RRosternomics
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Guardians CLE

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GM: Mark Shapiro

Overview

FORCED-SPEND ↘ cooling
expensive & losing · year 1 in this regime · payroll 1.05× league · TAB -9.3
-9.3TAB — talent above budget24th/30
-8.6WAB — realized wins (TAB + luck)21st/30
7.0depth — 2+ WAR regulars13th/30
-9.6dead WAR — sub-replacement drag26th/30
38%dead money %21st/30
0.457win %20th/30
25.5roster fWAR22nd/30
-26surplus $M (value vs cost)25th/30
$69Mpayroll $M12th/30

Roster

CFMilton Bradley 94GCoco Crisp 31GChris Magruder 20G
LFChris Magruder 45GBen Broussard 32GMatt Lawton III 23G
RFMatt Lawton III 85GKarim Garcia 49GChris Magruder 27G
SSOmar Vizquel 150GJohn McDonald 21G
2BRicky Gutierrez 93GJohn McDonald 64GBrandon Phillips 11G
3BTravis Fryman 113GBill Selby 33GGreg LaRocca 15G
1BJim Thome 128GLee Stevens 83GEarl Snyder 12G
STARTERSCC Sabathia 3.6WARDanys Baez 2.1WARRyan Drese 1.4WARDave Burba 0.2WARRicardo Rodriguez 0.1WAR
CEinar Díaz 100GEddie Pérez 42GJosh Bard 24G
DHEllis Burks 127GJim Thome 18GMatt Lawton III 3G
BULLPEN★ Bob Wickman 20svMark Wohlers 9hCarl Sadler Jr. 5hDavid Riske 4hDave Elder 3hTerry Mulholland 2hJerrod Riggan 0hChad Paronto 0h
CEinar Díaz 100 · Eddie Pérez 42 · Josh Bard 24
1BJim Thome 128 · Lee Stevens 83 · Earl Snyder 12
2BRicky Gutierrez 93 · John McDonald 64 · Brandon Phillips 11
3BTravis Fryman 113 · Bill Selby 33 · Greg LaRocca 15
SSOmar Vizquel 150 · John McDonald 21
LFChris Magruder 45 · Ben Broussard 32 · Matt Lawton III 23
CFMilton Bradley 94 · Coco Crisp 31 · Chris Magruder 20
RFMatt Lawton III 85 · Karim Garcia 49 · Chris Magruder 27
DHEllis Burks 127 · Jim Thome 18 · Matt Lawton III 3
SPCC Sabathia 3.6 · Danys Baez 2.1 · Ryan Drese 1.4 · Dave Burba 0.2 · Ricardo Rodriguez 0.1
BP★ Bob Wickman 20 · Mark Wohlers 9 · Carl Sadler Jr. 5 · David Riske 4 · Dave Elder 3 · Terry Mulholland 2 · Jerrod Riggan 0 · Chad Paronto 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.

2002 roster — value & surplus

PlayerAgeServiceGfWARSalary $MSurplus $M
Jim Thome 31 FA-elig 1477.3 8.0 +4.5
CC Sabathia 21 pre-arb 333.6 0.7 +5.5
Omar Vizquel 35 FA-elig 1513.3 4.5 +1.2
Ellis Burks 37 FA-elig 1383.1 6.7 -1.4
Chuck Finley↔ STL 39 FA-elig 182.3 4.5 -0.4
Bartolo Colon↔ WSN 29 arb 162.2 2.4 +1.3
Danys Baez 24 pre-arb 392.1 4.1 -0.5
Milton Bradley 24 pre-arb 981.9 0.2 +3.0
Ryan Drese 26 pre-arb 261.4 0.2 +2.2
Paul Shuey↔ LAD 31 FA-elig 391.1 1.9 -0.1
Karim Garcia↔ NYY 26 – 511.0 – –
Matt Lawton III 30 FA-elig 1140.9 5.2 -3.7
Ricardo Rincon↔ OAK 32 arb 460.7 1.0 +0.2
Bob Wickman 33 FA-elig 360.7 3.4 -2.3
John McDonald 27 arb 930.5 0.2 +0.6
Mark Wohlers 32 FA-elig 640.4 0.6 +0.1
Jason Davis 22 – 30.3 – –
Dave Elder 26 – 150.3 – –
Brian Tallet 24 – 20.3 – –
Brandon Phillips 21 – 110.2 – –
Dave Burba↔ TEX 35 FA-elig 120.2 0.7 -0.3
Terry Mulholland↔ LAD 39 FA-elig 160.2 1.4 -1.0
Chad Paronto 26 – 290.2 – –
Carl Sadler Jr. 25 – 240.2 – –
Cliff Lee 23 – 20.1 0.2 +0.0
Alex Herrera 25 – 50.1 – –
Coco Crisp 22 – 320.1 – –
Ricardo Rodriguez 24 – 70.1 – –
Jake Westbrook 24 pre-arb 110.1 0.2 -0.1
Josh Bard 24 – 240.1 – –
David Riske 25 arb 510.0 0.2 -0.2
Jason Beverlin↔ DET 28 – 40.0 – –
Victor Martinez 23 – 120.0 – –
Nerio Rodriguez↔ STL 31 – 10.0 – –
Jerrod Riggan 28 pre-arb 29-0.0 0.2 -0.2
Wil Cordero↔ WSN 30 FA-elig 6-0.0 0.3 -0.4
Bruce Aven 30 – 7-0.1 – –
Jason Phillips 28 – 8-0.1 – –
Greg LaRocca 29 – 21-0.1 – –
Chris Magruder 25 – 87-0.1 – –
Roy Smith 26 – 4-0.1 – –
Dave Maurer 27 – 2-0.1 – –
Charles Nagy 35 FA-elig 20-0.2 6.0 -6.3
Ben Broussard 25 – 39-0.2 – –
Chad Allen 27 – 5-0.2 – –
Todd Dunwoody 27 – 2-0.3 – –
Sean DePaula 28 – 5-0.3 – –
Heath Murray 29 – 9-0.3 – –
Eddie Pérez 34 FA-elig 42-0.3 0.5 -1.0
Jaret Wright 26 arb 8-0.3 4.3 -4.9
Brady Anderson 38 FA-elig 34-0.4 0.2 -0.9
Earl Snyder 26 – 18-0.4 – –
Bill Selby 32 – 65-0.4 – –
Russell Branyan↔ CIN 26 arb 50-0.5 0.1 -0.9
Lee Stevens↔ WSN 34 FA-elig 53-0.6 1.8 -2.9
Einar Díaz 29 FA-elig 102-0.9 1.1 -2.6
Travis Fryman 33 FA-elig 118-1.2 5.8 -7.8
Jolbert Cabrera↔ LAD 29 arb 38-1.3 0.2 -2.4
Ricky Gutierrez 32 FA-elig 94-1.3 2.2 -4.4

Key additions (new vs 2001)

PlayerfWAR
Matt Lawton III0.9
Mark Wohlers0.4
Jason Davis0.3
Dave Elder0.3
Brian Tallet0.3
Brandon Phillips0.2

Key subtractions (gone from 2001)

Player2001 fWAR
Roberto Alomar6.6
Juan Gonzalez4.3
Marty Cordova2.5
Steve Karsay1.5
Kenny Lofton1.5
Steve Woodard1.1

Current & Historical Payroll

2002 payroll
$69.1M

What the front office was committed to as of 2002, 2002–2008. 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 (21)

PlayerAgeSvc2002200320042005200620072008
Jim Thome3111.000$8.0MFREE AGENT
Ellis Burks3715.000$6.7M$7.2MFREE AGENT
Charles Nagy3512.000$6.0MFREE AGENT
Travis Fryman3312.000$5.8MFREE AGENT
Matt Lawton III307.000$5.2M$6.8M$7.2MFREE AGENT
Omar Vizquel3513.000$4.5M$5.5M$6.0MFREE AGENT
Chuck Finley3916.000$4.5MFREE AGENT
Bob Wickman3310.000$3.4MFREE AGENT$6.0M$2.8M$2.5M
Ricky Gutierrez329.000$2.2M$3.9MFREE AGENT
Paul Shuey318.000$1.9MFREE AGENT
Lee Stevens3412.000$1.8MFREE AGENT
Terry Mulholland3916.000$1.4M$500kFREE AGENT
Einar Díaz296.000$1.1MFREE AGENT
Dave Burba3512.000$686kFREE AGENT
Mark Wohlers3211.000$600kFREE AGENT
Eddie Pérez347.000$500kFREE AGENT
Wil Cordero3010.000$347kFREE AGENT
Brady Anderson3814.000$200kFREE AGENT
Karim Garcia267.000—$616kFREE AGENT
Nerio Rodriguez316.000—FREE AGENT
Bill Selby326.000—$325kFREE AGENT

Arbitration-eligible (13)

PlayerAgeSvc2002200320042005200620072008
Jaret Wright265.000$4.3MFREE AGENT
Bartolo Colon295.000$2.4MFREE AGENT
Ricardo Rincon325.000$972kFREE AGENT
David Riske253.000$228kARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Jolbert Cabrera294.000$211kARB 3FREE AGENT
John McDonald273.000$210kARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Russell Branyan264.000$94kARB 3FREE AGENT
Bruce Aven305.000—FREE AGENT
Todd Dunwoody275.000—FREE AGENT
Heath Murray295.000—FREE AGENT
Chad Allen273.000—ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Jason Phillips283.000—ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Sean DePaula283.000—ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT

Pre-arbitration (25)

PlayerAgeSvc2002200320042005200620072008
Danys Baez241.000$4.1MPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
CC Sabathia211.000$700kPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Milton Bradley242.000$221kARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Jerrod Riggan282.000$218kARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Jake Westbrook242.000$217kARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Ryan Drese261.000$206kPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Cliff Lee230.000$200kPre-ArbPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Dave Maurer272.000—ARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Dave Elder26–—
Chris Magruder251.000—Pre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Greg LaRocca29–—
Victor Martinez230.000—Pre-ArbPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Roy Smith26–—
Ricardo Rodriguez240.000—Pre-ArbPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Chad Paronto261.000—Pre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Ben Broussard250.000—Pre-ArbPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Alex Herrera25–—
Jason Beverlin28–—
Earl Snyder26–—
Josh Bard240.000—Pre-ArbPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Brandon Phillips210.000—Pre-ArbPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Carl Sadler Jr.250.000—Pre-ArbPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Coco Crisp220.000—Pre-ArbPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Jason Davis220.000—Pre-ArbPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Brian Tallet240.000—Pre-ArbPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT

Graphs

Every roster slot ranked best→worst by WAR. Bars = Guardians 2002; 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.