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July 31, 1997

CIN⇄CLE

CIN won this trade +$25.6M surplus CIN won this trade +4.2 WAR
CINCIN Jim Bowden net +$25.6M net +4.2
received +$15.2M+$15.2M ± $53M expected surplus · +$3.2M realized received 6.4 ± 7 expected · 3.8 realized WAR
Playoff odds: this deal moved CIN's 1997 odds 2% → 1% (-0.1 pts) — how trade timing is graded ↗
receives — most valuable first
Danny GravesP·23y·R/R
+$7.0M+$7.0M± $28M exp surplusrealized +$8.0M 2.1± 4 exp WARrealized 3.8
Prior
Composite #86.0 pedigree (Baseball America #86 (1996)) — fell off 1 list since, regressed → 0.23/yr
Evidence
recent form 0.9/yr over 0.5 season
Talent
0.42/yr blended
Horizon
5.0 control yrs
Damian Jackson2B/SS·23y·R/R
+$4.8M+$4.8M± $26M exp surplusrealized +$0.8M 1.9± 3 exp WARrealized 0.5
Prior
#1147 overall draft pick — at the league baseline → 0.21/yr
Evidence
recent form 5.2/yr over 0.0 season
Talent
0.35/yr blended
Horizon
5.5 control yrs
Jim CrowellP·23y·L/L
+$1.8M+$1.8M± $26M exp surplusrealized −$1.6M 1.2± 3 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
Scott WinchesterP·24y·R/R
+$1.8M+$1.8M± $26M exp surplusrealized −$4.0M 1.2± 3 exp WARrealized -0.3
Prior
#390 overall draft pick — at the league baseline → 0.21/yr
Evidence
no MLB track record — leans on pedigree
Talent
0.21/yr blended
Horizon
5.5 control yrs
CLECLE John Hart net −$25.6M net -4.2
received +$53.6M+$52.8M ± $24M expected surplus · −$22.4M realized received 5.3 ± 3 expected · -0.4 realized WAR
Playoff odds: this deal moved CLE's 1997 odds 58% → 60% (+2 pts) — how trade timing is graded ↗
receives — most valuable first
John SmileyP·32y·L/L
+$51.0M+$50.2M± $22M exp surplusrealized −$16.0M 4.3± 3 exp WARrealized -0.0
Prior
no pedigree — league baseline → 0.21/yr
Evidence
recent form 4.2/yr over 2.6 seasons
Talent
2.96/yr blended
Horizon
1.5 control yr × 0.98 age decline
Jeff Branson2B/3B/SS·30y·L/R
+$2.6M+$2.6M± $9M exp surplusrealized −$6.4M 1.0± 1 exp WARrealized -0.4
Prior
league baseline (track record outweighs draft pedigree) → 0.21/yr
Evidence
recent form 0.8/yr over 1.9 season
Talent
0.56/yr blended
Horizon
2.0 control yrs × 0.91 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.

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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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