Rockies COL

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Overview

–TAB — talent above budget

–WAB — realized wins (TAB + luck)

–depth — 2+ WAR regulars

–dead WAR — sub-replacement drag

–dead money %

–win %

0.0roster fWAR

+0surplus $M (value vs cost)

$0Mpayroll $M

Roster

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.

1988 roster — value & surplus

Player	Age	Service	G	fWAR	Salary $M	Surplus $M

Key additions (new vs 1987)

Player	fWAR
—

Key subtractions (gone from 1987)

Player	1987 fWAR
—

Current & Historical Payroll

1988 payroll

$0.0M

What the front office was committed to as of 1988, 1988–1994. 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

No salary/service data on file for Rockies in 1988.

Graphs

Every roster slot ranked best→worst by WAR. Bars = Rockies 1988; 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

Regime	Seasons	Win %	Playoff %	Pennant %	WS %
WINDOW	286	52.1	30.4	4.9	1.0
CONTEND	306	56.8	63.7	19.3	10.1
FORCED-SPEND	256	47.9	9.4	1.6	1.6
REBUILD	324	43.3	1.2	0.3	0.3

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.

const FONT={family:"'Roboto Mono', monospace",size:12}; const ORBIT = [[1993, 0.399, -7.94], [1994, 0.744, -13.33], [1995, 1.078, -5.42], [1996, 1.066, -8.2], [1997, 1.123, -5.41], [1998, 1.191, -6.88], [1999, 1.16, -26.41], [2000, 1.07, -3.21], [2001, 1.086, 1.71], [2002, 0.84, -16.8], [2003, 0.943, -8.28], [2004, 0.766, -9.66], [2005, 0.558, -6.63], [2006, 0.581, 3.14], [2007, 0.697, 9.46], [2008, 0.812, -3.95], [2009, 0.875, 6.91], [2010, 0.939, 2.39], [2011, 0.973, -7.85], [2012, 0.774, -10.18], [2013, 0.747, -0.4], [2014, 0.878, -8.05], [2015, 0.823, -13.92], [2016, 0.729, 4.06], [2017, 0.82, 1.54], [2018, 1.051, -3.38], [2019, 1.181, -17.97], [2021, 0.688, -6.66], [2022, 0.887, -11.47], [2023, 1.025, -27.06], [2024, 0.852, -23.84], [2025, 0.734, -33.11], [2026, 0.564, -9.45]], TEAMCOL = '#5F259F'; function contrastColor(hex,dark){let r=parseInt(hex.slice(1,3),16)/255,g=parseInt(hex.slice(3,5),16)/255,b=parseInt(hex.slice(5,7),16)/255; const mx=Math.max(r,g,b),mn=Math.min(r,g,b);let h=0,s=0,l=(mx+mn)/2; if(mx!==mn){const d=mx-mn;s=l>0.5?d/(2-mx-mn):d/(mx+mn);h=mx===r?(g-b)/d+(g1)t-=1;if(t<1/6)return p+(q-p)*6*t;if(t<0.5)return q;if(t<2/3)return p+(q-p)*(2/3-t)*6;return p;} let R,G,B;if(s===0){R=G=B=L;}else{const q=L<0.5?L*(1+s):L+s-L*s,p=2*L-q;R=h2(p,q,h+1/3);G=h2(p,q,h);B=h2(p,q,h-1/3);} const x=v=>('0'+Math.round(v*255).toString(16)).slice(-2);return '#'+x(R)+x(G)+x(B);} const CURRENT_YEAR = 1988; function drawOrbit(){ const orbEl=document.getElementById('orbit'); if(!ORBIT || ORBIT.length<2){ orbEl.innerHTML='

Not enough history to chart.

'; return; } const f=+document.getElementById('yfrom').value, t=+document.getElementById('yto').value, w=+document.getElementById('win').value; document.getElementById('yflab').textContent=f; document.getElementById('ytlab').textContent=t; document.getElementById('winlab').textContent = w===1?'raw':(w+'-yr'); const dark=document.documentElement.getAttribute('data-theme')==='dark'; const ink=dark?'#cdd4dc':'#1d2630', grid=dark?'#2c313a':'#d6dbe2', refc=dark?'#5a636d':'#9aa3ad', dirc=dark?'#ffffff':'#1d2630'; const col=contrastColor(TEAMCOL,dark); function sm(a,w){const h=(w-1)/2,o=[];for(let i=0;id[0]>=f&&d[0]<=t); if(raw.length<2){ Plotly.purge('orbit'); orbEl.innerHTML='

Pick a wider year range.

'; return; } const s=sm(raw,w),n=s.length,X=s.map(d=>Math.round(d[1]*100)/100),Y=s.map(d=>Math.round(d[2]*10)/10),yr=s.map(d=>d[0]); let xa=Math.min(1,...X),xb=Math.max(1,...X),ya=Math.min(0,...Y),yb=Math.max(0,...Y); const px=(xb-xa)*.12+.04,py=(yb-ya)*.12+1.5;xa-=px;xb+=px;ya-=py;yb+=py; const k=Math.max(0,n-3), ann=[]; [['WINDOW','#15b6a0',xa<1&&yb>0,xa,yb,'left','top'],['CONTEND','#2f7ed8',xb>1&&yb>0,xb,yb,'right','top'], ['FORCED-SPEND','#ec5a3c',xb>1&&ya<0,xb,ya,'right','bottom'],['REBUILD','#f0a91c',xa<1&&ya<0,xa,ya,'left','bottom']].forEach(q=>{ if(q[2]) ann.push({x:q[3],y:q[4],xref:'x',yref:'y',text:q[0],showarrow:false,xanchor:q[5],yanchor:q[6],font:{size:10,color:q[1]},opacity:.85});}); ann.push({x:X[n-1],y:Y[n-1],ax:X[n-1]-0.5*(X[n-1]-X[k]),ay:Y[n-1]-0.5*(Y[n-1]-Y[k]),xref:'x',yref:'y',axref:'x',ayref:'y',showarrow:true,arrowhead:2,arrowsize:1.3,arrowwidth:1.7,arrowcolor:dirc,text:''}); Plotly.newPlot('orbit',[{x:X,y:Y,mode:'lines+markers',line:{color:col,width:2.6,shape:'spline',smoothing:0.7}, marker:{color:col,size:s.map((d,i)=>5+7*(i/Math.max(1,n-1))),line:{color:dark?'#1b1e23':'#fff',width:0.6}}, text:yr,hovertemplate:'%{text}
payroll %{x:.2f}× lg · TAB %{y:+.1f}
'+(w===1?'single season (raw)':w+'-yr smoothed avg')+''}], {margin:{l:50,r:14,t:10,b:40},paper_bgcolor:'rgba(0,0,0,0)',plot_bgcolor:'rgba(0,0,0,0)',font:FONT, xaxis:{title:{text:'relative payroll (× lg avg)',font:{size:11}},range:[xa,xb],gridcolor:grid,zeroline:false}, yaxis:{title:{text:'TAB (talent above budget)',font:{size:11}},range:[ya,yb],gridcolor:grid,zeroline:false}, shapes:[{type:'line',x0:1,x1:1,y0:ya,y1:yb,line:{color:refc,width:1,dash:'dot'}},{type:'line',x0:xa,x1:xb,y0:0,y1:0,line:{color:refc,width:1,dash:'dot'}}], annotations:ann},{displayModeBar:false,responsive:true}); } (function initOrbitSliders(){ const yf=document.getElementById('yfrom'), yt=document.getElementById('yto'); if(ORBIT && ORBIT.length>=2){ const yrs=ORBIT.map(d=>d[0]), y0=Math.min(...yrs), y1=Math.max(...yrs); yf.min=y0; yf.max=y1; yf.value=y0; yt.min=y0; yt.max=y1; yt.value=Math.max(y0, Math.min(CURRENT_YEAR, y1)); yf.addEventListener('input',()=>{ if(+yf.value>+yt.value) yt.value=yf.value; drawOrbit(); }); yt.addEventListener('input',()=>{ if(+yt.value<+yf.value) yf.value=yt.value; drawOrbit(); }); document.getElementById('win').addEventListener('input',drawOrbit); } // only paint on load if the orbit pane is the visible default (else it'd draw into a 0-width hidden box) const _op=document.querySelector('.gpane[data-g="orbit"]'); if(!_op || _op.style.display!=='none') drawOrbit(); })(); new MutationObserver(()=>{ const p=document.querySelector('.gpane[data-g="orbit"]'); if(!p || p.style.display!=='none') drawOrbit(); }).observe(document.documentElement,{attributes:true,attributeFilter:['data-theme']}); // ---- roster depth curve (WAR by roster slot vs league-average-by-slot) ---- const WARDIST = {"cats": ["\u2014", "\u2014", "\u2014", "\u2014", "\u2014", "\u2014", "\u2014", "\u2014", "\u2014", "\u2014", "\u2014", "\u2014", "\u2014", "\u2014", "\u2014", "\u2014", "\u2014", "\u2014", "\u2014", "\u2014", "\u2014", "\u2014", "\u2014", "\u2014", "\u2014", "\u2014", "\u2014", "\u2014", "\u2014", "\u2014", "\u2014", "\u2014", "\u2014", "\u2014", "\u2014", "\u2014", "\u2014", "\u2014", "\u2014", "\u2014"], "league": [5.44, 4.55, 3.92, 3.27, 2.79, 2.56, 2.28, 1.88, 1.68, 1.5, 1.23, 1.09, 0.96, 0.86, 0.75, 0.64, 0.53, 0.44, 0.34, 0.27, 0.22, 0.17, 0.12, 0.08, 0.03, 0.0, -0.02, -0.06, -0.09, -0.13, -0.17, -0.23, -0.24, -0.31, -0.38, -0.36, -0.4, -0.48, -0.6, -0.7], "names": ["(empty slot)", "(empty slot)", "(empty slot)", "(empty slot)", "(empty slot)", "(empty slot)", "(empty slot)", "(empty slot)", "(empty slot)", "(empty slot)", "(empty slot)", "(empty slot)", "(empty slot)", "(empty slot)", "(empty slot)", "(empty slot)", "(empty slot)", "(empty slot)", "(empty slot)", "(empty slot)", "(empty slot)", "(empty slot)", "(empty slot)", "(empty slot)", "(empty slot)", "(empty slot)", "(empty slot)", "(empty slot)", "(empty slot)", "(empty slot)", "(empty slot)", "(empty slot)", "(empty slot)", "(empty slot)", "(empty slot)", "(empty slot)", "(empty slot)", "(empty slot)", "(empty slot)", "(empty slot)"], "ranks": [1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39, 40], "team": [0.0, 0.0, 0.0, 0.0, 0.0, 0.0, 0.0, 0.0, 0.0, 0.0, 0.0, 0.0, 0.0, 0.0, 0.0, 0.0, 0.0, 0.0, 0.0, 0.0, 0.0, 0.0, 0.0, 0.0, 0.0, 0.0, 0.0, 0.0, 0.0, 0.0, 0.0, 0.0, 0.0, 0.0, 0.0, 0.0, 0.0, 0.0, 0.0, 0.0]}; let WD_MODE='raw', WC_MODE='team'; const POSCOL={SP:'#2f7ed8',RP:'#6fb1ec',IF:'#f0a91c',OF:'#15b6a0',C:'#ec5a3c'}; const POSLAB={SP:'Starting P',RP:'Bullpen',IF:'Infield',OF:'Outfield',C:'Catcher'}; function buildPosLegend(){ const el=document.getElementById('poslegend'); if(!el) return; el.style.display=WC_MODE==='pos'?'flex':'none'; el.innerHTML=['SP','RP','C','IF','OF'].map(k=>''+POSLAB[k]+'').join(''); } function drawWarDist(){ if(!WARDIST) return; const dark=document.documentElement.getAttribute('data-theme')==='dark'; const col=contrastColor(TEAMCOL,dark), line=dark?'#e8eef0':'#111', grid=dark?'#2c313a':'#d6dbe2', ink=dark?'#cdd4dc':'#1d2630'; let team=WARDIST.team.slice(), league=WARDIST.league.slice(); if(WD_MODE==='prop'){ const ts=team.reduce((a,b)=>a+Math.max(b,0),0)||1, ls=league.reduce((a,b)=>a+Math.max(b,0),0)||1; team=team.map(v=>v/ts); league=league.map(v=>v/ls); } const fmt=WD_MODE==='prop'?'.1%':'.1f'; const names=WARDIST.names||[], cats=WARDIST.cats||[]; const cd=WARDIST.ranks.map((_,i)=>[names[i]||'(empty slot)', WARDIST.team[i], POSLAB[cats[i]]||'']); const barcol=WC_MODE==='pos'?cats.map(c=>POSCOL[c]||'#9aa3ad'):col; const posbit=WC_MODE==='pos'?' · %{customdata[2]}':''; const htmpl=WD_MODE==='prop' ? '%{customdata[0]}'+posbit+'
slot %{x} · %{customdata[1]:.1f} WAR
%{y:.1%} of roster WAR' : '%{customdata[0]}'+posbit+'
slot %{x} · %{y:.1f} WAR'; buildPosLegend(); const _div=document.getElementById('wardist'); const traces=[ {type:'bar',x:WARDIST.ranks,y:team,name:'COL',marker:{color:barcol},customdata:cd,hovertemplate:htmpl}, {type:'scatter',x:WARDIST.ranks,y:league,name:'league avg',mode:'lines',line:{color:line,width:2,shape:'spline',smoothing:0.6},hovertemplate:'league slot %{x}: %{y:'+fmt+'}'} ]; const layout={margin:{l:48,r:12,t:6,b:38},paper_bgcolor:'rgba(0,0,0,0)',plot_bgcolor:'rgba(0,0,0,0)',font:FONT, transition:{duration:360,easing:'cubic-in-out'}, xaxis:{title:{text:'roster slot (ranked by WAR)',font:{size:11}},gridcolor:grid,zeroline:false,color:ink}, yaxis:{title:{text:WD_MODE==='prop'?'share of roster WAR':'WAR',font:{size:11}},gridcolor:grid,zeroline:true,zerolinecolor:grid,color:ink,tickformat:WD_MODE==='prop'?'.0%':undefined}, showlegend:true,legend:{orientation:'h',y:1.13,x:0,font:{size:11}},bargap:0.14}; if(_div.data&&_div.data.length){ Plotly.react(_div,traces,layout,{displayModeBar:false,responsive:true}); } else { Plotly.newPlot(_div,traces,layout,{displayModeBar:false,responsive:true}); } } window.wdMode=function(m){WD_MODE=m;document.getElementById('wd-raw').classList.toggle('on',m==='raw');document.getElementById('wd-prop').classList.toggle('on',m==='prop');drawWarDist();}; window.wcToggle=function(){WC_MODE=WC_MODE==='pos'?'team':'pos';const b=document.getElementById('wc-btn');b.classList.toggle('on',WC_MODE==='pos');b.textContent=WC_MODE==='pos'?'Show team color':'Color by position';drawWarDist();}; // ---- Graphs dropdown switcher (orbit ⇄ roster value distribution) ---- let _wdRendered=false; window.showTeamGraph=function(g){ document.querySelectorAll('.gpane').forEach(p=>{ p.style.display=(p.dataset.g===g)?'':'none'; }); if(g==='orbit'){ drawOrbit(); } else if(g==='roster'){ if(!_wdRendered){ drawWarDist(); _wdRendered=true; } else { try{ Plotly.Plots.resize('wardist'); }catch(e){ drawWarDist(); } } } }; { const _ts=document.getElementById('tgsel'); if(_ts) _ts.addEventListener('change',()=>showTeamGraph(_ts.value)); } // initial paint of the default pane (roster when the team has roster data, else orbit already drawn above) if(WARDIST){ drawWarDist(); _wdRendered=true; } // redraw the roster pane on theme change only if it's been rendered and is visible if(WARDIST){ new MutationObserver(()=>{ const p=document.querySelector('.gpane[data-g="roster"]'); if(_wdRendered && p && p.style.display!=='none') drawWarDist(); }).observe(document.documentElement,{attributes:true,attributeFilter:['data-theme']}); } // ---- TOC scroll-spy ---- (function(){ const links=[...document.querySelectorAll('.toc a')]; const secs=links.map(a=>document.querySelector(a.getAttribute('href'))).filter(Boolean); links.forEach(a=>a.addEventListener('click',e=>{e.preventDefault();document.querySelector(a.getAttribute('href')).scrollIntoView({behavior:'smooth'});})); if('IntersectionObserver' in window && secs.length){ const obs=new IntersectionObserver(es=>{es.forEach(e=>{if(e.isIntersecting) links.forEach(l=>l.classList.toggle('on',l.getAttribute('href')==='#'+e.target.id));});},{rootMargin:'-15% 0px -75% 0px'}); secs.forEach(s=>obs.observe(s)); } })(); // ---- sortable roster table ---- const SVC_RANK={'pre-arb':0,'arb':1,'FA-elig':2,'?':3}; function cellNum(td){const n=parseFloat(td.textContent.replace(/[^0-9.\-]/g,''));return isNaN(n)?null:n;} function scale(v,mn,mx,g){ if(g==='diverge'){ if(v>=0){const t=mx>0?v/mx:0;return `rgba(26,125,90,${(0.10+0.55*t).toFixed(2)})`;} const t=mn<0?v/mn:0;return `rgba(192,73,43,${(0.10+0.55*t).toFixed(2)})`; } if(g==='salmag'){const t=mx>mn?(v-mn)/(mx-mn):0;return `rgba(128,135,143,${(0.05+0.45*t).toFixed(2)})`;} const t=mx>mn?(v-mn)/(mx-mn):0;return `rgba(26,125,90,${(0.05+0.55*t).toFixed(2)})`; } function applyGradients(table){ [...table.tHead.rows[0].cells].forEach((th,ci)=>{ if(!th.dataset.grad) return; const rows=[...table.tBodies[0].rows], vals=rows.map(r=>cellNum(r.cells[ci])).filter(v=>v!==null); if(!vals.length) return; const mn=Math.min(...vals),mx=Math.max(...vals); rows.forEach(r=>{const v=cellNum(r.cells[ci]);if(v!==null)r.cells[ci].style.background=scale(v,mn,mx,th.dataset.grad);}); }); } function makeSortable(table){ const ths=[...table.tHead.rows[0].cells]; ths.forEach((th,ci)=>{ th.dataset.label=th.textContent.trim(); th.addEventListener('click',()=>{ th._dir=(th._dir===-1)?1:-1; const dir=th._dir, tb=table.tBodies[0], svc=th.dataset.sortType==='service'; [...tb.rows].sort((a,b)=>{ let va,vb; if(svc){va=SVC_RANK[a.cells[ci].textContent.trim()]??9;vb=SVC_RANK[b.cells[ci].textContent.trim()]??9;} else{va=cellNum(a.cells[ci]);vb=cellNum(b.cells[ci]); if(va===null||vb===null){va=a.cells[ci].textContent.trim().toLowerCase();vb=b.cells[ci].textContent.trim().toLowerCase();}} return vavb?dir:0; }).forEach(r=>tb.appendChild(r)); ths.forEach(h=>h.innerHTML=h.dataset.label); th.innerHTML=th.dataset.label+' '+(dir===1?'▲':'▼')+''; }); }); } document.querySelectorAll('table.sortable').forEach(t=>{applyGradients(t);makeSortable(t);});