RRosternomics
JC

James Click

Born Feb 14, 1978 · Durham, NC · age 48

A Tampa Bay-trained executive who served as Houston Astros general manager for the 2022 World Series title before an abrupt departure.

2 seasons with salary-era data across 1 stint. All figures are franchise-level outcomes during the tenure, not solely attributable to one executive.

Overview

Titles1
Pennants2
Playoffs2
Record201–123
Win %0.620
+5.3GM WAR — wins above a replacement GM (org-adjusted, shrunk; per season) ±7.18th/195 execs
10.5Depth — 2+ WAR regulars per season (the breadth that drives TAB, not stars)1st/195 execs
-2.9Dead WAR — WAR/yr bled by sub-replacement players (closer to 0 = better)6th/195 execs
15%Dead money — payroll on <0.5-WAR players (lower = better)2nd/195 execs
$60MCheap-talent surplus — $/yr of value from cost-controlled (pre-arb/arb) players above their pay; the selection engine, and the stickiest GM skill we track10th/195 execs
$17MDrafted surplus — cheap-talent surplus from his own draftees (the develop-from-the-draft engine)25th/195 execs
$13MTraded-for surplus — cheap-talent surplus from cost-controlled players he acquired via trade34th/195 execs
$31MInt'l surplus — cheap-talent surplus from his own international signees1st/195 execs
+32.9TAB — talent above budget — roster-construction alpha (talent your budget bought above expectation), tenure total28th/195 execs
+30.5WAB — realized wins (TAB + the non-repeatable luck of converting talent to wins)29th/195 execs
1.84Acquisition Leverage — playoff pts per acquired WAR, graded once in the year each deal's wins arrive (the repeatable decision skill)92nd/195 execs
+27Roster surplus $M23rd/195 execs

Tenure breakdown

TeamRoleYearsSzns WAB WAB/yr TAB WAR surp HG Trade FA R5 AcqLev W-L% POPenWS Surp $M
Astros GM 2021–2022 2 +30.5 +15.24 +32.9 +7.1 +34.6 -14.1 -20.9 +0.0 1.84 0.620 221 +27
Career total (1985+ data) 2 +30.5 +32.9 +7.1 +34.6 -14.1 -20.9 +0.0 1.84 0.620 22 1 +27

Roster Construction

How the roster was sourced

Share of acquired fWAR by channel vs. league average.

Build channels — net fWAR

Acquired minus surrendered / signed minus walked.

Home-grown (draft/intl)+34.6
Trade-14.1
Free agency-20.9
Rule 5 / minor draft+0.0
Sourcing mix: 76% draft · 22% FA · 2% trade · 0% R5

Roster value distribution — career average — depth vs. stars

Every roster slot ranked best→worst by WAR, averaged across James Click's seasons. Bars = his rosters; the black line = the league-average player at each slot. Staying above the line deep into the roster is the depth edge.

Players acquired — 25 players, by realized fWAR for the franchise (scroll for more)

PlayerPosTeam How Year Szns fWAR WAR/yr Lev
Jeremy Peña SS HOU Draft 2022 5 +16.3 +3.3
Hunter Brown P HOU Draft 2022 5 +10.5 +2.1
Yainer Diaz C HOU Draft 2022 4 +7.0 +1.7
Justin Verlander P HOU Free agency 2022 6 +6.7 +1.1 3.1
Mauricio Dubón 2B/OF HOU Trade 2022 4 +5.2 +1.3 0.0
Héctor Neris P HOU Free agency 2021 2 +2.5 +1.3 0.8
Ronel Blanco P HOU Draft 2022 2 +2.4 +1.2
Ryne Stanek P HOU Free agency 2021 3 +1.4 +0.5 1.3
Jake Odorizzi P HOU Free agency 2021 2 +1.1 +0.5 3.3
Rafael Montero P HOU Free agency 2022 4 +0.7 +0.2 0.4
Phil Maton P HOU Trade 2021 2 +0.5 +0.3 0.3
Jayden Murray P HOU Trade 2022 1 +0.3 +0.3
Will Smith P HOU Trade 2022 1 +0.3 +0.3 0.2
Yimi García P HOU Trade 2021 1 +0.3 +0.3 0.9
Kendall Graveman P HOU Trade 2021 1 +0.2 +0.2 0.8
Christian Vázquez C HOU Trade 2022 1 +0.1 +0.1 0.1
Pedro Báez P HOU Free agency 2021 1 -0.0 -0.0 0.0
Joe Perez 3B HOU Draft 2022 -0.0
Jacob Wilson 2B/3B HOU Trade 2021 1 +0.0 +0.0 0.1
J. J. Matijevic 1B/DH HOU Draft 2022 -0.2
Parker Mushinski P HOU Draft 2022 1 -0.3 -0.3
Niko Goodrum 2B/SS HOU Free agency 2022 -0.4
Korey Lee C HOU Draft 2022 -0.4
David Hensley DH/OF HOU Draft 2022 1 -0.5 -0.5
José Abreu 1B HOU Free agency 2022 -2.0

WAB = wins above what the team's payroll predicted (resource-controlled). WAR surplus = era-neutral value (WAR minus payroll in win-equivalents). Roster surplus $M = dollar value of WAR over cost. Build channels (realized fWAR): HG = home-grown via amateur draft / international signing; Trade = acquired minus surrendered (incl. purchases/waivers); FA = signed minus walked; R5 = Rule-5 / minor-league-draft pickups. Credit follows the acquisition year — home-grown to the regime at the player's draft/signing (not whoever was in the chair when he peaked), trade/FA/R5 to the GM who made the move. Players acquired as prospects before debuting (e.g. Smoltz, Bagwell; Rule-5 picks like Uggla) are counted as trade/R5, not home-grown. All are franchise-level outcomes during the stint, not solely attributable to one executive.

Graphs

drag to zoom · double-click to reset