RRosternomics
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Nationals WSN

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GM: Dan Duquette

Overview

WINDOW ↗ rising
cheap & winning · year 2 in this regime · payroll 0.53× league · TAB +10.5
+10.5TAB — talent above budget2nd/26
+13.3WAB — realized wins (TAB + luck)2nd/26
8.0depth — 2+ WAR regulars6th/26
-4.3dead WAR — sub-replacement drag8th/26
38%dead money %16th/26
0.537win %9th/26
36.9roster fWAR10th/26
+12surplus $M (value vs cost)2nd/26
$16Mpayroll $M24th/26

Roster

CFMarquis Grissom 157GMoises Alou 13G
LFMoises Alou 79GJohn Vander Wal 55GIvan Calderon 46G
RFLarry Walker 139GMoises Alou 15GJohn Vander Wal 4G
SSSpike Owen 116GWil Cordero 35GTom Foley 33G
2BDelino DeShields 134GBret Barberie 26GTom Foley 13G
3BTim Wallach 85GBret Barberie 63GSean Berry 20G
1BTim Wallach 71GArchi Cianfrocco 56GGreg Colbrunn 47G
STARTERSDennis Martinez 4.0WARKen Hill 4.0WARChris Nabholz 2.4WARMark Gardner 2.0WARBrian Barnes 0.6WAR
CGary Carter 85GDarrin Fletcher 69GRick Cerone 28G
BULLPEN★ John Wetteland 37svJeff Fassero 0hMel Rojas 0hSergio Valdez 0hBill Landrum 0hPete Young 0hKent Bottenfield 0hDoug Simons 0h
CGary Carter 85 · Darrin Fletcher 69 · Rick Cerone 28
1BTim Wallach 71 · Archi Cianfrocco 56 · Greg Colbrunn 47
2BDelino DeShields 134 · Bret Barberie 26 · Tom Foley 13
3BTim Wallach 85 · Bret Barberie 63 · Sean Berry 20
SSSpike Owen 116 · Wil Cordero 35 · Tom Foley 33
LFMoises Alou 79 · John Vander Wal 55 · Ivan Calderon 46
CFMarquis Grissom 157 · Moises Alou 13
RFLarry Walker 139 · Moises Alou 15 · John Vander Wal 4
SPDennis Martinez 4.0 · Ken Hill 4.0 · Chris Nabholz 2.4 · Mark Gardner 2.0 · Brian Barnes 0.6
BP★ John Wetteland 37 · Jeff Fassero 0 · Mel Rojas 0 · Sergio Valdez 0 · Bill Landrum 0 · Pete Young 0 · Kent Bottenfield 0 · Doug Simons 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.

1992 roster — value & surplus

PlayerAgeServiceGfWARSalary $MSurplus $M
Larry Walker 25 arb 1435.3 1.0 +3.1
Marquis Grissom 25 arb 1595.1 0.3 +3.7
Ken Hill 26 arb 334.0 0.6 +2.5
Dennis Martinez 38 FA-elig 324.0 3.3 -0.3
Delino DeShields 23 pre-arb 1353.5 0.3 +2.4
Moises Alou 25 pre-arb 1152.7 0.1 +2.0
Chris Nabholz 25 pre-arb 322.4 0.2 +1.7
Spike Owen 31 FA-elig 1222.2 1.2 +0.5
Mark Gardner 30 arb 332.0 0.3 +1.3
Jeff Fassero 29 pre-arb 701.3 0.1 +0.9
John Wetteland 25 arb 671.3 0.2 +0.9
Mel Rojas 25 – 681.3 – –
Bret Barberie 24 pre-arb 1111.0 0.1 +0.7
Tim Wallach 34 FA-elig 1500.9 1.9 -1.2
John Vander Wal 26 pre-arb 1050.8 0.1 +0.5
Brian Barnes 25 – 210.6 – –
Wil Cordero 20 – 450.5 – –
Gary Carter 38 FA-elig 950.5 0.8 -0.4
Kent Bottenfield 23 – 100.4 – –
Sergio Valdez 27 FA-elig 270.4 0.1 +0.2
Ivan Calderon 30 FA-elig 480.2 2.6 -2.4
Bill Krueger↔ MIN 34 FA-elig 90.2 0.2 -0.1
Greg Colbrunn 22 – 520.2 – –
Sean Berry 26 – 240.1 – –
Bill Risley 25 – 10.1 – –
Pete Young 24 – 130.1 – –
Rick Cerone 38 FA-elig 330.1 0.2 -0.2
Gil Heredia↔ SFG 26 pre-arb 70.0 0.0 -0.0
Scott Service 25 – 5-0.0 – –
Darrin Fletcher 25 arb 83-0.0 0.1 -0.2
Chris Haney↔ KCR 23 pre-arb 10-0.1 0.1 -0.1
Todd Haney 26 – 7-0.1 – –
Jerry Goff 28 – 3-0.1 – –
Archi Cianfrocco 25 – 86-0.1 – –
Jonathan Hurst 25 pre-arb 3-0.1 0.1 -0.2
Eric Bullock 32 – 8-0.1 – –
Matt Stairs 24 – 13-0.2 0.0 -0.1
Rob Natal 26 – 5-0.2 – –
Steve Lyons↔ ATL 32 FA-elig 16-0.2 0.2 -0.4
Matt Maysey 25 – 2-0.2 – –
Tim Laker 22 – 28-0.2 – –
Doug Simons 25 – 7-0.3 – –
Jerry Willard↔ ATL 32 – 21-0.3 – –
Tom Foley 32 FA-elig 72-0.5 0.4 -0.7
Bill Landrum 34 FA-elig 18-0.5 0.9 -1.3
Darren Reed↔ MIN 26 pre-arb 42-0.5 0.1 -0.5
Bill Sampen↔ KCR 29 pre-arb 44-0.6 0.1 -0.6

Key additions (new vs 1991)

PlayerfWAR
Ken Hill4.0
Moises Alou2.7
John Wetteland1.3
Wil Cordero0.5
Gary Carter0.5
Kent Bottenfield0.4

Key subtractions (gone from 1991)

Player1991 fWAR
Dave Martinez1.9
Oil Can Boyd1.7
Gilberto Reyes1.0
Kenny Williams0.7
Rick Mahler0.3
Ron Hassey0.2

Current & Historical Payroll

1992 payroll
$15.9M

What the front office was committed to as of 1992, 1992–1998. 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)

PlayerAgeSvc1992199319941995199619971998
Dennis Martinez3816.000$3.3M$2.8MFREE AGENT
Ivan Calderon308.000$2.6MFREE AGENT
Tim Wallach3412.000$1.9MFREE AGENT
Spike Owen319.000$1.2MFREE AGENT
Bill Landrum346.000$950kFREE AGENT
Gary Carter3818.000$825kFREE AGENT
Tom Foley329.000$365kFREE AGENT$160k
Bill Krueger349.000$230kFREE AGENT
Rick Cerone3817.000$230kFREE AGENT
Steve Lyons327.000$217kFREE AGENT
Sergio Valdez276.000$110k$172kFREE AGENT
Jerry Willard328.000—FREE AGENT

Arbitration-eligible (7)

PlayerAgeSvc1992199319941995199619971998
Larry Walker253.000$990kARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Ken Hill264.000$620kARB 3FREE AGENT
Marquis Grissom253.000$300kARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Mark Gardner303.000$300kARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
John Wetteland253.000$156kARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Darrin Fletcher253.000$125kARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Scott Service254.000—ARB 3FREE AGENT

Pre-arbitration (28)

PlayerAgeSvc1992199319941995199619971998
Delino DeShields232.000$302kARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Chris Nabholz252.000$195kARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Bill Sampen292.000$148kARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Jeff Fassero291.000$129kPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Bret Barberie241.000$129kPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Moises Alou252.000$110kARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
John Vander Wal261.000$110kPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Jonathan Hurst250.000$109kPre-ArbPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Darren Reed262.000$89kARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Chris Haney231.000$69kPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Gil Heredia261.000$40kPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Matt Stairs240.000$8kPre-ArbPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Brian Barnes252.000—ARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Sean Berry262.000—ARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Kent Bottenfield230.000—Pre-ArbPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Eric Bullock32–—
Archi Cianfrocco250.000—Pre-ArbPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Greg Colbrunn220.000—Pre-ArbPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Wil Cordero200.000—Pre-ArbPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Jerry Goff282.000—ARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Todd Haney260.000—Pre-ArbPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Tim Laker220.000—Pre-ArbPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Matt Maysey25–—
Rob Natal260.000—Pre-ArbPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Bill Risley250.000—Pre-ArbPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Mel Rojas252.000—ARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Doug Simons251.000—Pre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Pete Young24–—

Graphs

Every roster slot ranked best→worst by WAR. Bars = Nationals 1992; 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.