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January 8, 1987

SFG⇄CIN

SFG won this trade +$4.8M surplus SFG won this trade +0.1 WAR
SFGSFG Al Rosen net +$4.8M net +0.1
received +$18.4M+$18.4M ± $37M expected surplus · −$1.6M realized received 3.2 ± 5 expected · 0.8 realized WAR
Playoff odds: this deal moved SFG's 1987 odds 56% → 54% (-2.2 pts) — how trade timing is graded ↗
receives — most valuable first
Eddie MilnerOF·32y·L/L
+$18.6M+$18.6M± $37M exp surplusrealized −$1.6M 3.2± 5 exp WARrealized 0.8
Prior
no pedigree — league baseline → 0.21/yr
Evidence
recent form 1.9/yr over 1.6 season
Talent
1.19/yr blended
Horizon
3.3 control yrs × 0.81 age decline
CINCIN Bill Bergesch net −$4.8M net -0.1
received +$2.4M+$2.4M ± $30M expected surplus · −$6.4M realized received 1.3 ± 4 expected · 0.7 realized WAR
Playoff odds: this deal moved CIN's 1987 odds 20% → 21% (+1.5 pts) — how trade timing is graded ↗
receives — most valuable first
Frank WilliamsP·29y·R/R
+$1.8M+$1.8M± $20M exp surplusrealized −$6.4M 0.9± 2 exp WARrealized 0.7
Prior
no pedigree — league baseline → 0.21/yr
Evidence
recent form 0.4/yr over 1.6 season
Talent
0.33/yr blended
Horizon
4.0 control yrs × 0.68 age decline
Timber Mead
+$0.3M+$0.3M± $15M exp surplusrealized +$0.0M 0.2± 2 exp WARrealized 0.0
Unidentified minor-league throw-in — valued at the ~0.2 WAR base rate (most produce nothing)
Mike Villa
+$0.3M+$0.3M± $15M exp surplusrealized +$0.0M 0.2± 2 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.

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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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