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July 31, 1996

NYY⇄DET

DET won this trade +$44.8M surplus NYY won this trade +1.8 WAR
NYYNYY Bob Watson net −$44.8M net +1.8
received −$72.0M−$72.0M ± $14M expected surplus · −$75.2M realized received 2.0 ± 2 expected · 1.3 realized WAR
Playoff odds: this deal moved NYY's 1996 odds 45% → 51% (+5.7 pts) — how trade timing is graded ↗
receives — most valuable first
Cecil Fielder1B/DH·32y·R/R
−$72.2M−$72.2M± $14M exp surplusrealized −$75.2M 2.0± 2 exp WARrealized 1.3
Prior
no pedigree — league baseline → 0.21/yr
Evidence
recent form 1.9/yr over 2.4 seasons
Talent
1.38/yr blended
Horizon
1.5 control yr × 0.96 age decline
DETDET Randy Smith net +$44.8M net -1.8
received +$9.6M−$19.2M ± $34M expected surplus · −$30.4M realized received 9.0 ± 4 expected · -0.5 realized WAR
Playoff odds: this deal moved DET's 1996 odds 0% → 0% (-0 pts) — how trade timing is graded ↗
receives — most valuable first
Matt Drews#12P·21y·R/R
+$37.0M+$37.0M± $34M exp surplusrealized +$0.0M 8.9± 4 exp WARrealized 0.0
Prior
Composite #12.0 prospect (Baseball America #12 (1996)) → 1.48/yr
Evidence
no MLB track record — leans on pedigree
Talent
1.48/yr blended
Horizon
6.0 control yrs
Rubén SierraOF·30y·B/R
−$27.0M−$56.2M± $8M exp surplusrealized −$30.4M 0.1± 1 exp WARrealized -0.5
Prior
no pedigree — league baseline → 0.21/yr
Evidence
recent form 0.0/yr over 2.5 seasons
Talent
0.07/yr blended
Horizon
1.5 control yr × 0.67 age decline

Each player is valued on what he was expected to produce at the time of the trade, versus what he actually produced for his new team.

Expected WAR blends a player's pedigree (composite top-100 rank / draft slot, or a baseline) with his recent track record, projected over the years of team control acquired. The ± figure is a historically calibrated predictive standard deviation, measuring how widely comparable forecasts have missed around their expected value. Surplus values that production at the FA market price of a win (~$8M/WAR) minus salary — so cost-controlled players carry large surplus and expensive ones little, even at the same WAR. Who won is descriptive, not a skill claim: ~99% of a trade's outcome is unforeseeable at the time.

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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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