Rosternomics
← Trade Database
December 16, 1985

BALWSN

BAL won this trade +$1.6M surplus BAL won this trade +0.2 WAR
BALBAL Hank Peters net +$1.6M net +0.2
received +$0.8M+$0.8M ± $30M expected surplus · +$0.0M realized received 0.4 ± 4 expected · 0.0 realized WAR
receives — most valuable first
Steve BakerP·29y·R/R
+$0.6M+$0.6M± $30M exp surplusrealized +$0.0M 0.4± 4 exp WARrealized 0.0
Prior
no pedigree — league baseline → 0.21/yr
Evidence
no MLB track record — leans on pedigree
Talent
0.21/yr blended
Horizon
2.0 control yrs
WSNWSN Murray Cook net −$1.6M net -0.2
received −$0.8M−$0.8M ± $35M expected surplus · −$1.6M realized received 0.7 ± 4 expected · -0.2 realized WAR
receives — most valuable first
Nelson NormanSS·28y·B/R
−$0.8M−$0.8M± $35M exp surplusrealized −$1.6M 0.7± 4 exp WARrealized -0.2
Prior
no pedigree — league baseline → 0.21/yr
Evidence
no MLB track record — leans on pedigree
Talent
0.21/yr blended
Horizon
5.5 control yrs × 0.64 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.