RRosternomics
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Cubs CHC

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GM: Jim Hendry

Overview

CONTEND ↗ rising
expensive & winning · year 2 in this regime · payroll 1.41× league · TAB +9.1
+9.1TAB — talent above budget5th/30
+2.6WAB — realized wins (TAB + luck)15th/30
12.0depth — 2+ WAR regulars1st/30
-3.5dead WAR — sub-replacement drag3rd/30
11%dead money %5th/30
0.549win %11th/30
47.6roster fWAR2nd/30
-15surplus $M (value vs cost)20th/30
$94Mpayroll $M5th/30

Roster

CFCorey Patterson 157GTom Goodwin 8GJose Macias 7G
LFMoises Alou 154GTom Goodwin 14GJose Macias 8G
RFSammy Sosa 124GBen Grieve 68GTodd Hollandsworth 32G
SSNomar Garciaparra 79GNeifi Perez 76GRamon Martinez 73G
2BTodd Walker 89GMark Grudzielanek 76GNeifi Perez 41G
3BAramis Ramirez 144GRamon Martinez 24GJose Macias 18G
1BDerrek Lee 161GTodd Walker 5GTodd Hollandsworth 3G
STARTERSCarlos Zambrano 5.2WARKerry Wood 3.0WARGlendon Rusch 2.9WARMatt Clement 2.9WARMark Prior 2.9WAR
CMichael Barrett 130GPaul Bako 47GMike DiFelice 16G
DHTodd Hollandsworth 3GSammy Sosa 2GMoises Alou 1G
BULLPEN★ LaTroy Hawkins 25svKyle Farnsworth 18hKent Mercker 16hMike Remlinger 13hJon Leicester 5hRyan Dempster 3hMichael Wuertz 1hJoe Borowski 0h
CMichael Barrett 130 · Paul Bako 47 · Mike DiFelice 16
1BDerrek Lee 161 · Todd Walker 5 · Todd Hollandsworth 3
2BTodd Walker 89 · Mark Grudzielanek 76 · Neifi Perez 41
3BAramis Ramirez 144 · Ramon Martinez 24 · Jose Macias 18
SSNomar Garciaparra 79 · Neifi Perez 76 · Ramon Martinez 73
LFMoises Alou 154 · Tom Goodwin 14 · Jose Macias 8
CFCorey Patterson 157 · Tom Goodwin 8 · Jose Macias 7
RFSammy Sosa 124 · Ben Grieve 68 · Todd Hollandsworth 32
DHTodd Hollandsworth 3 · Sammy Sosa 2 · Moises Alou 1
SPCarlos Zambrano 5.2 · Kerry Wood 3.0 · Glendon Rusch 2.9 · Matt Clement 2.9 · Mark Prior 2.9
BP★ LaTroy Hawkins 25 · Kyle Farnsworth 18 · Kent Mercker 16 · Mike Remlinger 13 · Jon Leicester 5 · Ryan Dempster 3 · Michael Wuertz 1 · Joe Borowski 0

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.

2004 roster — value & surplus

PlayerAgeServiceGfWARSalary $MSurplus $M
Moises Alou 37 FA-elig 1555.9 9.5 +0.6
Carlos Zambrano 23 arb 315.2 0.5 +8.5
Corey Patterson 24 arb 1575.0 0.5 +8.1
Aramis Ramirez 26 FA-elig 1453.7 6.0 +0.4
Kerry Wood 27 FA-elig 223.0 8.0 -2.9
Glendon Rusch 29 – 332.9 – –
Matt Clement 29 FA-elig 302.9 6.0 -1.0
Mark Prior 23 pre-arb 212.9 3.1 +1.8
Derrek Lee 28 FA-elig 1612.8 6.2 -1.3
Greg Maddux 38 FA-elig 342.5 6.0 -1.7
Sammy Sosa 35 FA-elig 1262.3 16.0 -12.0
Michael Barrett 27 FA-elig 1342.3 1.6 +2.3
Todd Walker 31 FA-elig 1291.7 1.8 +1.1
LaTroy Hawkins 31 FA-elig 771.4 3.0 -0.6
Nomar Garciaparra↔ BOS 30 FA-elig 431.1 6.1 -4.2
Mark Grudzielanek 34 FA-elig 811.0 2.5 -0.8
Todd Hollandsworth 31 FA-elig 570.9 1.0 +0.6
Neifi Perez↔ SFG 31 FA-elig 230.7 0.5 +0.7
Mike Remlinger 38 FA-elig 480.6 4.0 -2.9
Kent Mercker 36 FA-elig 710.6 1.2 -0.2
Sergio Mitre 23 pre-arb 130.4 0.3 +0.4
Kyle Farnsworth 28 arb 720.3 1.4 -0.8
Todd Wellemeyer 25 pre-arb 200.3 0.3 +0.1
Ryan Dempster 27 FA-elig 230.2 0.3 -0.0
Ben Grieve↔ MIL 28 FA-elig 150.1 0.1 +0.2
Jose Macias 32 arb 980.1 0.8 -0.5
Calvin Murray 32 – 110.1 – –
Michael Wuertz 25 pre-arb 310.0 0.3 -0.2
Jimmy Anderson↔ BOS 28 – 70.0 – –
Jason Dubois 25 – 20-0.0 – –
Jon Leicester 25 – 32-0.0 – –
David Kelton 24 – 8-0.1 – –
Mike DiFelice↔ DET 35 – 4-0.1 – –
Paul Bako 32 FA-elig 49-0.1 0.9 -1.0
Brendan Harris↔ WSN 23 – 3-0.1 – –
Joe Borowski 33 FA-elig 22-0.2 2.0 -2.3
Andy Pratt 24 pre-arb 4-0.2 0.3 -0.7
Damian Jackson↔ KCR 30 – 7-0.3 – –
Francis Beltran↔ WSN 24 – 34-0.3 – –
Ramon Martinez 31 FA-elig 102-0.4 0.9 -1.6
Tom Goodwin 35 FA-elig 77-0.5 0.7 -1.5
Alex Gonzalez↔ SDP 31 FA-elig 37-0.5 2.6 -3.4
Rey Ordonez 33 – 23-0.7 – –

Key additions (new vs 2003)

PlayerfWAR
Glendon Rusch2.9
Derrek Lee2.8
Greg Maddux2.5
Michael Barrett2.3
Todd Walker1.7
LaTroy Hawkins1.4

Key subtractions (gone from 2003)

Player2003 fWAR
Kenny Lofton2.1
Hee-Seop Choi1.0
Damian Miller0.9
Juan Cruz0.9
Shawn Estes0.8
Dave Veres0.4

Current & Historical Payroll

2004 payroll
$94.1M

What the front office was committed to as of 2004, 2004–2010. 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 (27)

PlayerAgeSvc2004200520062007200820092010
Sammy Sosa3515.000$16.0MFREE AGENT
Moises Alou3714.000$9.5MFREE AGENT
Kerry Wood276.000$8.0M$9.5M$12.0M$1.8M$4.2MFREE AGENT
Derrek Lee287.000$6.2M$7.7M$9.4M$13.2M$13.2M$13.2M$9.8M
Nomar Garciaparra308.000$6.1M$8.2MFREE AGENT
Greg Maddux3818.000$6.0M$9.0M$5.8MFREE AGENT
Aramis Ramirez266.000$6.0M$8.9M$10.8M$9.0M$15.0M$16.6M$16.8M
Matt Clement296.000$6.0MFREE AGENT
Mike Remlinger3813.000$4.0M$3.4MFREE AGENT
LaTroy Hawkins319.000$3.0M$3.1MFREE AGENT
Alex Gonzalez3110.000$2.6MFREE AGENT
Mark Grudzielanek349.000$2.5MFREE AGENT
Joe Borowski339.000$2.0M$1.7MFREE AGENT
Todd Walker318.000$1.8M$2.5M$1.7MFREE AGENT
Michael Barrett276.000$1.6M$3.1M$4.3M$2.6MFREE AGENT
Kent Mercker3615.000$1.2MFREE AGENT
Todd Hollandsworth319.000$1.0M$735kFREE AGENT
Ramon Martinez316.000$900kFREE AGENT
Paul Bako326.000$865kFREE AGENT
Tom Goodwin3513.000$650kFREE AGENT
Neifi Perez318.000$502k$1.0M$2.0MFREE AGENT
Ryan Dempster276.000$300k$2.0M$4.3M$5.3M$7.3M$9.0M$13.5M
Ben Grieve287.000$85kFREE AGENT
Mike DiFelice358.000—FREE AGENT
Damian Jackson308.000—FREE AGENT
Rey Ordonez338.000—FREE AGENT
Glendon Rusch297.000—$2.0M$2.8MFREE AGENT

Arbitration-eligible (6)

PlayerAgeSvc2004200520062007200820092010
Kyle Farnsworth285.000$1.4MFREE AGENT
Jose Macias325.000$750kFREE AGENT
Corey Patterson244.000$480kARB 3FREE AGENT
Carlos Zambrano233.000$450kARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Jimmy Anderson285.000—FREE AGENT
Calvin Murray325.000—FREE AGENT

Pre-arbitration (10)

PlayerAgeSvc2004200520062007200820092010
Mark Prior232.000$3.1MARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Todd Wellemeyer251.000$310kPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Sergio Mitre231.000$305kPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Andy Pratt242.000$300kARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Michael Wuertz250.000$300kPre-ArbPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
David Kelton24–—
Francis Beltran24–—
Jon Leicester250.000—Pre-ArbPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Jason Dubois250.000—Pre-ArbPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Brendan Harris230.000—Pre-ArbPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT

Graphs

Every roster slot ranked best→worst by WAR. Bars = Cubs 2004; 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

RegimeSeasonsWin %Playoff %Pennant %WS %
WINDOW 28152.131.05.01.1
CONTEND 30056.964.719.710.3
FORCED-SPEND 25648.09.81.61.6
REBUILD 32143.31.20.30.3
Rosternomics — quantifying front-office skill, attribution-clean. Follow @rosternomics on X. Decision-makers on record back to 1933; resource-controlled metrics (WAR & payroll) cover 1985–2026.
Data: FanGraphs (WAR), Baseball-Reference & the Chadwick Bureau register (rosters, IDs), the Lahman Database, Baseball America prospect rankings (via The Baseball Cube), 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); bios are original. Emoji graphics by OpenMoji (CC BY-SA 4.0).
All figures are franchise-level outcomes credited to the decision-maker in the acquisition year — not solely attributable to one executive.