GM: Ed Lynch
1998: made playoffs · 90–73. Ranks are vs the 30 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sammy Sosa | 29 | FA-elig | 159 | 7.1 | 8.3 | -0.7 |
| Kerry Wood | 21 | pre-arb | 26 | 4.4 | 0.2 | +4.5 |
| Mickey Morandini | 32 | FA-elig | 154 | 4.0 | 2.0 | +2.3 |
| Mark Clark | 30 | FA-elig | 33 | 3.6 | 5.0 | -1.1 |
| Mark Grace | 34 | FA-elig | 158 | 3.3 | 4.2 | -0.7 |
| Steve Trachsel | 27 | arb | 33 | 2.7 | 3.0 | -0.1 |
| Kevin Tapani | 34 | FA-elig | 35 | 2.3 | 4.0 | -1.6 |
| José Hernández | 28 | FA-elig | 149 | 2.2 | 0.7 | +1.7 |
| Brant Brown | 27 | pre-arb | 124 | 1.8 | 0.2 | +1.7 |
| Terry Mulholland | 35 | FA-elig | 70 | 1.7 | 0.6 | +1.3 |
| Gary Gaetti↔ STL | 39 | FA-elig | 37 | 1.5 | 0.3 | +1.4 |
| Glenallen Hill↔ SEA | 33 | FA-elig | 48 | 1.4 | 0.1 | +1.4 |
| Geremi Gonzalez | 23 | pre-arb | 21 | 1.1 | 0.2 | +1.0 |
| Rod Beck | 29 | FA-elig | 81 | 1.1 | 3.6 | -2.4 |
| Henry Rodriguez | 30 | FA-elig | 128 | 1.0 | 2.7 | -1.6 |
| Terry Adams | 25 | arb | 63 | 0.5 | 0.3 | +0.2 |
| Sandy Martinez | 27 | arb | 45 | 0.4 | 0.2 | +0.2 |
| Felix Heredia↔ MIA | 23 | pre-arb | 30 | 0.4 | 0.1 | +0.3 |
| Tyler Houston | 27 | pre-arb | 95 | 0.3 | 0.2 | +0.1 |
| Lance Johnson | 34 | FA-elig | 85 | 0.3 | 4.9 | -4.6 |
| Jason Maxwell | 26 | – | 7 | 0.1 | – | – |
| Kurt Miller | 25 | – | 3 | 0.1 | – | – |
| Orlando Merced↔ BOS | 31 | FA-elig | 12 | 0.1 | 0.1 | -0.0 |
| Justin Speier↔ MIA | 24 | pre-arb | 1 | 0.0 | 0.0 | +0.0 |
| Ben Van Ryn↔ SDP | 26 | pre-arb | 9 | 0.0 | 0.1 | -0.1 |
| Bob Patterson | 39 | FA-elig | 33 | 0.0 | 0.9 | -0.9 |
| Tony Fossas↔ SEA | 40 | FA-elig | 8 | -0.0 | 0.1 | -0.1 |
| Rodney Myers | 29 | – | 12 | -0.0 | – | – |
| Pedro Valdes | 25 | pre-arb | 14 | -0.0 | 0.2 | -0.2 |
| Jose Nieves | 23 | – | 2 | -0.0 | – | – |
| Kevin Foster | 29 | arb | 3 | -0.1 | 1.4 | -1.5 |
| Derrick White↔ COL | 28 | – | 11 | -0.1 | – | – |
| Jason Hardtke | 26 | – | 18 | -0.1 | – | – |
| Kennie Steenstra | 27 | – | 4 | -0.1 | – | – |
| Scott Servais | 31 | FA-elig | 113 | -0.1 | 1.6 | -1.8 |
| Dave Stevens | 28 | arb | 31 | -0.1 | 0.2 | -0.4 |
| Chris Haney↔ KCR | 29 | FA-elig | 5 | -0.1 | 0.2 | -0.4 |
| Don Wengert↔ SDP | 28 | arb | 23 | -0.2 | 0.2 | -0.3 |
| Matt Mieske | 30 | arb | 77 | -0.2 | 0.6 | -0.7 |
| Marc Pisciotta | 27 | pre-arb | 43 | -0.3 | 0.2 | -0.5 |
| Amaury Telemaco↔ ARI | 24 | pre-arb | 14 | -0.3 | 0.1 | -0.4 |
| Terrell Lowery | 27 | – | 24 | -0.3 | – | – |
| Jeff Blauser | 32 | FA-elig | 119 | -0.3 | 4.0 | -4.3 |
| Mike Morgan↔ MIN | 38 | FA-elig | 5 | -0.4 | 0.3 | -0.7 |
| Matt Karchner↔ CHW | 31 | arb | 29 | -0.6 | 0.1 | -0.8 |
| Kevin Orie↔ MIA | 25 | pre-arb | 64 | -0.6 | 0.1 | -0.8 |
| Manny Alexander | 27 | FA-elig | 108 | -0.9 | 0.4 | -1.4 |
| Player | fWAR |
|---|---|
| Kerry Wood | 4.4 |
| Mickey Morandini | 4.0 |
| Gary Gaetti | 1.5 |
| Glenallen Hill | 1.4 |
| Rod Beck | 1.1 |
| Henry Rodriguez | 1.0 |
| Player | 1997 fWAR |
|---|---|
| Brian McRae | 2.3 |
| Doug Glanville | 1.5 |
| Frank Castillo | 1.1 |
| Ryne Sandberg | 0.7 |
| Dave Hansen | 0.5 |
| Dave Clark | 0.5 |
What the front office was committed to as of 1998, 1998–2004. 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 | 1998 | 1999 | 2000 | 2001 | 2002 | 2003 | 2004 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sammy Sosa | 29 | 9.000 | $8.3M | $9.0M | $11.0M | $12.5M | $15.0M | $16.0M | $16.0M |
| Mark Clark | 30 | 7.000 | $5.0M | FREE AGENT | |||||
| Lance Johnson | 34 | 11.000 | $4.9M | $5.1M | FREE AGENT | ||||
| Mark Grace | 34 | 10.000 | $4.2M | $4.1M | $5.3M | FREE AGENT | |||
| Kevin Tapani | 34 | 9.000 | $4.0M | $3.5M | $6.0M | $6.5M | FREE AGENT | ||
| Jeff Blauser | 32 | 11.000 | $4.0M | $4.2M | FREE AGENT | ||||
| Rod Beck | 29 | 7.000 | $3.6M | $4.0M | FREE AGENT | ||||
| Henry Rodriguez | 30 | 6.000 | $2.7M | $3.7M | $3.1M | FREE AGENT | |||
| Mickey Morandini | 32 | 8.000 | $2.0M | $2.0M | FREE AGENT | ||||
| Scott Servais | 31 | 7.000 | $1.6M | FREE AGENT | |||||
| Bob Patterson | 39 | 13.000 | $900k | FREE AGENT | |||||
| José Hernández | 28 | 7.000 | $725k | $1.6M | FREE AGENT | $460k | |||
| Terry Mulholland | 35 | 12.000 | $600k | $1.8M | FREE AGENT | ||||
| Manny Alexander | 27 | 6.000 | $425k | $475k | FREE AGENT | ||||
| Gary Gaetti | 39 | 17.000 | $289k | $2.0M | FREE AGENT | ||||
| Mike Morgan | 38 | 20.000 | $283k | FREE AGENT | |||||
| Chris Haney | 29 | 7.000 | $237k | FREE AGENT | |||||
| Glenallen Hill | 33 | 9.000 | $128k | $1.1M | $923k | FREE AGENT | |||
| Tony Fossas | 40 | 10.000 | $127k | FREE AGENT | |||||
| Orlando Merced | 31 | 8.000 | $114k | FREE AGENT |
| Player | Age | Svc | 1998 | 1999 | 2000 | 2001 | 2002 | 2003 | 2004 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Steve Trachsel | 27 | 5.000 | $3.0M | FREE AGENT | |||||
| Kevin Foster | 29 | 5.000 | $1.4M | FREE AGENT | |||||
| Matt Mieske | 30 | 5.000 | $550k | FREE AGENT | |||||
| Terry Adams | 25 | 3.000 | $295k | ARB 2 | ARB 3 | FREE AGENT | |||
| Dave Stevens | 28 | 4.000 | $225k | ARB 3 | FREE AGENT | ||||
| Sandy Martinez | 27 | 3.000 | $174k | ARB 2 | ARB 3 | FREE AGENT | |||
| Don Wengert | 28 | 3.000 | $167k | ARB 2 | ARB 3 | FREE AGENT | |||
| Matt Karchner | 31 | 3.000 | $143k | ARB 2 | ARB 3 | FREE AGENT | |||
| Kurt Miller | 25 | 4.000 | — | ARB 3 | FREE AGENT | ||||
| Derrick White | 28 | 5.000 | — | FREE AGENT |
| Player | Age | Svc | 1998 | 1999 | 2000 | 2001 | 2002 | 2003 | 2004 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tyler Houston | 27 | 2.000 | $225k | ARB 1 | ARB 2 | ARB 3 | FREE AGENT | ||
| Geremi Gonzalez | 23 | 1.000 | $210k | Pre-Arb | ARB 1 | ARB 2 | ARB 3 | FREE AGENT | |
| Brant Brown | 27 | 2.000 | $180k | ARB 1 | ARB 2 | ARB 3 | FREE AGENT | ||
| Marc Pisciotta | 27 | 1.000 | $180k | Pre-Arb | ARB 1 | ARB 2 | ARB 3 | FREE AGENT | |
| Kerry Wood | 21 | 0.000 | $170k | Pre-Arb | Pre-Arb | ARB 1 | ARB 2 | ARB 3 | FREE AGENT |
| Pedro Valdes | 25 | 2.000 | $170k | ARB 1 | ARB 2 | ARB 3 | FREE AGENT | ||
| Kevin Orie | 25 | 1.000 | $137k | Pre-Arb | ARB 1 | ARB 2 | ARB 3 | FREE AGENT | |
| Felix Heredia | 23 | 2.000 | $95k | ARB 1 | ARB 2 | ARB 3 | FREE AGENT | ||
| Ben Van Ryn | 26 | 2.000 | $61k | ARB 1 | ARB 2 | ARB 3 | FREE AGENT | ||
| Amaury Telemaco | 24 | 2.000 | $59k | ARB 1 | ARB 2 | ARB 3 | FREE AGENT | ||
| Justin Speier | 24 | 0.000 | $9k | Pre-Arb | Pre-Arb | ARB 1 | ARB 2 | ARB 3 | FREE AGENT |
| Jason Hardtke | 26 | – | — | ||||||
| Terrell Lowery | 27 | 1.000 | — | Pre-Arb | ARB 1 | ARB 2 | ARB 3 | FREE AGENT | |
| Rodney Myers | 29 | 2.000 | — | ARB 1 | ARB 2 | ARB 3 | FREE AGENT | ||
| Kennie Steenstra | 27 | – | — | ||||||
| Jose Nieves | 23 | 0.000 | — | Pre-Arb | Pre-Arb | ARB 1 | ARB 2 | ARB 3 | FREE AGENT |
| Jason Maxwell | 26 | 0.000 | — | Pre-Arb | Pre-Arb | ARB 1 | ARB 2 | ARB 3 | FREE AGENT |
Every roster slot ranked best→worst by WAR. Bars = Cubs 1998; 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.
'; return; } const f=+document.getElementById('yfrom').value, t=+document.getElementById('yto').value, w=+document.getElementById('win').value; document.getElementById('yflab').textContent=f; document.getElementById('ytlab').textContent=t; document.getElementById('winlab').textContent = w===1?'raw':(w+'-yr'); const dark=document.documentElement.getAttribute('data-theme')==='dark'; const ink=dark?'#cdd4dc':'#1d2630', grid=dark?'#2c313a':'#d6dbe2', refc=dark?'#5a636d':'#9aa3ad', dirc=dark?'#ffffff':'#1d2630'; const col=contrastColor(TEAMCOL,dark); function sm(a,w){const h=(w-1)/2,o=[];for(let i=0;iPick a wider year range.
'; return; } const s=sm(raw,w),n=s.length,X=s.map(d=>Math.round(d[1]*100)/100),Y=s.map(d=>Math.round(d[2]*10)/10),yr=s.map(d=>d[0]); let xa=Math.min(1,...X),xb=Math.max(1,...X),ya=Math.min(0,...Y),yb=Math.max(0,...Y); const px=(xb-xa)*.12+.04,py=(yb-ya)*.12+1.5;xa-=px;xb+=px;ya-=py;yb+=py; const k=Math.max(0,n-3), ann=[]; [['WINDOW','#15b6a0',xa<1&&yb>0,xa,yb,'left','top'],['CONTEND','#2f7ed8',xb>1&&yb>0,xb,yb,'right','top'], ['FORCED-SPEND','#ec5a3c',xb>1&&ya<0,xb,ya,'right','bottom'],['REBUILD','#f0a91c',xa<1&&ya<0,xa,ya,'left','bottom']].forEach(q=>{ if(q[2]) ann.push({x:q[3],y:q[4],xref:'x',yref:'y',text:q[0],showarrow:false,xanchor:q[5],yanchor:q[6],font:{size:10,color:q[1]},opacity:.85});}); ann.push({x:X[n-1],y:Y[n-1],ax:X[n-1]-0.5*(X[n-1]-X[k]),ay:Y[n-1]-0.5*(Y[n-1]-Y[k]),xref:'x',yref:'y',axref:'x',ayref:'y',showarrow:true,arrowhead:2,arrowsize:1.3,arrowwidth:1.7,arrowcolor:dirc,text:''}); Plotly.newPlot('orbit',[{x:X,y:Y,mode:'lines+markers',line:{color:col,width:2.6,shape:'spline',smoothing:0.7}, marker:{color:col,size:s.map((d,i)=>5+7*(i/Math.max(1,n-1))),line:{color:dark?'#1b1e23':'#fff',width:0.6}}, text:yr,hovertemplate:'%{text}