RFEric Davis 50 · Thomas Howard 45 · Willie McGee 43
DHEric Davis 2 · Shawon Dunston 2 · Thomas Howard 1
SPDarren Oliver 4.1 · Kent Bottenfield 2.2 · Jose Jimenez 2.0 · Rick Ankiel 0.9 · Garrett Stephenson 0.8
BP★ Ricky Bottalico 20 · Rick Croushore 14 · Manny Aybar 11 · Scott Radinsky 11 · Lance Painter 9 · Mike Mohler 6 · Heathcliff Slocumb 5 · Mike Busby 4
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.
1999 roster — value & surplus
Player
Age
Service
G
fWAR
Salary $M
Surplus $M
Mark McGwire
35
FA-elig
153
6.0
9.4
-1.8
Darren Oliver
28
FA-elig
35
4.1
3.5
+1.6
Ray Lankford
32
FA-elig
122
3.8
6.6
-1.8
Fernando Tatis
24
pre-arb
149
3.2
0.3
+3.8
J.D. Drew
23
pre-arb
104
2.5
1.8
+1.3
Kent Bottenfield
30
FA-elig
31
2.2
0.8
+1.9
Jose Jimenez
25
pre-arb
31
2.0
0.2
+2.3
Joe McEwing
26
pre-arb
152
1.7
0.2
+1.9
Edgar Renteria
22
arb
154
1.2
2.0
-0.5
Darren Bragg
29
arb
93
1.1
0.8
+0.6
Alberto Castillo
29
arb
93
1.1
0.2
+1.1
Lance Painter
31
FA-elig
56
0.9
0.8
+0.3
Rick Ankiel
19
pre-arb
9
0.9
0.2
+0.9
Garrett Stephenson
27
arb
18
0.8
0.2
+0.8
Rick Croushore
28
pre-arb
59
0.8
0.2
+0.8
Craig Paquette
30
FA-elig
48
0.8
0.3
+0.7
Heathcliff Slocumb↔ BAL
33
FA-elig
40
0.7
0.9
+0.0
Kent Mercker↔ BOS
31
FA-elig
26
0.5
2.1
-1.4
Mark Thompson
28
–
5
0.5
–
–
Eduardo Perez
29
–
21
0.5
–
–
Thomas Howard
34
FA-elig
98
0.4
0.3
+0.2
Mike Mohler
30
FA-elig
48
0.4
0.5
-0.0
Donovan Osborne
30
FA-elig
6
0.3
5.1
-4.7
Manny Aybar
27
pre-arb
67
0.3
0.2
+0.2
Marcus Jensen
26
–
16
0.2
–
–
Shawon Dunston↔ NYM
36
FA-elig
62
0.2
0.4
-0.1
Eric Davis
37
FA-elig
58
0.1
3.4
-3.3
Ricky Bottalico
29
arb
68
0.1
2.3
-2.2
Alan Benes
27
arb
2
0.0
0.6
-0.5
Curtis King
28
pre-arb
2
0.0
0.2
-0.2
Scott Radinsky
31
FA-elig
43
0.0
2.5
-2.5
Larry Luebbers
29
FA-elig
8
-0.0
0.2
-0.2
Luis Ordaz
23
pre-arb
10
-0.1
0.2
-0.3
Clint Sodowsky
26
–
3
-0.1
–
–
David Howard
32
FA-elig
52
-0.2
0.9
-1.2
Mike Busby
26
arb
15
-0.2
0.2
-0.5
Rick Heiserman
26
–
3
-0.3
–
–
Adam Kennedy
23
pre-arb
33
-0.3
0.2
-0.6
Juan Acevedo
29
arb
50
-0.5
0.5
-1.1
Placido Polanco
23
–
88
-0.7
–
–
Eli Marrero
25
pre-arb
114
-0.9
0.2
-1.3
Willie McGee
40
FA-elig
132
-2.6
1.0
-4.2
Key additions (new vs 1998)
Player
fWAR
Edgar Renteria
1.2
Darren Bragg
1.1
Alberto Castillo
1.1
Rick Ankiel
0.9
Garrett Stephenson
0.8
Craig Paquette
0.8
Key subtractions (gone from 1998)
Player
1998 fWAR
Brian Jordan
6.9
Todd Stottlemyre
3.1
Delino DeShields
2.1
Matt Morris
2.1
Ron Gant
1.9
Gary Gaetti
1.6
Current & Historical Payroll
1999 payroll
$49.5M
What the front office was committed to as of 1999, 1999–2005.
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 (18)
Player
Age
Svc
1999
2000
2001
2002
2003
2004
2005
Mark McGwire
35
13.000
$9.4M
$9.3M
$11.0M
FREE AGENT
Ray Lankford
32
9.000
$6.6M
$7.6M
$5.6M
FREE AGENT
$650k
Donovan Osborne
30
7.000
$5.1M
FREE AGENT
Darren Oliver
28
6.000
$3.5M
FREE AGENT
Eric Davis
37
15.000
$3.4M
$4.4M
FREE AGENT
Scott Radinsky
31
9.000
$2.5M
$2.5M
FREE AGENT
Kent Mercker
31
10.000
$2.1M
FREE AGENT
Willie McGee
40
17.000
$1.0M
FREE AGENT
David Howard
32
8.000
$950k
FREE AGENT
Heathcliff Slocumb
33
8.000
$880k
$1.1M
FREE AGENT
Kent Bottenfield
30
7.000
$850k
FREE AGENT
Lance Painter
31
6.000
$800k
FREE AGENT
$575k
Mike Mohler
30
6.000
$490k
$632k
FREE AGENT
Shawon Dunston
36
14.000
$364k
$600k
FREE AGENT
Thomas Howard
34
9.000
$325k
$650k
FREE AGENT
Craig Paquette
30
6.000
$300k
$595k
$1.5M
FREE AGENT
Larry Luebbers
29
6.000
$212k
FREE AGENT
Eduardo Perez
29
6.000
—
FREE AGENT
$450k
$500k
Arbitration-eligible (11)
Player
Age
Svc
1999
2000
2001
2002
2003
2004
2005
Ricky Bottalico
29
5.000
$2.3M
FREE AGENT
Edgar Renteria
22
3.000
$2.0M
ARB 2
ARB 3
FREE AGENT
Darren Bragg
29
5.000
$800k
FREE AGENT
Alan Benes
27
4.000
$550k
ARB 3
FREE AGENT
Juan Acevedo
29
4.000
$475k
ARB 3
FREE AGENT
Alberto Castillo
29
4.000
$225k
ARB 3
FREE AGENT
Mike Busby
26
3.000
$220k
ARB 2
ARB 3
FREE AGENT
Garrett Stephenson
27
3.000
$215k
ARB 2
ARB 3
FREE AGENT
Marcus Jensen
26
3.000
—
ARB 2
ARB 3
FREE AGENT
Clint Sodowsky
26
4.000
—
ARB 3
FREE AGENT
Mark Thompson
28
5.000
—
FREE AGENT
Pre-arbitration (13)
Player
Age
Svc
1999
2000
2001
2002
2003
2004
2005
J.D. Drew
23
1.000
$1.8M
Pre-Arb
ARB 1
ARB 2
ARB 3
FREE AGENT
Fernando Tatis
24
2.000
$270k
ARB 1
ARB 2
ARB 3
FREE AGENT
Manny Aybar
27
2.000
$210k
ARB 1
ARB 2
ARB 3
FREE AGENT
Curtis King
28
2.000
$210k
ARB 1
ARB 2
ARB 3
FREE AGENT
Eli Marrero
25
2.000
$210k
ARB 1
ARB 2
ARB 3
FREE AGENT
Luis Ordaz
23
2.000
$210k
ARB 1
ARB 2
ARB 3
FREE AGENT
Rick Croushore
28
1.000
$205k
Pre-Arb
ARB 1
ARB 2
ARB 3
FREE AGENT
Joe McEwing
26
1.000
$200k
Pre-Arb
ARB 1
ARB 2
ARB 3
FREE AGENT
Rick Ankiel
19
0.000
$200k
Pre-Arb
Pre-Arb
ARB 1
ARB 2
ARB 3
FREE AGENT
Jose Jimenez
25
1.000
$200k
Pre-Arb
ARB 1
ARB 2
ARB 3
FREE AGENT
Adam Kennedy
23
0.000
$200k
Pre-Arb
Pre-Arb
ARB 1
ARB 2
ARB 3
FREE AGENT
Placido Polanco
23
1.000
—
Pre-Arb
ARB 1
ARB 2
ARB 3
FREE AGENT
Rick Heiserman
26
–
—
Graphs
Cardinals's path through relative payroll × TAB, smoothed; markers grow and the arrow points toward the present. WINDOW cheap&winning · CONTEND expensive&winning · FORCED-SPEND dead zone · REBUILD cheap&losing. Compare franchises →
Every roster slot ranked best→worst by WAR. Bars = Cardinals 1999; 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.
What each regime is worth — every settled team-season since 1985