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Pirates PIT

198557–104 (0.354)
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GM: Joe Brown

Overview

Ranks vs the 30 teams in 1985, or a custom range (defaults to every team-season since 1985, when our data starts).

to

Front Office

PoorAverageGreat
Value
Payroll $M
$10M
Surplus $M
-4
Win %
0.354
TAB
-10.2
WAB
-24.4
Roster composition
Roster fWAR
23.8
Dead money %
32%
Depth Players
3.0
Dead WAR
-5.1

Offense

PoorAverageGreat

Pitching & Defense

PoorAverageGreat

Roster

1985 depth chart — stacked by playing time

C

RTony Peña Sr.146
RJunior Ortiz23

1B

LJason Thompson114
LSid Bream⇄26
BLee Mazzilli19
RBill Madlock⇄12
RBill Almon7
RTony Peña Sr.1

2B

BJohnny Ray151
RJim Morrison15
RDenny Gonzalez6

3B

RJim Morrison59
RDenny Gonzalez21
RBill Almon7

SS

RSam Khalifa95
RBill Almon43
RJohnnie LeMaster⇄22
RTim Foli13
RRafael Belliard12
RJerry Dybzinski5

LF

LSteve Kemp63
LJoe Orsulak41
RBill Almon26
BR.J. Reynolds⇄25
RSixto Lezcano25
RDenny Gonzalez13
BLee Mazzilli3
RScott Loucks3
RJim Morrison1

CF

LMarvell Wynne100
LJoe Orsulak72
RBill Almon6
BR.J. Reynolds⇄6
BLee Mazzilli3
LTrench Davis2

RF

RMike Brown⇄57
LJoe Orsulak16
RSixto Lezcano16
RScott Loucks1

DH

—

Starters

RRick Reuschel5.5 WAR
RRick Rhoden3.0 WAR
RJose DeLeon1.5 WAR
RBob Walk1.1 WAR
RDon Robinson1.1 WAR
RLee Tunnell0.9 WAR
RJim Winn0.2 WAR
LBob Kipper⇄0.1 WAR
LLarry McWilliams0.0 WAR
RMike Bielecki-0.4 WAR

Bullpen

★ RCecilio Guante5 sv
LAl Holland⇄0 h
LJohn Candelaria⇄0 h
LRod Scurry⇄0 h
LPat Clements⇄0 h
RRay Krawczyk0 h
LBob Kipper⇄0 h
RKent Tekulve⇄0 h

Each position shows its top 3 by games (top = starter) — click "+more" for the rest. The letter is bats/throws; ⇄ marks a player traded mid-season. Starters are ranked by WAR, bullpen by holds; ★ marks the closer (most save chances). MLB Stats API.

Key additions (new vs 1984)

PlayerfWAR
Rick Reuschel5.5
Rick Rhoden3.0
Tony Peña Sr.2.5
Jose DeLeon1.5
Mike Brown1.5
Cecilio Guante1.4

Key subtractions (gone from 1984)

Player1984 fWAR
—

Contract Value

WAR translated into tier-adjusted market value, then compared with what the player was paid by Pirates. Guaranteed contracts from the 2015-present contract-data period use the known contract period through 1985; everyone else is shown as a 1985 season snapshot.

PlayerPeriodfWARTier Market $MPaid $MSurplus $M$ / WARTierContract
Rick Reuschel 1985 +5.5 +109.2 0.2 +109.0 $0.0M 2.50× –
Rick Rhoden 1985 +3.0 +46.5 0.6 +45.9 $0.2M 1.96× –
Jose DeLeon 1985 +1.5 +18.3 0.2 +18.2 $0.1M 1.49× –
Cecilio Guante 1985 +1.4 +14.7 0.1 +14.6 $0.1M 1.34× –
Tony Peña Sr. 1985 +2.5 +15.0 1.1 +13.9 $0.4M 0.76× –
Lee Tunnell 1985 +0.9 +7.6 0.1 +7.4 $0.1M 1.02× –
Bill Almon 1985 +1.2 +6.0 0.3 +5.7 $0.2M 0.61× –
Don Robinson 1985 +1.1 +6.1 0.5 +5.6 $0.5M 0.67× –
Al Holland↔ 1985 +0.9 +4.9 0.4 +4.5 $0.5M 0.67× –
Joe Orsulak 1985 +0.6 +4.1 0.1 +4.1 $0.1M 0.83× –
Lee Mazzilli 1985 +1.1 +4.7 0.6 +4.1 $0.6M 0.56× –
Bill Madlock↔ 1985 +0.9 +4.2 0.7 +3.4 $0.8M 0.56× –
Jason Thompson 1985 +0.9 +4.0 1.1 +2.9 $1.2M 0.56× –
Sixto Lezcano 1985 +0.4 +2.5 0.4 +2.1 $1.1M 0.83× –
Johnny Ray 1985 +0.6 +2.6 0.6 +2.0 $1.1M 0.56× –
John Candelaria↔ 1985 +0.4 +2.1 0.5 +1.6 $1.2M 0.67× –
Rod Scurry↔ 1985 +0.0 +0.1 0.3 -0.2 $14.6M 0.67× –
Larry McWilliams 1985 +0.0 +0.2 0.8 -0.6 $30.9M 1.02× –
Kent Tekulve↔ 1985 -0.1 -0.7 0.0 -0.8 – 0.67× –
Johnnie LeMaster↔ 1985 -0.2 -0.8 0.2 -1.0 – 0.61× –
Jim Morrison 1985 -0.2 -1.1 0.2 -1.3 – 0.58× –
George Hendrick↔ 1985 -1.1 -7.1 0.6 -7.7 – 0.83× –
Bob Kipper↔ 1985 +0.1 +0.7 – – – 1.02× –
Bob Walk 1985 +1.1 +8.7 – – – 1.02× –
Dave Tomlin 1985 -0.0 -0.1 – – – 0.67× –
Denny Gonzalez 1985 -0.3 -1.4 – – – 0.58× –
Doug Frobel↔ 1985 -0.7 -4.7 – – – 0.83× –
Jerry Dybzinski 1985 -0.1 -0.4 – – – 0.61× –
Jim Winn 1985 +0.2 +1.0 – – – 0.67× –
Junior Ortiz 1985 +0.3 +1.2 – – – 0.52× –
Marvell Wynne 1985 -1.8 -11.7 – – – 0.83× –
Mike Bielecki 1985 -0.4 -3.3 – – – 1.02× –
Mike Brown↔ 1985 +1.5 +9.7 – – – 0.83× –
Pat Clements↔ 1985 +0.1 +0.6 – – – 0.67× –
R.J. Reynolds↔ 1985 +1.2 +8.0 – – – 0.83× –
Rafael Belliard 1985 +0.1 +0.4 – – – 0.61× –
Ray Krawczyk 1985 -0.1 -0.4 – – – 0.67× –
Sam Khalifa 1985 +1.0 +5.0 – – – 0.61× –
Scott Loucks 1985 +0.0 +0.1 – – – 0.83× –
Sid Bream↔ 1985 +0.1 +0.5 – – – 0.56× –
Steve Kemp 1985 +0.3 +2.1 – – – 0.83× –
Tim Foli 1985 +0.0 +0.1 – – – 0.61× –
Trench Davis 1985 -0.2 -1.1 – – – 0.83× –
Total—+23.7+258.19.6+233.4—

Trades

Every graded 1985 deal involving the Pirates — best expected value first. Surplus is realized value in $M; 5 total.

1985 · PIT / ANA
PIT · Joe Brown +$30.4M
Pat Clements, Mike Brown, Bob Kipper
ANA · Mike Port −$30.4M
John Candelaria, Al Holland, George Hendrick
PIT came out ahead by $30.4M
1985 · PIT / LAD
PIT · Joe Brown +$93.6M
R. J. Reynolds, Cecil Espy, Sid Bream
LAD · Al Campanis −$93.6M
Bill Madlock
PIT came out ahead by $93.6M
1985 · PIT / PHI
PIT · Joe Brown +$4.8M
Mike Diaz
PHI · Bill Giles −$4.8M
Steve Herz
PIT came out ahead by $4.8M
1985 · PIT / PHI
PIT · Joe Brown +$24.8M
Al Holland, Frankie Griffin
PHI · Bill Giles −$24.8M
Kent Tekulve
PIT came out ahead by $24.8M
1985 · CLE / PIT
CLE · Phil Seghi +$12.0M
Scott Bailes
PIT · Joe Brown −$12.0M
Johnnie LeMaster
CLE came out ahead by $12.0M

Current & Historical Payroll

1985 payroll
$9.7M

What the front office was committed to as of 1985, 1985–1991. 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.

current $ guaranteed $ actual $ (hindsight) arbitration (proj) pre-arb (proj) free agent

Guaranteed / signed (17)

PlayerAgeSvc1985198619871988198919901991
Jason Thompson309.000$1.1MFREE AGENT
Larry McWilliams317.000$797k$1.1MFREE AGENT
Bill Madlock3412.000$745kFREE AGENT
Rick Rhoden3211.000$645k$620kFREE AGENT
Lee Mazzilli309.000$600k$366kFREE AGENT
George Hendrick3514.000$598kFREE AGENT
Don Robinson287.000$520k$670k$507kFREE AGENT
John Candelaria3110.000$453kFREE AGENT
Sixto Lezcano3111.000$425kFREE AGENT
Al Holland328.000$424kFREE AGENT
Bill Almon3211.000$255k$260k$180kFREE AGENT
Johnnie LeMaster3110.000$244kFREE AGENT
Jim Morrison328.000$232k$318k$234kFREE AGENT
Rick Reuschel3613.000$200k$700k$551kFREE AGENT
Kent Tekulve3811.000$41kFREE AGENT
Steve Kemp308.000—FREE AGENT
Dave Tomlin3613.000—FREE AGENT

Arbitration-eligible (8)

PlayerAgeSvc1985198619871988198919901991
Tony Peña Sr.285.000$1.1MFREE AGENT
Johnny Ray284.000$632kARB 3FREE AGENT
Rod Scurry295.000$300kFREE AGENT
Cecilio Guante253.000$150kARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Lee Tunnell243.000$130kARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Rafael Belliard233.000—ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Junior Ortiz253.000—ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Bob Walk285.000—FREE AGENT

Pre-arbitration (18)

PlayerAgeSvc1985198619871988198919901991
Jose DeLeon242.000$155kARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Joe Orsulak232.000$60kARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Mike Bielecki251.000—Pre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Sid Bream242.000—ARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Mike Brown25–—
Pat Clements230.000—Pre-ArbPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Trench Davis24–—
Jerry Dybzinski29–—
Tim Foli34–—
Doug Frobel26–—
Denny Gonzalez21–—
Sam Khalifa21–—
Bob Kipper200.000—Pre-ArbPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Ray Krawczyk251.000—Pre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Scott Loucks28–—
R.J. Reynolds262.000—ARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Jim Winn252.000—ARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Marvell Wynne252.000—ARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT

Graphs

How each 1985 acquisition stacked onto Pirates's playoff-odds curve. The side table is ranked by PPA.

Rosternomics — front-office performance, roster value, and transaction history. Follow @rosternomics on X.
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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