Rosternomics
← Trade Database
December 1, 1986

WSNCIN

CIN won this trade +$0.8M surplus WSN won this trade +0.0 WAR
WSNWSN Murray Cook net −$0.8M net +0.0
received +$0.0M+$0.0M ± $46M expected surplus · −$0.8M realized received 0.8 ± 6 expected · 0.0 realized WAR
receives — most valuable first
Mike SmithP·26y·R/R
−$0.3M−$0.3M± $46M exp surplusrealized −$0.8M 0.8± 6 exp WARrealized -0.0
Prior
no pedigree — league baseline → 0.21/yr
Evidence
recent form -0.4/yr over 0.1 season
Talent
0.16/yr blended
Horizon
5.5 control yrs × 0.92 age decline
CINCIN Bill Bergesch net +$0.8M net +0.0
received +$0.0M+$0.0M ± $15M expected surplus · +$0.0M realized received 0.2 ± 2 expected · 0.0 realized WAR
receives — most valuable first
Bill Cutshall
+$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.