GM: Pat Gillick
1996: made playoffs · 88–74. Ranks are vs the 28 teams that season.
Each position lists its starter then backups by games (so platoons & bench show). Starters (mound) & bullpen (left, foul territory) are ranked by WAR; ★ marks the closer (most save chances). MLB Stats API.
| Player | Age | Service | G | fWAR | Salary $M | Surplus $M |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Brady Anderson | 32 | FA-elig | 149 | 6.9 | 3.6 | +2.2 |
| Mike Mussina | 27 | arb | 36 | 5.3 | 4.0 | +0.5 |
| Roberto Alomar | 28 | FA-elig | 153 | 5.2 | 4.3 | +0.1 |
| Rafael Palmeiro | 31 | FA-elig | 162 | 4.5 | 5.4 | -1.6 |
| Cal Ripken Jr. | 35 | FA-elig | 163 | 3.8 | 6.7 | -3.4 |
| Scott Erickson | 28 | FA-elig | 34 | 3.6 | 2.9 | +0.2 |
| David Wells | 33 | FA-elig | 34 | 3.4 | 3.2 | -0.3 |
| B.J. Surhoff | 31 | FA-elig | 143 | 3.0 | 1.4 | +1.1 |
| Chris Hoiles | 31 | FA-elig | 127 | 2.5 | 3.4 | -1.3 |
| Randy Myers | 33 | FA-elig | 62 | 1.3 | 2.6 | -1.5 |
| Bobby Bonilla | 33 | FA-elig | 159 | 1.0 | 5.1 | -4.2 |
| Arthur Rhodes | 26 | arb | 28 | 1.0 | 0.3 | +0.5 |
| Jesse Orosco | 39 | FA-elig | 66 | 0.8 | 0.8 | -0.1 |
| Rocky Coppinger | 22 | pre-arb | 23 | 0.7 | 0.1 | +0.5 |
| Mark Smith | 26 | pre-arb | 27 | 0.5 | 0.1 | +0.3 |
| Todd Zeile↔ PHI | 30 | FA-elig | 29 | 0.4 | 0.5 | -0.2 |
| Armando Benitez | 23 | pre-arb | 18 | 0.3 | 0.2 | +0.1 |
| Rick Krivda | 26 | – | 22 | 0.3 | – | – |
| Mike Milchin↔ MIN | 28 | pre-arb | 13 | 0.2 | 0.0 | +0.2 |
| Brent Bowers | 25 | – | 21 | 0.2 | – | – |
| Pete Incaviglia↔ PHI | 32 | FA-elig | 12 | 0.2 | 0.1 | +0.1 |
| Nerio Rodriguez | 25 | – | 8 | 0.2 | – | – |
| Terry Mathews↔ MIA | 31 | arb | 14 | 0.0 | 0.1 | -0.0 |
| Billy Ripken | 31 | FA-elig | 57 | 0.0 | 0.2 | -0.2 |
| Archie Corbin | 28 | arb | 18 | -0.0 | 0.1 | -0.1 |
| Jimmy Haynes | 23 | pre-arb | 26 | -0.0 | 0.1 | -0.1 |
| Mark Parent↔ DET | 34 | FA-elig | 18 | -0.0 | 0.2 | -0.2 |
| Garrett Stephenson | 24 | – | 3 | -0.1 | – | – |
| Eddie Murray↔ CLE | 40 | FA-elig | 64 | -0.1 | 0.8 | -0.9 |
| Brian Sackinsky | 25 | – | 3 | -0.1 | – | – |
| Roger McDowell | 35 | FA-elig | 41 | -0.1 | 0.8 | -0.8 |
| Jeff Huson | 31 | FA-elig | 17 | -0.1 | 0.3 | -0.4 |
| Esteban Yan | 21 | – | 4 | -0.1 | – | – |
| Cesar Devarez | 26 | – | 10 | -0.2 | – | – |
| Jimmy Myers | 27 | – | 11 | -0.2 | – | – |
| Gregg Zaun↔ MIA | 25 | pre-arb | 50 | -0.2 | 0.1 | -0.3 |
| Jeffrey Hammonds | 25 | arb | 71 | -0.3 | 0.3 | -0.6 |
| Alan Mills | 29 | FA-elig | 49 | -0.3 | 0.6 | -0.9 |
| Keith Shepherd | 28 | – | 13 | -0.5 | – | – |
| Kent Mercker↔ CLE | 28 | FA-elig | 14 | -0.5 | 1.6 | -2.0 |
| Mike Devereaux | 33 | FA-elig | 127 | -0.7 | 0.9 | -1.5 |
| Tony Tarasco | 25 | arb | 31 | -0.7 | 0.2 | -0.9 |
| Manny Alexander | 25 | arb | 54 | -1.3 | 0.2 | -1.3 |
| Luis Polonia↔ ATL | 32 | FA-elig | 58 | -1.5 | 0.2 | -1.4 |
| Player | fWAR |
|---|---|
| Roberto Alomar | 5.2 |
| David Wells | 3.4 |
| B.J. Surhoff | 3.0 |
| Randy Myers | 1.3 |
| Rocky Coppinger | 0.7 |
| Todd Zeile | 0.4 |
| Player | 1995 fWAR |
|---|---|
| Kevin Brown | 4.5 |
| Harold Baines | 2.4 |
| Jamie Moyer | 1.2 |
| Bret Barberie | 1.1 |
| Leo Gomez | 1.0 |
| Ben McDonald | 1.0 |
What the front office was committed to as of 1996, 1996–2002. Pre-2015 has no contract-terms data — forward italic $ are realized actuals (hindsight, not commitments known then). Control labels (ARB/FA) are point-in-time.
| Player | Age | Svc | 1996 | 1997 | 1998 | 1999 | 2000 | 2001 | 2002 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cal Ripken Jr. | 35 | 15.000 | $6.7M | $6.8M | $6.4M | $6.5M | $6.3M | $6.3M | FREE AGENT |
| Rafael Palmeiro | 31 | 10.000 | $5.4M | $5.3M | $6.5M | FREE AGENT | |||
| Bobby Bonilla | 33 | 10.000 | $5.1M | FREE AGENT | |||||
| Roberto Alomar | 28 | 8.000 | $4.3M | $6.4M | $6.3M | FREE AGENT | |||
| Brady Anderson | 32 | 8.000 | $3.6M | $4.0M | $5.4M | $5.7M | $7.1M | $7.2M | FREE AGENT |
| Chris Hoiles | 31 | 7.000 | $3.4M | $3.6M | $3.6M | FREE AGENT | |||
| David Wells | 33 | 9.000 | $3.2M | FREE AGENT | |||||
| Scott Erickson | 28 | 6.000 | $2.9M | $3.3M | $3.7M | $6.1M | $6.6M | FREE AGENT | $5.1M |
| Randy Myers | 33 | 11.000 | $2.6M | $4.0M | FREE AGENT | ||||
| Kent Mercker | 28 | 7.000 | $1.6M | FREE AGENT | |||||
| B.J. Surhoff | 31 | 9.000 | $1.4M | $1.6M | $1.7M | $3.7M | $2.9M | FREE AGENT | |
| Mike Devereaux | 33 | 9.000 | $900k | FREE AGENT | |||||
| Eddie Murray | 40 | 19.000 | $842k | FREE AGENT | |||||
| Jesse Orosco | 39 | 17.000 | $750k | $1.1M | $1.1M | $800k | FREE AGENT | ||
| Roger McDowell | 35 | 11.000 | $750k | FREE AGENT | |||||
| Alan Mills | 29 | 6.000 | $600k | $850k | $1.0M | FREE AGENT | $1.3M | $3.0M | |
| Todd Zeile | 30 | 7.000 | $480k | FREE AGENT | |||||
| Jeff Huson | 31 | 8.000 | $320k | FREE AGENT | |||||
| Billy Ripken | 31 | 9.000 | $250k | FREE AGENT | |||||
| Luis Polonia | 32 | 9.000 | $181k | FREE AGENT | |||||
| Mark Parent | 34 | 10.000 | $161k | FREE AGENT | |||||
| Pete Incaviglia | 32 | 10.000 | $59k | $589k | FREE AGENT |
| Player | Age | Svc | 1996 | 1997 | 1998 | 1999 | 2000 | 2001 | 2002 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mike Mussina | 27 | 5.000 | $4.0M | FREE AGENT | |||||
| Jeffrey Hammonds | 25 | 3.000 | $300k | ARB 2 | ARB 3 | FREE AGENT | |||
| Arthur Rhodes | 26 | 5.000 | $300k | FREE AGENT | |||||
| Tony Tarasco | 25 | 3.000 | $230k | ARB 2 | ARB 3 | FREE AGENT | |||
| Manny Alexander | 25 | 4.000 | $190k | ARB 3 | FREE AGENT | ||||
| Archie Corbin | 28 | 5.000 | $109k | FREE AGENT | |||||
| Terry Mathews | 31 | 5.000 | $58k | FREE AGENT |
| Player | Age | Svc | 1996 | 1997 | 1998 | 1999 | 2000 | 2001 | 2002 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Armando Benitez | 23 | 2.000 | $155k | ARB 1 | ARB 2 | ARB 3 | FREE AGENT | ||
| Mark Smith | 26 | 2.000 | $130k | ARB 1 | ARB 2 | ARB 3 | FREE AGENT | ||
| Gregg Zaun | 25 | 1.000 | $117k | Pre-Arb | ARB 1 | ARB 2 | ARB 3 | FREE AGENT | |
| Jimmy Haynes | 23 | 1.000 | $115k | Pre-Arb | ARB 1 | ARB 2 | ARB 3 | FREE AGENT | |
| Rocky Coppinger | 22 | 0.000 | $109k | Pre-Arb | Pre-Arb | ARB 1 | ARB 2 | ARB 3 | FREE AGENT |
| Mike Milchin | 28 | 0.000 | $36k | Pre-Arb | Pre-Arb | ARB 1 | ARB 2 | ARB 3 | FREE AGENT |
| Brent Bowers | 25 | – | — | ||||||
| Cesar Devarez | 26 | – | — | ||||||
| Rick Krivda | 26 | 1.000 | — | Pre-Arb | ARB 1 | ARB 2 | ARB 3 | FREE AGENT | |
| Jimmy Myers | 27 | – | — | ||||||
| Nerio Rodriguez | 25 | 0.000 | — | Pre-Arb | Pre-Arb | ARB 1 | ARB 2 | ARB 3 | FREE AGENT |
| Brian Sackinsky | 25 | – | — | ||||||
| Keith Shepherd | 28 | – | — | ||||||
| Garrett Stephenson | 24 | 0.000 | — | Pre-Arb | Pre-Arb | ARB 1 | ARB 2 | ARB 3 | FREE AGENT |
| Esteban Yan | 21 | 0.000 | — | Pre-Arb | Pre-Arb | ARB 1 | ARB 2 | ARB 3 | FREE AGENT |
Every roster slot ranked best→worst by WAR. Bars = Orioles 1996; the black line = the league-average player at each slot that season. Staying above the line deep into the roster is the depth edge; dropping below it = holes & dead weight.
| Regime | Seasons | Win % | Playoff % | Pennant % | WS % |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| WINDOW | 289 | 52.2 | 30.1 | 4.8 | 1.0 |
| CONTEND | 311 | 56.8 | 63.0 | 19.3 | 10.3 |
| FORCED-SPEND | 260 | 47.9 | 8.8 | 1.2 | 1.2 |
| REBUILD | 328 | 43.3 | 1.2 | 0.3 | 0.3 |
Not enough history to chart.
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