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August 23, 1998

SDP⇄NYY

SDP won this trade +$0.8M surplus SDP won this trade +0.0 WAR
SDPSDP Kevin Towers net +$0.8M net +0.0
received +$11.2M+$11.2M ± $36M expected surplus · +$0.0M realized received 4.0 ± 4 expected · 0.0 realized WAR
receives — most valuable first
Shea MorenzRF·24y·L/R
+$9.3M+$9.3M± $26M exp surplusrealized +$0.0M 2.7± 3 exp WARrealized 0.0
Prior
#27 overall draft pick → 0.45/yr
Evidence
no MLB track record — leans on pedigree
Talent
0.45/yr blended
Horizon
6.0 control yrs
Ray RickenP·24y·R/R
+$2.3M+$2.3M± $26M exp surplusrealized +$0.0M 1.3± 3 exp WARrealized 0.0
Prior
#143 overall draft pick — at the league baseline → 0.21/yr
Evidence
no MLB track record — leans on pedigree
Talent
0.21/yr blended
Horizon
6.0 control yrs
NYYNYY Bob Watson net −$0.8M net +0.0
received −$1.6M−$1.6M ± $10M expected surplus · −$0.8M realized received 0.3 ± 1 expected · 0.0 realized WAR
receives — most valuable first
Brad Kaufman
+$0.3M+$0.3M± $5M exp surplusrealized +$0.0M 0.2± 1 exp WARrealized 0.0
Unidentified minor-league throw-in — valued at the ~0.2 WAR base rate (most produce nothing)
Jim BruskeP·33y·R/R
−$1.7M−$1.7M± $8M exp surplusrealized −$0.8M 0.1± 1 exp WARrealized -0.0
Prior
no pedigree — league baseline → 0.21/yr
Evidence
recent form -0.1/yr over 1.3 season
Talent
0.07/yr blended
Horizon
2.8 control yrs × 0.36 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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