RRosternomics
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Nationals WSN

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GM: Jim Beattie

Overview

WINDOW → steady
cheap & winning · year 8 in this regime · payroll 0.24× league · TAB +8.0
+8.0TAB — talent above budget6th/30
+1.5WAB — realized wins (TAB + luck)14th/30
5.0depth — 2+ WAR regulars19th/30
-7.4dead WAR — sub-replacement drag26th/30
33%dead money %21st/30
0.401win %26th/30
24.8roster fWAR22nd/30
+17surplus $M (value vs cost)1st/30
$10Mpayroll $M30th/30

Roster

CFRondell White 83GTerry Jones 60GF.P. Santangelo 23G
LFF.P. Santangelo 72GDerrick May 48GRyan McGuire 33G
RFVladimir Guerrero 157GRyan McGuire 8GDa Rond Stovall 7G
SSOrlando Cabrera 52GMike Mordecai 30G
2BWilton Guerrero 84GJose Vidro 56GF.P. Santangelo 35G
3BShane Andrews 147GScott Livingstone 17GMike Mordecai 11G
1BBrad Fullmer 137GRyan McGuire 78GFernando Seguignol 7G
STARTERSDustin Hermanson 3.5WARTrey Moore 1.1WARCarl Pavano 0.9WARJavier Vazquez 0.6WARMike Thurman 0.2WAR
CChris Widger 123GBob Henley 35GMike Hubbard 24G
DHScott Livingstone 5GDerrick May 2GRondell White 1G
BULLPEN★ Ugueth Urbina 34svSteve Kline 0hAnthony Telford 0hShayne Bennett 0hMike Maddux 0hRick DeHart 0hMarc Valdes 0hTim Young 0h
CChris Widger 123 · Bob Henley 35 · Mike Hubbard 24
1BBrad Fullmer 137 · Ryan McGuire 78 · Fernando Seguignol 7
2BWilton Guerrero 84 · Jose Vidro 56 · F.P. Santangelo 35
3BShane Andrews 147 · Scott Livingstone 17 · Mike Mordecai 11
SSOrlando Cabrera 52 · Mike Mordecai 30
LFF.P. Santangelo 72 · Derrick May 48 · Ryan McGuire 33
CFRondell White 83 · Terry Jones 60 · F.P. Santangelo 23
RFVladimir Guerrero 157 · Ryan McGuire 8 · Da Rond Stovall 7
DHScott Livingstone 5 · Derrick May 2 · Rondell White 1
SPDustin Hermanson 3.5 · Trey Moore 1.1 · Carl Pavano 0.9 · Javier Vazquez 0.6 · Mike Thurman 0.2
BP★ Ugueth Urbina 34 · Steve Kline 0 · Anthony Telford 0 · Shayne Bennett 0 · Mike Maddux 0 · Rick DeHart 0 · Marc Valdes 0 · Tim Young 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.

1998 roster — value & surplus

PlayerAgeServiceGfWARSalary $MSurplus $M
Vladimir Guerrero 23 pre-arb 1596.7 0.2 +7.0
Dustin Hermanson 25 arb 323.5 0.2 +3.5
Rondell White 26 arb 973.4 2.0 +1.6
Carlos Perez↔ LAD 27 arb 233.3 1.0 +2.5
Ugueth Urbina 24 arb 642.1 0.6 +1.7
Shane Andrews 26 arb 1501.9 0.5 +1.7
Bob Henley 25 pre-arb 411.2 0.2 +1.2
Orlando Cabrera 23 pre-arb 791.2 0.2 +1.1
Terry Jones 27 pre-arb 601.2 0.2 +1.1
Trey Moore 25 pre-arb 141.1 0.2 +1.0
Carl Pavano 22 pre-arb 240.9 0.2 +0.8
F.P. Santangelo 30 arb 1220.8 0.3 +0.6
Steve Kline 25 pre-arb 780.7 0.2 +0.6
Chris Widger 27 arb 1250.7 0.3 +0.4
Mike Maddux 36 FA-elig 510.7 0.2 +0.5
Fernando Seguignol 23 – 160.6 – –
Javier Vazquez 21 pre-arb 330.6 0.2 +0.5
Brad Fullmer 23 pre-arb 1400.5 0.2 +0.4
Miguel Batista 27 FA-elig 560.2 0.2 +0.1
Derrick May 29 FA-elig 850.2 0.2 -0.0
Mike Thurman 24 pre-arb 140.2 0.2 +0.0
Michael Barrett 21 – 80.2 – –
Tim Young 24 – 100.1 – –
Wilton Guerrero↔ LAD 23 pre-arb 520.1 0.1 -0.0
Anthony Telford 32 FA-elig 770.1 0.2 -0.1
Kirk Bullinger 28 pre-arb 8-0.0 0.2 -0.2
Rick DeHart 28 pre-arb 26-0.1 0.2 -0.3
Marc Valdes 26 arb 20-0.1 0.2 -0.4
Shayne Bennett 26 pre-arb 62-0.2 0.2 -0.4
Ray Holbert↔ ATL 27 – 2-0.2 – –
Shawn Boskie 31 – 5-0.2 – –
Mark Grudzielanek↔ LAD 28 arb 105-0.2 0.2 -0.5
Da Rond Stovall 25 pre-arb 62-0.3 0.2 -0.5
Mike Johnson 22 – 2-0.3 – –
Jeremy Powell 22 – 7-0.3 – –
Mike Mordecai 30 arb 73-0.5 0.2 -0.8
Mike Hubbard 27 arb 32-0.8 0.2 -1.1
Scott Livingstone 32 FA-elig 76-0.9 0.2 -1.2
Robert Perez↔ SEA 29 arb 52-0.9 0.2 -1.2
Ryan McGuire 26 pre-arb 130-1.1 0.2 -1.4
Jose Vidro 23 pre-arb 83-1.1 0.2 -1.4

Key additions (new vs 1997)

PlayerfWAR
Bob Henley1.2
Terry Jones1.2
Trey Moore1.1
Carl Pavano0.9
Mike Maddux0.7
Fernando Seguignol0.6

Key subtractions (gone from 1997)

Player1997 fWAR
Pedro Martínez8.4
Mike Lansing3.8
David Segui2.3
Darrin Fletcher1.5
Henry Rodriguez1.5
Doug Strange1.4

Current & Historical Payroll

1998 payroll
$10.1M

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 (6)

PlayerAgeSvc1998199920002001200220032004
Scott Livingstone327.000$250kFREE AGENT
Derrick May298.000$250kFREE AGENT
Mike Maddux3612.000$235k$564kFREE AGENT
Anthony Telford328.000$225k$320k$700k$1.2MFREE AGENT
Miguel Batista276.000$173k$250k$253kFREE AGENT
Shawn Boskie318.000—FREE AGENT

Arbitration-eligible (13)

PlayerAgeSvc1998199920002001200220032004
Rondell White265.000$2.0MFREE AGENT
Carlos Perez273.000$1.0MARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Ugueth Urbina243.000$565kARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Shane Andrews263.000$450kARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Chris Widger273.000$350kARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
F.P. Santangelo303.000$320kARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Dustin Hermanson253.000$250kARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Mike Mordecai304.000$250kARB 3FREE AGENT
Mark Grudzielanek283.000$236kARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Marc Valdes263.000$225kARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Mike Hubbard273.000$174kARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Robert Perez294.000$162kARB 3FREE AGENT
Ray Holbert274.000—ARB 3FREE AGENT

Pre-arbitration (22)

PlayerAgeSvc1998199920002001200220032004
Vladimir Guerrero232.000$230kARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Jose Vidro231.000$222kPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Ryan McGuire261.000$185kPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Steve Kline251.000$174kPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Rick DeHart281.000$172kPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Shayne Bennett261.000$172kPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Brad Fullmer231.000$172kPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Mike Thurman241.000$170kPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Orlando Cabrera231.000$170kPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Terry Jones272.000$170kARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Da Rond Stovall250.000$170kPre-ArbPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Carl Pavano220.000$170kPre-ArbPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Bob Henley250.000$170kPre-ArbPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Javier Vazquez210.000$170kPre-ArbPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Kirk Bullinger280.000$170kPre-ArbPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Trey Moore250.000$170kPre-ArbPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Wilton Guerrero232.000$119kARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Mike Johnson221.000—Pre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Jeremy Powell220.000—Pre-ArbPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Tim Young24–—
Fernando Seguignol230.000—Pre-ArbPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Michael Barrett210.000—Pre-ArbPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT

Graphs

Every roster slot ranked best→worst by WAR. Bars = Nationals 1998; 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.