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Blue Jays TOR

199888–74 (0.543)
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GM: Gord Ash

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
$47M
Surplus $M
-4
Win %
0.543
TAB
+4.9
WAB
+4.5
Roster composition
Roster fWAR
40.6
Dead money %
31%
Depth Players
6.0
Dead WAR
-2.9

Offense

PoorAverageGreat

Pitching & Defense

PoorAverageGreat

Roster

1998 depth chart — stacked by playing time

C

LDarrin Fletcher121
RKevin Brown52
RMark Dalesandro18
RBenito Santiago15

1B

LCarlos Delgado141
RJuan Samuel3
RMark Dalesandro2
BFelipe Crespo1
LKevin Witt1

2B

RCraig Grebeck91
BTony Fernández82
BTony Phillips⇄13
BFelipe Crespo8
RJuan Samuel2
BTomás Pérez1

3B

REd Sprague Jr.⇄105
BTony Fernández54
RMark Dalesandro8
RTom Evans7
RCraig Grebeck4
BFelipe Crespo2

SS

RAlex Gonzalez158
RCraig Grebeck6
BTomás Pérez4

LF

RShannon Stewart110
RJosé Canseco50
BFelipe Crespo19
RJuan Samuel8
BJosé Cruz Jr.6
RMike Stanley⇄1

CF

BJosé Cruz Jr.103
RShannon Stewart44
LShawn Green32
BFelipe Crespo1

RF

LShawn Green128
RJosé Canseco26
BFelipe Crespo24
RJuan Samuel2
RPat Lennon2
RMark Dalesandro1

DH

RJosé Canseco78
LCarlos Delgado1
LDarrin Fletcher1
RJuan Samuel1
BTony Fernández1

Starters

RRoger Clemens8.2 WAR
RChris Carpenter2.8 WAR
RKelvim Escobar1.9 WAR
RJuan Guzman⇄1.4 WAR
RWoody Williams1.4 WAR
RPat Hentgen0.6 WAR
RRoy Halladay0.3 WAR
RDave Stieb0.0 WAR
RErik Hanson-0.5 WAR

Bullpen

★ RPaul Quantrill7 sv
LDan Plesac0 h
RBill Risley0 h
LRandy Myers⇄0 h
RRobert Person0 h
RCarlos Almanzar0 h
LSteve Sinclair0 h
RDave Stieb0 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 Fernandez2.5
Jose Canseco1.3
Darrin Fletcher1.3
Mike Stanley1.2
Tony Phillips0.8
Craig Grebeck0.8

Key subtractions (gone from 1997)

Player1997 fWAR
Orlando Merced2.2
Charlie O'Brien1.9
Paul Spoljaric0.7
Omar Daal0.7
Otis Nixon0.5
Mike Timlin0.3

Contract Value

WAR translated into tier-adjusted market value, then compared with what the player was paid by Blue Jays. 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
Roger Clemens 1998 +8.2 +164.0 8.6 +155.4 $1.0M 2.50× –
Carlos Delgado 1998 +5.7 +61.9 2.4 +59.5 $0.4M 1.37× –
Chris Carpenter 1998 +2.8 +43.4 0.2 +43.2 $0.1M 1.96× –
Shawn Green 1998 +3.4 +43.6 1.5 +42.1 $0.4M 1.60× –
Shannon Stewart 1998 +3.1 +39.4 0.2 +39.2 $0.1M 1.60× –
Paul Quantrill 1998 +1.6 +25.1 1.1 +24.0 $0.7M 1.95× –
Tony Fernandez 1998 +2.5 +21.6 2.0 +19.6 $0.8M 1.07× –
Kelvim Escobar 1998 +1.9 +14.6 0.2 +14.4 $0.1M 0.98× –
Woody Williams 1998 +1.4 +11.3 1.6 +9.6 $1.2M 1.02× –
José Cruz Jr. 1998 +1.5 +9.8 0.3 +9.4 $0.2M 0.83× –
Juan Guzman↔ 1998 +1.4 +11.6 3.3 +8.3 $2.3M 1.02× –
Mike Stanley↔ 1998 +1.2 +8.0 1.2 +6.8 $1.0M 0.83× –
Dan Plesac 1998 +1.3 +7.1 0.8 +6.3 $0.6M 0.67× –
Jose Canseco 1998 +1.3 +7.2 2.1 +5.1 $1.6M 0.69× –
Darrin Fletcher 1998 +1.3 +5.4 1.5 +3.9 $1.1M 0.52× –
Tony Phillips↔ 1998 +0.8 +3.5 0.1 +3.4 $0.1M 0.56× –
Craig Grebeck 1998 +0.8 +3.5 0.4 +3.1 $0.5M 0.56× –
Kevin Brown 1998 +0.5 +2.0 0.2 +1.9 $0.3M 0.52× –
Steve Sinclair 1998 +0.3 +1.7 0.2 +1.5 $0.5M 0.67× –
Pat Hentgen 1998 +0.6 +4.6 3.2 +1.4 $5.7M 1.02× –
Ed Sprague Jr.↔ 1998 +0.7 +3.0 1.9 +1.2 $2.9M 0.58× –
Ben Van Ryn↔ 1998 +0.1 +0.4 0.1 +0.4 $0.8M 0.67× –
Mark Dalesandro 1998 +0.1 +0.6 0.2 +0.4 $1.2M 0.52× –
Carlos Almánzar 1998 +0.1 +0.5 0.2 +0.3 $2.0M 0.67× –
Alex Gonzalez 1998 +0.3 +1.3 1.5 -0.2 $5.7M 0.61× –
Dave Stieb 1998 +0.0 +0.0 0.5 -0.4 $101.0M 0.67× –
Nerio Rodriguez↔ 1998 -0.2 -1.1 0.1 -1.2 – 0.67× –
Felipe Crespo 1998 -0.2 -1.1 0.2 -1.3 – 0.83× –
Randy Myers↔ 1998 +0.3 +1.5 2.9 -1.4 $10.2M 0.67× –
Bill Risley 1998 -0.3 -1.7 0.4 -2.1 – 0.67× –
Juan Samuel 1998 -0.5 -3.1 0.4 -3.5 – 0.83× –
Benito Santiago 1998 -0.0 -0.1 4.0 -4.1 – 0.52× –
Erik Hanson 1998 -0.5 -4.2 3.5 -7.7 – 1.02× –
Robert Person 1998 -0.9 -9.1 0.3 -9.4 – 1.34× –
Kevin Witt 1998 -0.1 -0.5 – – – 0.56× –
Luis Andujar 1998 +0.0 +0.2 – – – 0.67× –
Pat Lennon 1998 +0.1 +0.7 – – – 0.83× –
Roy Halladay 1998 +0.3 +2.7 – – – 1.02× –
Shannon Withem 1998 +0.0 +0.1 – – – 0.67× –
Tom Evans 1998 -0.2 -1.0 – – – 0.58× –
Tomas Perez 1998 -0.0 -0.0 – – – 0.61× –
Total—+40.7+478.447.3+429.1—

Trades

Every graded 1998 deal involving the Blue Jays — best expected value first. Surplus is realized value in $M; 8 total.

1998 · SDP / TOR
SDP · Kevin Towers +$7.2M
Carlos Almánzar, Woody Williams, Pete Tucci
TOR · Gord Ash −$7.2M
Joey Hamilton
SDP came out ahead by $7.2M
1998 · TOR / BAL
TOR · Gord Ash +$14.4M
Shannon Carter, Nerio Rodríguez
BAL · Pat Gillick −$14.4M
Juan Guzmán
TOR came out ahead by $14.4M
1998 · TOR / BOS
TOR · Gord Ash +$18.4M
Peter Munro, Jay Yennaco
BOS · Dan Duquette −$18.4M
Mike Stanley
TOR came out ahead by $18.4M
1998 · TOR / SDP
TOR · Gord Ash +$18.4M
Brian Loyd
SDP · Kevin Towers −$18.4M
Randy Myers
TOR came out ahead by $18.4M
1998 · TOR / NYM
TOR · Gord Ash +$1.6M
Leo Estrella
NYM · Steve Phillips −$1.6M
Tony Phillips
TOR came out ahead by $1.6M
1998 · TEX / TOR
TEX · Douglas Melvin +$12.0M
Tim Crabtree
TOR · Gord Ash −$12.0M
Kevin Brown
TEX came out ahead by $12.0M
1998 · TOR / OAK
TOR · Gord Ash +$13.6M
Scott Rivette
OAK · Billy Beane −$13.6M
Ed Sprague
TOR came out ahead by $13.6M
1998 · TOR / DET
TOR · Gord Ash +$1.6M
Eric Ludwick
DET · Randy Smith −$1.6M
Beiker Graterol
TOR came out ahead by $1.6M

Current & Historical Payroll

1998 payroll
$47.2M

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 (19)

PlayerAgeSvc1998199920002001200220032004
Roger Clemens3514.000$8.6MFREE AGENT
Benito Santiago3312.000$4.0MFREE AGENT
Erik Hanson3310.000$3.5MFREE AGENT
Juan Guzman317.000$3.3MFREE AGENT
Pat Hentgen297.000$3.2M$8.6MFREE AGENT$2.2M
Randy Myers3513.000$2.9MFREE AGENT
Jose Canseco3313.000$2.1MFREE AGENT
Tony Fernandez3615.000$2.0M$2.2MFREE AGENT$379k
Ed Sprague Jr.307.000$1.9MFREE AGENT
Darrin Fletcher319.000$1.5M$2.6M$2.5M$3.5M$3.8MFREE AGENT
Mike Stanley3512.000$1.2MFREE AGENT
Paul Quantrill296.000$1.1M$500k$1.8M$1.8MFREE AGENT
Dan Plesac3612.000$800k$797kFREE AGENT$2.2M$1.5M
Dave Stieb4019.000$450kFREE AGENT
Juan Samuel3715.000$421kFREE AGENT
Craig Grebeck338.000$415k$550k$800kFREE AGENT
Bill Risley316.000$405kFREE AGENT
Tony Phillips3916.000$112kFREE AGENT
Pat Lennon307.000—FREE AGENT

Arbitration-eligible (9)

PlayerAgeSvc1998199920002001200220032004
Carlos Delgado265.000$2.4MFREE AGENT
Woody Williams315.000$1.6MFREE AGENT
Alex Gonzalez254.000$1.5MARB 3FREE AGENT
Shawn Green255.000$1.5MFREE AGENT
Robert Person283.000$265kARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Shannon Stewart243.000$192kARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Mark Dalesandro304.000$185kARB 3FREE AGENT
Luis Andujar253.000—ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Tomas Perez243.000—ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT

Pre-arbitration (13)

PlayerAgeSvc1998199920002001200220032004
José Cruz Jr.241.000$325kPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Kelvim Escobar221.000$220kPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Chris Carpenter231.000$190kPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Felipe Crespo252.000$185kARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Carlos Almánzar241.000$172kPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Kevin Brown252.000$170kARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Steve Sinclair260.000$170kPre-ArbPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Nerio Rodriguez272.000$93kARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Ben Van Ryn262.000$68kARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Tom Evans231.000—Pre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Shannon Withem25–—
Roy Halladay210.000—Pre-ArbPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Kevin Witt22–—

Graphs

How each 1998 acquisition stacked onto Blue Jays'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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