RRosternomics
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Rockies COL

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GM: Daniel O'Dowd

Overview

REBUILD ↘ cooling
cheap & losing · year 2 in this regime · payroll 0.94× league · TAB -8.3
-8.3TAB — talent above budget27th/30
-7.2WAB — realized wins (TAB + luck)25th/30
7.0depth — 2+ WAR regulars12th/30
-7.3dead WAR — sub-replacement drag25th/30
31%dead money %15th/30
0.457win %21st/30
25.3roster fWAR23rd/30
-19surplus $M (value vs cost)22nd/30
$65Mpayroll $M15th/30

Roster

CFPreston Wilson 155GJay Payton 8GPablo Ozuna 5G
LFJay Payton 149GRene Reyes 11GMark Sweeney 7G
RFLarry Walker 131GRene Reyes 24GMark Sweeney 11G
SSJuan Uribe 74GClint Barmes 12GMark Bellhorn 6G
2BRonnie Belliard 113GBrent Butler 20GMark Bellhorn 20G
3BChris Stynes 119GMark Bellhorn 57GGreg Norton 34G
1BTodd Helton 159GGreg Norton 9GMark Sweeney 8G
STARTERSDarren Oliver 2.8WARJason Jennings 2.6WARShawn Chacon 2.3WARJose Jimenez 1.1WARAaron Cook 1.0WAR
CCharles Johnson 107GBobby Estalella 46GGregg Zaun 45G
DHGreg Vaughn 3GLarry Walker 2GMark Sweeney 1G
BULLPEN★ Justin Speier 9svBrian Fuentes 18hJavier López 15hSteve Reed 14hJesus Sanchez 1hCory Vance 1hJason Young 0hMatt Miller 0h
CCharles Johnson 107 · Bobby Estalella 46 · Gregg Zaun 45
1BTodd Helton 159 · Greg Norton 9 · Mark Sweeney 8
2BRonnie Belliard 113 · Brent Butler 20 · Mark Bellhorn 20
3BChris Stynes 119 · Mark Bellhorn 57 · Greg Norton 34
SSJuan Uribe 74 · Clint Barmes 12 · Mark Bellhorn 6
LFJay Payton 149 · Rene Reyes 11 · Mark Sweeney 7
CFPreston Wilson 155 · Jay Payton 8 · Pablo Ozuna 5
RFLarry Walker 131 · Rene Reyes 24 · Mark Sweeney 11
DHGreg Vaughn 3 · Larry Walker 2 · Mark Sweeney 1
SPDarren Oliver 2.8 · Jason Jennings 2.6 · Shawn Chacon 2.3 · Jose Jimenez 1.1 · Aaron Cook 1.0
BP★ Justin Speier 9 · Brian Fuentes 18 · Javier López 15 · Steve Reed 14 · Jesus Sanchez 1 · Cory Vance 1 · Jason Young 0 · Matt Miller 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.

2003 roster — value & surplus

PlayerAgeServiceGfWARSalary $MSurplus $M
Todd Helton 29 FA-elig 1606.6 10.6 +1.1
Preston Wilson 28 arb 1553.4 6.5 -0.5
Larry Walker 36 FA-elig 1433.2 12.7 -6.9
Darren Oliver 32 FA-elig 352.8 0.3 +4.6
Jason Jennings 24 pre-arb 332.6 0.3 +4.2
Shawn Chacon 25 pre-arb 232.3 0.3 +3.8
Chris Stynes 30 FA-elig 1382.1 0.8 +3.0
Charles Johnson 31 FA-elig 1081.3 7.0 -4.6
Jay Payton 30 arb 1571.2 1.9 +0.3
Jose Jimenez 29 arb 631.1 3.6 -1.6
Brian Fuentes 27 pre-arb 751.1 0.3 +1.6
Aaron Cook 24 pre-arb 431.0 0.3 +1.5
Javier López 25 pre-arb 750.7 0.3 +1.0
Rene Reyes 25 – 530.6 – –
Justin Speier 29 arb 720.5 0.8 +0.0
Kit Pellow 29 – 110.5 – –
Greg Norton 30 FA-elig 1140.4 0.6 +0.2
Bobby Estalella 28 FA-elig 460.3 0.5 +0.1
Ronnie Belliard 28 arb 1160.3 0.5 -0.0
Juan Uribe 24 pre-arb 870.2 0.3 +0.1
Gregg Zaun↔ HOU 32 FA-elig 150.1 0.2 +0.0
Mandy Romero 35 – 30.1 – –
Ben Petrick↔ DET 26 – 30.1 – –
Matt Miller 31 – 40.1 – –
Adam Bernero↔ DET 26 arb 310.0 0.2 -0.1
Vic Darensbourg↔ WSN 32 – 30.0 – –
Denny Stark 28 arb 17-0.0 0.3 -0.3
Joe Roa↔ PHI 31 FA-elig 4-0.0 0.0 -0.1
Pablo Ozuna 28 arb 17-0.0 0.3 -0.4
Greg Vaughn 37 – 22-0.1 – –
Jesus Sanchez 28 – 9-0.1 – –
Mark Sweeney 33 – 67-0.1 – –
Luke Allen 24 – 2-0.1 – –
Cory Vance 24 – 9-0.1 – –
Chris Richard 29 arb 19-0.1 0.3 -0.5
Mark Bellhorn↔ CHC 28 FA-elig 48-0.2 0.2 -0.5
Jason Young 23 – 8-0.2 – –
Clint Barmes 24 – 12-0.2 – –
Steve Reed 38 FA-elig 67-0.2 0.6 -0.9
Nelson Cruz 30 FA-elig 20-0.3 0.7 -1.2
Chin-hui Tsao 22 – 9-0.3 – –
Todd Jones↔ BOS 35 FA-elig 33-0.3 1.7 -2.3
Gabe Kapler↔ BOS 27 arb 39-0.4 1.2 -1.9
Dan Miceli↔ CLE 32 FA-elig 14-0.4 0.1 -0.8
Brent Butler 25 pre-arb 37-0.4 0.3 -1.0
Scott Elarton 27 arb 11-0.5 0.3 -1.2
Denny Neagle 34 FA-elig 7-0.6 9.0 -10.1
Tony Womack↔ ARI 33 FA-elig 21-0.7 1.2 -2.5
Garrett Atkins 23 – 25-1.0 – –
José Hernández↔ CHC 33 FA-elig 69-1.1 0.5 -2.4

Key additions (new vs 2002)

PlayerfWAR
Preston Wilson3.4
Darren Oliver2.8
Chris Stynes2.1
Charles Johnson1.3
Javier López0.7
Rene Reyes0.6

Key subtractions (gone from 2002)

Player2002 fWAR
Juan Pierre1.8
John Thomson1.7
Mike Hampton1.3
Dennys Reyes0.4
Mark Little0.2
Chris Nichting0.2

Current & Historical Payroll

2003 payroll
$64.8M

What the front office was committed to as of 2003, 2003–2009. 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 (19)

PlayerAgeSvc2003200420052006200720082009
Larry Walker3614.000$12.7M$6.8MFREE AGENT
Todd Helton296.000$10.6M$11.6M$12.6M$16.6M$16.6M$16.6M$16.6M
Denny Neagle3412.000$9.0MFREE AGENT
Charles Johnson319.000$7.0M$9.0MFREE AGENT
Todd Jones3510.000$1.7MFREE AGENT
Tony Womack3310.000$1.2MFREE AGENT
Chris Stynes308.000$750kFREE AGENT
Nelson Cruz306.000$700kFREE AGENT
Greg Norton307.000$600kFREE AGENT
Steve Reed3811.000$600k$600kFREE AGENT
Bobby Estalella287.000$500kFREE AGENT
José Hernández3312.000$460kFREE AGENT
Darren Oliver3210.000$350kFREE AGENT
Gregg Zaun328.000$243kFREE AGENT
Mark Bellhorn286.000$225kFREE AGENT
Dan Miceli3210.000$86kFREE AGENT
Joe Roa318.000$45kFREE AGENT
Mark Sweeney338.000—$400kFREE AGENT
Greg Vaughn3714.000—FREE AGENT

Arbitration-eligible (14)

PlayerAgeSvc2003200420052006200720082009
Preston Wilson285.000$6.5MFREE AGENT
Jose Jimenez295.000$3.6MFREE AGENT
Jay Payton305.000$1.9MFREE AGENT
Gabe Kapler275.000$1.2MFREE AGENT
Justin Speier295.000$850kFREE AGENT
Ronnie Belliard285.000$475kFREE AGENT
Chris Richard293.000$325kARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Denny Stark284.000$310kARB 3FREE AGENT
Pablo Ozuna283.000$300kARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Scott Elarton275.000$300kFREE AGENT
Adam Bernero263.000$195kARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Vic Darensbourg325.000—FREE AGENT
Jesus Sanchez285.000—FREE AGENT
Ben Petrick264.000—ARB 3FREE AGENT

Pre-arbitration (17)

PlayerAgeSvc2003200420052006200720082009
Jason Jennings242.000$325kARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Brent Butler252.000$303kARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Juan Uribe242.000$300kARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Brian Fuentes272.000$300kARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Javier López250.000$300kPre-ArbPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Aaron Cook241.000$300kPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Shawn Chacon252.000$300kARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Mandy Romero35–—
Luke Allen24–—
Matt Miller310.000—Pre-ArbPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Rene Reyes250.000—Pre-ArbPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Jason Young23–—
Kit Pellow291.000—Pre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Cory Vance24–—
Garrett Atkins230.000—Pre-ArbPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Clint Barmes240.000—Pre-ArbPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Chin-hui Tsao220.000—Pre-ArbPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT

Graphs

Every roster slot ranked best→worst by WAR. Bars = Rockies 2003; 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.