Rosternomics
← Trade Database
July 29, 1996

NYMCLE

CLE won this trade +$40.0M surplus NYM won this trade +0.7 WAR
NYMNYM Joe McIlvaine net −$40.0M net +0.7
received −$21.6M−$22.4M ± $23M expected surplus · −$56.8M realized received 3.4 ± 3 expected · 1.1 realized WAR
Playoff odds: this deal moved NYM's 1996 odds 26% → 24% (-1.6 pts) — how trade timing is graded ↗
receives — most valuable first
Álvaro EspinozaSS·34y·R/R
−$0.7M−$1.5M± $6M exp surplusrealized +$0.8M 0.2± 1 exp WARrealized 0.6
Prior
no pedigree — league baseline → 0.21/yr
Evidence
recent form 0.2/yr over 1.6 season
Talent
0.22/yr blended
Horizon
1.5 control yr × 0.67 age decline
Carlos Baerga2B·27y·B/R
−$20.8M−$20.8M± $22M exp surplusrealized −$57.6M 3.2± 3 exp WARrealized 0.5
Prior
no pedigree — league baseline → 0.21/yr
Evidence
recent form 3.2/yr over 2.3 seasons
Talent
2.16/yr blended
Horizon
1.5 control yr
CLECLE John Hart net +$40.0M net -0.7
received +$16.8M+$4.8M ± $26M expected surplus · −$16.8M realized received 3.9 ± 3 expected · 0.4 realized WAR
Playoff odds: this deal moved CLE's 1996 odds 92% → 93% (+0.6 pts) — how trade timing is graded ↗
receives — most valuable first
Jeff Kent2B·28y·R/R
+$15.8M+$15.8M± $23M exp surplusrealized −$6.4M 3.5± 3 exp WARrealized 0.5
Prior
league baseline (track record outweighs draft pedigree) → 0.21/yr
Evidence
recent form 2.7/yr over 1.9 season
Talent
1.75/yr blended
Horizon
2.0 control yrs
José Vizcaíno2B/SS·28y·B/R
+$1.2M−$11.0M± $10M exp surplusrealized −$10.4M 0.4± 1 exp WARrealized -0.1
Prior
no pedigree — league baseline → 0.21/yr
Evidence
recent form 0.3/yr over 2.1 seasons
Talent
0.24/yr blended
Horizon
1.5 control yr

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.