.12× –
John Burkett↔ 1996 +2.0 +24.3 1.0 +23.3 $0.5M 1.49× –
Dennis Cook 1996 +1.5 +8.0 0.3 +7.6 $0.2M 0.67× –
Kevin Gross 1996 +1.3 +10.5 3.3 +7.2 $2.5M 1.02× –
Kevin Elster 1996 +1.5 +7.3 0.3 +7.1 $0.2M 0.61× –
Will Clark 1996 +1.8 +11.7 5.7 +6.0 $3.1M 0.81× –
Ed Vosberg 1996 +0.5 +5.2 0.2 +5.0 $0.4M 1.34× –
Dave Valle 1996 +0.9 +3.6 0.7 +2.8 $0.8M 0.52× –
Mickey Tettleton 1996 +0.8 +4.3 1.5 +2.8 $1.9M 0.69× –
Mike Henneman 1996 +0.4 +4.1 1.5 +2.6 $3.9M 1.34× –
Mark Brandenburg↔ 1996 +0.5 +2.5 0.1 +2.4 $0.1M 0.67× –
Damon Buford 1996 +0.4 +2.5 0.2 +2.3 $0.4M 0.83× –
Mike Stanton↔ 1996 +0.5 +2.7 0.5 +2.2 $0.9M 0.67× –
Gil Heredia 1996 +0.3 +1.8 0.4 +1.5 $1.1M 0.67× –
Lou Frazier 1996 +0.2 +1.6 0.2 +1.4 $0.7M 0.83× –
Warren Newson 1996 +0.2 +1.7 0.2 +1.4 $1.0M 0.83× –
Lee Stevens 1996 +0.2 +1.1 0.1 +1.0 $0.4M 0.56× –
Craig Worthington 1996 +0.2 +0.8 0.2 +0.7 $0.9M 0.58× –
Jeff Russell 1996 +0.2 +1.3 0.6 +0.7 $2.6M 0.67× –
Darryl Hamilton 1996 +0.1 +0.8 1.3 -0.5 $10.6M 0.83× –
Kurt Stillwell 1996 -0.1 -0.4 0.1 -0.6 – 0.56× –
Rene Gonzales 1996 -0.3 -1.3 0.2 -1.5 – 0.56× –
Matt Whiteside 1996 -0.4 -2.2 0.4 -2.5 – 0.67× –
Benji Gil 1996 +0.0 +0.2 0.2 -0.0 $6.2M 0.61× –
Danny Patterson 1996 +0.1 +0.8 – – – 0.67× –
Jack Voigt 1996 +0.0 +0.3 – – – 0.83× –
Jose Alberro 1996 -0.0 -0.2 – – – 0.67× –
Kevin Brown 1996 +0.1 +0.3 – – – 0.52× –
Luis Ortiz 1996 +0.1 +0.6 – – – 0.69× –
Rick Helling↔ 1996 -0.3 -1.8 – – – 0.67× –
Rikkert Faneyte 1996 -0.1 -0.6 – – – 0.83× –
Total—+46.4+534.540.0+495.1—

Trades

Every graded 1996 deal involving the Rangers — best expected value first. Surplus is realized value in $M; 5 total.

1996 · BOS / TEX
BOS · Dan Duquette +$2.4M
Mark Brandenburg, Kerry Lacy
TEX · Douglas Melvin −$2.4M
Mike Stanton, Dwayne Hosey
BOS came out ahead by $2.4M
1996 · TEX / STL
TEX · Douglas Melvin +$0.0M
Cory Bailey
STL · Walt Jocketty +$0.0M
David Chavarria
Even trade
1996 · TEX / MIA
TEX · Douglas Melvin +$128.0M
John Burkett
MIA · Dave Dombrowski −$128.0M
Ryan Dempster, Rick Helling
TEX came out ahead by $128.0M
1996 · BOS / TEX
BOS · Dan Duquette +$2.4M
Rudy Pemberton
TEX · Douglas Melvin −$2.4M
Bryan Eversgerd
BOS came out ahead by $2.4M
1996 · TEX / NYM
TEX · Douglas Melvin +$4.0M
Damon Buford
NYM · Joe McIlvaine −$4.0M
Terrell Lowery
TEX came out ahead by $4.0M

Current & Historical Payroll

1996 payroll
$39.9M

What the front office was committed to as of 1996, 1996–2002. 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 (21)

PlayerAgeSvc1996199719981999200020012002
Juan Gonzalez267.000$7.4M$7.5M$7.8M$8.5MFREE AGENT$11.0M
Will Clark3210.000$5.7M$5.7M$5.8MFREE AGENT
Kevin Gross3513.000$3.3MFREE AGENT
Ken Hill308.000$3.1M$3.0MFREE AGENT
Dean Palmer277.000$2.0M$3.2MFREE AGENT
Mike Henneman349.000$1.5MFREE AGENT
Mickey Tettleton3512.000$1.5M$1.8MFREE AGENT
Bobby Witt3210.000$1.4M$2.0M$1.7MFREE AGENT
Darryl Hamilton318.000$1.3MFREE AGENT
Mark McLemore3110.000$1.2M$1.8M$2.3M$2.4MFREE AGENT
John Burkett319.000$1.0M$3.5M$4.0M$4.0MFREE AGENT
Dave Valle3512.000$725kFREE AGENT
Jeff Russell3413.000$615kFREE AGENT
Mike Stanton297.000$475kFREE AGENT
Dennis Cook338.000$330kFREE AGENT
Kevin Elster3110.000$270kFREE AGENT$1.5M
Ed Vosberg3410.000$198k$320kFREE AGENT
Rene Gonzales3512.000$175kFREE AGENT
Craig Worthington318.000$168kFREE AGENT
Kurt Stillwell3110.000$150kFREE AGENT
Lee Stevens286.000$109k$300k$1.2M$2.1MFREE AGENT

Arbitration-eligible (12)

PlayerAgeSvc1996199719981999200020012002
Ivan Rodriguez245.000$4.0MFREE AGENT
Roger Pavlik284.000$1.2MARB 3FREE AGENT
Matt Whiteside284.000$375kARB 3FREE AGENT
Gil Heredia305.000$360kFREE AGENT
Warren Newson315.000$250kFREE AGENT
Darren Oliver253.000$220kARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Benji Gil233.000$200kARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Lou Frazier313.000$166kARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Damon Buford263.000$165kARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Rikkert Faneyte273.000—ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Luis Ortiz263.000—ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Jack Voigt304.000—ARB 3FREE AGENT

Pre-arbitration (6)

PlayerAgeSvc1996199719981999200020012002
Rusty Greer272.000$258kARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Mark Brandenburg251.000$58kPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Jose Alberro271.000—Pre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Kevin Brown230.000—Pre-ArbPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Rick Helling252.000—ARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Danny Patterson250.000—Pre-ArbPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT

Graphs

How each 1996 acquisition stacked onto Rangers'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