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March 26, 1988

NYM⇄PIT

PIT won this trade +$1.6M surplus NYM won this trade +2.4 WAR
NYMNYM Frank Cashen net −$1.6M net +2.4
received −$0.8M−$0.8M ± $53M expected surplus · −$0.8M realized received 1.6 ± 7 expected · 2.7 realized WAR
Playoff odds: this deal moved NYM's 1988 odds 96% → 96% (-0.1 pts) — how trade timing is graded ↗
receives — most valuable first
Tim DrummondP·23y·R/R
+$3.8M+$3.8M± $28M exp surplusrealized +$0.0M 1.6± 4 exp WARrealized 0.0
Prior
no pedigree — league baseline → 0.21/yr
Evidence
recent form 0.7/yr over 0.2 season
Talent
0.29/yr blended
Horizon
5.5 control yrs
Mackey SasserC·25y·L/R
−$4.5M−$4.5M± $45M exp surplusrealized −$0.8M 0.0± 6 exp WARrealized 2.7
Prior
no pedigree — league baseline → 0.21/yr
Evidence
recent form -2.4/yr over 0.1 season
Talent
0.01/yr blended
Horizon
5.5 control yrs
PITPIT Larry Doughty net +$1.6M net -2.4
received +$1.6M+$1.6M ± $32M expected surplus · +$0.8M realized received 1.3 ± 4 expected · 0.3 realized WAR
Playoff odds: this deal moved PIT's 1988 odds 27% → 28% (+0.4 pts) — how trade timing is graded ↗
receives — most valuable first
Randy Milligan1B·26y·R/R
+$1.3M+$1.3M± $29M exp surplusrealized +$0.8M 1.1± 4 exp WARrealized 0.3
Prior
no pedigree — league baseline → 0.21/yr
Evidence
recent form 0.6/yr over 0.0 season
Talent
0.22/yr blended
Horizon
5.5 control yrs × 0.96 age decline
Scott Henion
+$0.3M+$0.3M± $14M 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.

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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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