Rosternomics
← Trade Database
September 17, 1993

TEXHOU

TEX won this trade +$6.4M surplus TEX won this trade +1.7 WAR
TEXTEX Tom Grieve net +$6.4M net +1.7
received −$4.8M−$4.8M ± $11M expected surplus · +$6.4M realized received 0.0 ± 1 expected · 1.7 realized WAR
Playoff odds: this deal moved TEX's 1993 odds 17% → 19% (+2 pts) — how trade timing is graded ↗
receives — most valuable first
Chris JamesOF·30y·R/R
−$5.0M−$5.0M± $11M exp surplusrealized +$6.4M 0.0± 1 exp WARrealized 1.7
Prior
no pedigree — league baseline → 0.21/yr
Evidence
recent form -0.4/yr over 2.1 seasons
Talent
-0.21/yr blended
Horizon
1.5 control yr
HOUHOU Bill Wood net −$6.4M net -1.7
received +$0.0M+$0.0M ± $10M expected surplus · +$0.0M realized received 0.2 ± 1 expected · 0.0 realized WAR
Playoff odds: this deal moved HOU's 1993 odds 81% → 79% (-2.1 pts) — how trade timing is graded ↗
receives — most valuable first
Dave Gandolph
+$0.3M+$0.3M± $10M exp surplusrealized +$0.0M 0.2± 1 exp WARrealized 0.0
Unidentified minor-league throw-in — valued at the ~0.2 WAR base rate (most produce nothing)

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.