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July 4, 1998

LAD⇄CIN

CIN won this trade +$28.0M surplus LAD won this trade +0.6 WAR
LADLAD Tommy Lasorda net −$28.0M net +0.6
received −$1.6M−$1.6M ± $14M expected surplus · −$24.0M realized received 1.2 ± 2 expected · 2.3 realized WAR
Playoff odds: this deal moved LAD's 1998 odds 7% → 6% (-0.5 pts) — how trade timing is graded ↗
receives — most valuable first
Jeff ShawP·31y·R/R
−$1.4M−$1.4M± $14M exp surplusrealized −$24.0M 1.2± 2 exp WARrealized 2.3
Prior
no pedigree — league baseline → 0.21/yr
Evidence
recent form 1.2/yr over 2.6 seasons
Talent
0.88/yr blended
Horizon
1.5 control yr × 0.94 age decline
CINCIN Jim Bowden net +$28.0M net -0.6
received +$59.2M+$59.2M ± $72M expected surplus · +$4.0M realized received 12.0 ± 9 expected · 1.7 realized WAR
Playoff odds: this deal moved CIN's 1998 odds 8% → 8% (+0.7 pts) — how trade timing is graded ↗
receives — most valuable first
Paul Konerko1B·22y·R/R
+$47.4M+$47.4M± $35M exp surplusrealized −$2.4M 8.8± 4 exp WARrealized -0.3
Prior
Composite #2.0 pedigree (Baseball America #2 (1998)) → 1.78/yr
Evidence
recent form -3.9/yr over 0.0 season
Talent
1.60/yr blended
Horizon
5.5 control yrs
Dennys ReyesP·21y·R/L
+$11.4M+$11.4M± $63M exp surplusrealized +$6.4M 3.2± 8 exp WARrealized 2.0
Prior
Composite #91.0 pedigree (Baseball America #91 (1998)) → 0.40/yr
Evidence
recent form 1.0/yr over 0.5 season
Talent
0.57/yr blended
Horizon
5.5 control yrs

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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