RRosternomics
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Rockies COL

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GM: Daniel O'Dowd

Overview

REBUILD ↘ cooling
cheap & losing · year 1 in this regime · payroll 0.84× league · TAB -16.8
-16.8TAB — talent above budget29th/30
-6.7WAB — realized wins (TAB + luck)20th/30
3.0depth — 2+ WAR regulars27th/30
-10.2dead WAR — sub-replacement drag27th/30
30%dead money %14th/30
0.451win %21st/30
15.3roster fWAR26th/30
-24surplus $M (value vs cost)24th/30
$55Mpayroll $M17th/30

Roster

CFJuan Pierre 149GJay Payton 98GGabe Kapler 24G
LFGabe Kapler 46GJay Payton 32GJack Cust 18G
RFLarry Walker 123GGabe Kapler 41GJay Payton 2G
SSJuan Uribe 155GBrent Butler 13GJason Romano 5G
2BBrent Butler 72GTerry Shumpert 60GJose Ortiz 53G
3BTodd Zeile 139GBrent Butler 33GGreg Norton 22G
1BTodd Helton 156GGreg Norton 15GRoss Gload 4G
STARTERSJason Jennings 2.8WARDenny Neagle 1.8WARMike Hampton 1.3WARAaron Cook 0.2WARShawn Chacon -0.3WAR
CGary Bennett 90GSandy Alomar Jr. 88GBobby Estalella 38G
DHLarry Walker 7GBenny Agbayani 1GGreg Norton 1G
BULLPEN★ Jose Jimenez 41svTodd Jones 29hJustin Speier 18hSean Lowe 10hKent Mercker 9hRandy Flores 2hChris Nichting 1hBrian Fuentes 0h
CGary Bennett 90 · Sandy Alomar Jr. 88 · Bobby Estalella 38
1BTodd Helton 156 · Greg Norton 15 · Ross Gload 4
2BBrent Butler 72 · Terry Shumpert 60 · Jose Ortiz 53
3BTodd Zeile 139 · Brent Butler 33 · Greg Norton 22
SSJuan Uribe 155 · Brent Butler 13 · Jason Romano 5
LFGabe Kapler 46 · Jay Payton 32 · Jack Cust 18
CFJuan Pierre 149 · Jay Payton 98 · Gabe Kapler 24
RFLarry Walker 123 · Gabe Kapler 41 · Jay Payton 2
DHLarry Walker 7 · Benny Agbayani 1 · Greg Norton 1
SPJason Jennings 2.8 · Denny Neagle 1.8 · Mike Hampton 1.3 · Aaron Cook 0.2 · Shawn Chacon -0.3
BP★ Jose Jimenez 41 · Todd Jones 29 · Justin Speier 18 · Sean Lowe 10 · Kent Mercker 9 · Randy Flores 2 · Chris Nichting 1 · Brian Fuentes 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
Todd Helton 28 arb 1565.5 5.0 +4.4
Larry Walker 35 FA-elig 1365.4 12.7 -3.4
Jason Jennings 23 pre-arb 322.8 0.2 +4.6
Juan Pierre 24 pre-arb 1521.8 0.6 +2.5
Denny Neagle 33 FA-elig 351.8 7.0 -3.9
John Thomson↔ NYM 28 arb 211.7 0.8 +2.1
Jay Payton↔ NYM 29 arb 471.4 0.1 +2.3
Mike Hampton 29 FA-elig 361.3 9.5 -7.3
Jose Jimenez 28 arb 741.1 1.9 +0.0
Todd Jones 34 FA-elig 790.8 1.0 +0.4
Justin Speier 28 arb 630.5 0.3 +0.5
Dennys Reyes↔ TEX 25 arb 430.4 0.7 +0.1
Brian Fuentes 26 – 310.2 – –
Mark Little↔ ARI 29 arb 610.2 0.2 +0.1
Chris Nichting 36 – 290.2 – –
Rick White↔ STL 33 FA-elig 410.2 0.7 -0.4
Aaron Cook 23 – 90.2 – –
Bobby Estalella 27 – 380.1 – –
Todd Hollandsworth↔ TEX 29 FA-elig 950.1 1.9 -1.8
Victor Santos 25 – 240.0 – –
Ross Gload 26 – 260.0 – –
Mike James 34 FA-elig 13-0.0 0.5 -0.5
Sean Lowe↔ PIT 31 arb 8-0.0 0.1 -0.2
Jason Romano↔ TEX 23 – 18-0.1 – –
Gabe Kapler↔ TEX 26 arb 40-0.1 0.7 -0.9
Sandy Alomar Jr.↔ CHW 36 FA-elig 38-0.2 1.1 -1.4
Walt McKeel 30 – 5-0.2 – –
Cory Vance 23 – 2-0.2 – –
Jose Ortiz 25 pre-arb 65-0.2 0.2 -0.6
Ben Petrick 25 arb 38-0.3 0.3 -0.7
Shawn Chacon 24 pre-arb 21-0.3 0.2 -0.7
Todd Zeile 36 FA-elig 144-0.3 6.8 -7.4
Benny Agbayani↔ BOS 30 arb 48-0.3 0.5 -1.0
Randy Flores↔ TEX 26 – 8-0.4 – –
Greg Norton 29 FA-elig 113-0.5 0.5 -1.4
Denny Stark 27 – 33-0.5 – –
Jack Cust 23 – 35-0.6 – –
Mark Corey↔ NYM 27 – 14-0.6 – –
Kent Mercker 34 FA-elig 58-0.7 0.5 -1.8
Gary Bennett 30 FA-elig 90-0.9 0.3 -1.8
Terry Shumpert 35 FA-elig 106-0.9 0.8 -2.4
Brent Butler 24 – 113-1.2 – –
Juan Uribe 23 pre-arb 155-1.6 0.2 -3.0

Key additions (new vs 2001)

PlayerfWAR
Jay Payton1.4
Todd Jones0.8
Dennys Reyes0.4
Brian Fuentes0.2
Rick White0.2
Aaron Cook0.2

Key subtractions (gone from 2001)

Player2001 fWAR
Jeff Cirillo3.9
Pedro Astacio1.8
Neifi Perez1.5
Todd Walker1.2
Brent Mayne0.8
Mike Myers0.6

Current & Historical Payroll

2002 payroll
$55.3M

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 (15)

PlayerAgeSvc2002200320042005200620072008
Larry Walker3513.000$12.7M$12.7M$6.8MFREE AGENT
Mike Hampton299.000$9.5MFREE AGENT
Denny Neagle3311.000$7.0M$9.0MFREE AGENT
Todd Zeile3613.000$6.8MFREE AGENT
Todd Hollandsworth297.000$1.9MFREE AGENT
Sandy Alomar Jr.3614.000$1.1MFREE AGENT
Todd Jones349.000$1.0M$1.7MFREE AGENT
Terry Shumpert3512.000$775kFREE AGENT
Rick White338.000$672kFREE AGENT
Greg Norton296.000$525k$600kFREE AGENT
Kent Mercker3413.000$500kFREE AGENT
Mike James347.000$500kFREE AGENT
Gary Bennett307.000$290kFREE AGENT
Bobby Estalella276.000—$500kFREE AGENT
Chris Nichting367.000—FREE AGENT

Arbitration-eligible (12)

PlayerAgeSvc2002200320042005200620072008
Todd Helton285.000$5.0MFREE AGENT
Jose Jimenez284.000$1.9MARB 3FREE AGENT
John Thomson285.000$770kFREE AGENT
Dennys Reyes255.000$667kFREE AGENT
Gabe Kapler264.000$661kARB 3FREE AGENT
Benny Agbayani304.000$472kARB 3FREE AGENT
Justin Speier284.000$310kARB 3FREE AGENT
Ben Petrick253.000$265kARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Mark Little294.000$193kARB 3FREE AGENT
Sean Lowe315.000$149kFREE AGENT
Jay Payton294.000$127kARB 3FREE AGENT
Denny Stark273.000—ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT

Pre-arbitration (16)

PlayerAgeSvc2002200320042005200620072008
Juan Pierre242.000$600kARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Shawn Chacon241.000$235kPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Jose Ortiz252.000$232kARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Juan Uribe231.000$222kPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Jason Jennings231.000$206kPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Walt McKeel30–—
Brian Fuentes261.000—Pre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Brent Butler241.000—Pre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Victor Santos251.000—Pre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Ross Gload262.000—ARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Aaron Cook230.000—Pre-ArbPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Jack Cust231.000—Pre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Jason Romano230.000—Pre-ArbPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Mark Corey27–—
Randy Flores260.000—Pre-ArbPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Cory Vance23–—

Graphs

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