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Nationals WSN

198791–71 (0.562)
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GM: Murray Cook

Overview

Ranks vs the 30 teams in 1987, or a custom range (defaults to every team-season since 1985, when our data starts).

to

Front Office

PoorAverageGreat
Value
Payroll $M
$8M
Surplus $M
+3
Win %
0.562
TAB
+4.9
WAB
+13.7
Roster composition
Roster fWAR
34.8
Dead money %
28%
Depth Players
9.0
Dead WAR
-4.9

Offense

PoorAverageGreat

Pitching & Defense

PoorAverageGreat

Roster

1987 depth chart — stacked by playing time

C

RMike Fitzgerald104
LJeff Reed74
LJohn Stefero17
RDave Engle6
RNelson Santovenia1

1B

RAndres Galarraga146
RVance Law18
BWallace Johnson9
RDave Engle2
BRazor Shines2
BCasey Candaele1
BJack Daugherty1
RMike Fitzgerald1

2B

RVance Law106
BCasey Candaele68
LTom Foley39
RMike Fitzgerald1

3B

RTim Wallach150
RVance Law22
LTom Foley9
RReid Nichols3
RDave Engle1

SS

RHubie Brooks109
LTom Foley49
BCasey Candaele25
RLuis Rivera15
BNelson Norman1

LF

BTim Raines Sr.139
RAlonzo Powell10
RDave Engle9
BCasey Candaele8
RReid Nichols7
RTom Romano3

CF

LHerm Winningham131
RReid Nichols50
BCasey Candaele45

RF

BMitch Webster153
BCasey Candaele16
RReid Nichols5
RDave Engle2
RAlonzo Powell1

DH

—

Starters

RBob Sebra3.4 WAR
LNeal Heaton2.6 WAR
RDennis Martinez2.5 WAR
RBryn Smith2.5 WAR
RPascual Perez1.6 WAR
RFloyd Youmans1.6 WAR
RJay Tibbs0.6 WAR
RUbaldo Heredia-0.1 WAR
RJeff Fischer-0.1 WAR
RCharlie Lea-0.1 WAR
RLary Sorensen-0.2 WAR

Bullpen

★ RTim Burke18 sv
RAndy McGaffigan0 h
LBob McClure0 h
RJeff Parrett0 h
RRandy St. Claire0 h
LJoe Hesketh0 h
RBill Campbell0 h
RCurt Brown0 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 1986)

PlayerfWAR
Neal Heaton2.6
Pascual Perez1.6
Reid Nichols0.8
Dave Engle0.2
Razor Shines0.0
Nelson Santovenia-0.0

Key subtractions (gone from 1986)

Player1986 fWAR
Andre Dawson2.4
Dan Schatzeder0.8
Sergio Valdez0.3
Bob Owchinko0.3
Bert Roberge0.1
Jeff Reardon0.0

Contract Value

WAR translated into tier-adjusted market value, then compared with what the player was paid by Nationals. Guaranteed contracts from the 2015-present contract-data period use the known contract period through 1987; everyone else is shown as a 1987 season snapshot.

PlayerPeriodfWARTier Market $MPaid $MSurplus $M$ / WARTierContract
Tim Raines Sr. 1987 +6.7 +109.6 1.7 +107.9 $0.2M 2.05× –
Bob Sebra 1987 +3.4 +53.8 0.1 +53.8 $0.0M 1.96× –
Tim Wallach 1987 +4.1 +41.2 0.8 +40.4 $0.2M 1.25× –
Neal Heaton 1987 +2.6 +40.6 0.4 +40.2 $0.2M 1.96× –
Dennis Martinez 1987 +2.5 +39.1 0.2 +39.0 $0.1M 1.96× –
Mitch Webster 1987 +3.0 +38.6 0.2 +38.4 $0.1M 1.60× –
Tim Burke 1987 +2.1 +33.4 0.2 +33.2 $0.1M 1.95× –
Bryn Smith 1987 +2.5 +29.7 0.5 +29.2 $0.2M 1.49× –
Andy McGaffigan 1987 +1.9 +29.0 0.3 +28.7 $0.2M 1.95× –
Floyd Youmans 1987 +1.6 +19.5 0.1 +19.4 $0.1M 1.49× –
Pascual Perez 1987 +1.6 +19.4 0.1 +19.4 $0.0M 1.49× –
Andres Galarraga 1987 +2.4 +15.7 0.1 +15.6 $0.0M 0.81× –
Reid Nichols 1987 +0.8 +5.4 0.1 +5.3 $0.1M 0.83× –
Vance Law 1987 +1.3 +5.7 0.5 +5.1 $0.4M 0.56× –
Casey Candaele 1987 +0.8 +3.8 0.1 +3.7 $0.1M 0.56× –
Tom Foley 1987 +0.7 +3.5 0.2 +3.2 $0.4M 0.61× –
Hubie Brooks 1987 +0.4 +1.9 0.8 +1.1 $2.0M 0.61× –
Dave Engle 1987 +0.2 +1.2 0.1 +1.0 $0.8M 0.83× –
Joe Hesketh 1987 +0.2 +1.1 0.1 +0.9 $0.8M 0.67× –
Jeff Parrett 1987 -0.0 -0.1 0.1 -0.1 – 1.34× –
Wallace Johnson 1987 -0.1 -0.4 0.1 -0.4 – 0.56× –
Herm Winningham 1987 -0.3 -1.7 0.1 -1.7 – 0.83× –
Mike Fitzgerald 1987 -0.8 -3.5 0.2 -3.7 – 0.52× –
Jeff Reed 1987 -1.0 -4.3 0.1 -4.4 – 0.52× –
Bob McClure 1987 -0.4 -3.9 0.6 -4.5 – 1.34× –
Alonzo Powell 1987 -0.4 -2.5 – – – 0.83× –
Bill Campbell 1987 -0.1 -0.6 – – – 0.67× –
Charlie Lea 1987 -0.1 -1.2 – – – 1.02× –
Curt Brown 1987 -0.1 -0.8 – – – 0.67× –
Jack Daugherty 1987 -0.2 -0.7 – – – 0.56× –
Jay Tibbs 1987 +0.6 +5.1 – – – 1.02× –
Jeff Fischer 1987 -0.1 -1.0 – – – 1.02× –
John Stefero 1987 -0.5 -2.0 – – – 0.52× –
Lary Sorensen 1987 -0.2 -0.9 – – – 0.67× –
Luis Rivera 1987 -0.3 -1.2 – – – 0.61× –
Nelson Norman 1987 -0.2 -0.9 – – – 0.61× –
Nelson Santovenia 1987 -0.0 -0.1 – – – 0.52× –
Randy St. Claire 1987 +0.1 +0.9 – – – 1.34× –
Razor Shines 1987 +0.0 +0.1 – – – 0.56× –
Tom Romano 1987 -0.1 -0.5 – – – 0.83× –
Ubaldo Heredia 1987 -0.1 -0.4 – – – 1.02× –
Total—+34.5+471.67.8+470.7—

Trades

Every graded 1987 deal involving the Nationals — best expected value first. Surplus is realized value in $M; 2 total.

1987 · WSN / MIN
WSN · Murray Cook +$6.4M
Neal Heaton, Al Cardwood, Yorkis Pérez, Jeff Reed
MIN · Andy MacPhail −$6.4M
Jeff Reardon, Tom Nieto
WSN came out ahead by $6.4M
1987 · WSN / MIN
WSN · Murray Cook +$12.8M
Mike Shade
MIN · Andy MacPhail −$12.8M
Al Newman
WSN came out ahead by $12.8M

Current & Historical Payroll

1987 payroll
$7.5M

What the front office was committed to as of 1987, 1987–1993. 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 (15)

PlayerAgeSvc1987198819891990199119921993
Tim Raines Sr.278.000$1.7M$1.7M$2.1M$2.1MFREE AGENT
Tim Wallach297.000$765k$850k$950k$1.2MFREE AGENT$1.9M
Hubie Brooks307.000$765k$850k$950kFREE AGENT
Bob McClure3512.000$550k$288kFREE AGENT
Vance Law307.000$525kFREE AGENT
Bryn Smith316.000$467k$525k$550kFREE AGENT
Andy McGaffigan306.000$292k$500k$632kFREE AGENT
Dennis Martinez3311.000$162k$735k$735k$1.4M$3.3M$3.3M$2.8M
Dave Engle306.000$145k$150kFREE AGENT
Pascual Perez307.000$75k$70k$850kFREE AGENT
Reid Nichols287.000$62kFREE AGENT
Wallace Johnson306.000$62k$100k$177k$295kFREE AGENT
Bill Campbell3814.000—FREE AGENT
Charlie Lea307.000—FREE AGENT
Lary Sorensen3110.000—FREE AGENT

Arbitration-eligible (10)

PlayerAgeSvc1987198819891990199119921993
Neal Heaton275.000$400kFREE AGENT
Tom Foley274.000$250kARB 3FREE AGENT
Mike Fitzgerald264.000$210kARB 3FREE AGENT
Mitch Webster284.000$210kARB 3FREE AGENT
Joe Hesketh283.000$150kARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Herm Winningham253.000$82kARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Jeff Reed243.000$72kARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Randy St. Claire263.000—ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
John Stefero274.000—ARB 3FREE AGENT
Jay Tibbs253.000—ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT

Pre-arbitration (16)

PlayerAgeSvc1987198819891990199119921993
Tim Burke282.000$210kARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Floyd Youmans232.000$92kARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Andres Galarraga262.000$90kARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Casey Candaele261.000$62kPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Jeff Parrett251.000$62kPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Bob Sebra252.000$62kARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Curt Brown27–—
Jack Daugherty260.000—Pre-ArbPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Jeff Fischer23–—
Ubaldo Heredia31–—
Nelson Norman29–—
Alonzo Powell22–—
Luis Rivera231.000—Pre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Tom Romano28–—
Nelson Santovenia250.000—Pre-ArbPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Razor Shines30–—

Graphs

How each 1987 acquisition stacked onto Nationals'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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