RRosternomics
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Rockies COL

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GM: Daniel O'Dowd

Overview

REBUILD ↗ rising
cheap & losing · year 3 in this regime · payroll 0.77× league · TAB -9.6
-9.6TAB — talent above budget26th/30
-10.5WAB — realized wins (TAB + luck)25th/30
5.0depth — 2+ WAR regulars20th/30
-9.2dead WAR — sub-replacement drag27th/30
34%dead money %20th/30
0.420win %24th/30
21.4roster fWAR26th/30
-13surplus $M (value vs cost)18th/30
$51Mpayroll $M17th/30

Roster

CFJeromy Burnitz 69GPreston Wilson 52GChoo Freeman 41G
LFMatt Holliday 115GJeromy Burnitz 21GDenny Hocking 20G
RFJeromy Burnitz 79GBrad Hawpe 32GKit Pellow 27G
SSRoyce Clayton 144GDenny Hocking 13GLuis Gonzalez 10G
2BAaron Miles 128GLuis Gonzalez 40GClint Barmes 9G
3BVinny Castilla 148GLuis Gonzalez 18GKit Pellow 4G
1BTodd Helton 153GMark Sweeney 15GKit Pellow 5G
STARTERSJoe Kennedy 2.7WARJason Jennings 2.0WARShawn Estes 1.1WARAaron Cook 1.0WARJamey Wright 0.3WAR
CCharles Johnson 91GTodd Greene 53GJD Closser 32G
DHMark Sweeney 4GJeromy Burnitz 3GLuis Gonzalez 1G
BULLPEN★ Shawn Chacon 35svSteve Reed 15hTim Harikkala 15hBrian Fuentes 13hJavier López 12hScott Dohmann 4hVladimir Nunez 3hAllan Simpson 1h
CCharles Johnson 91 · Todd Greene 53 · JD Closser 32
1BTodd Helton 153 · Mark Sweeney 15 · Kit Pellow 5
2BAaron Miles 128 · Luis Gonzalez 40 · Clint Barmes 9
3BVinny Castilla 148 · Luis Gonzalez 18 · Kit Pellow 4
SSRoyce Clayton 144 · Denny Hocking 13 · Luis Gonzalez 10
LFMatt Holliday 115 · Jeromy Burnitz 21 · Denny Hocking 20
CFJeromy Burnitz 69 · Preston Wilson 52 · Choo Freeman 41
RFJeromy Burnitz 79 · Brad Hawpe 32 · Kit Pellow 27
DHMark Sweeney 4 · Jeromy Burnitz 3 · Luis Gonzalez 1
SPJoe Kennedy 2.7 · Jason Jennings 2.0 · Shawn Estes 1.1 · Aaron Cook 1.0 · Jamey Wright 0.3
BP★ Shawn Chacon 35 · Steve Reed 15 · Tim Harikkala 15 · Brian Fuentes 13 · Javier López 12 · Scott Dohmann 4 · Vladimir Nunez 3 · Allan Simpson 1

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
Todd Helton 30 FA-elig 1547.0 11.6 +0.4
Jeromy Burnitz 35 FA-elig 1503.1 1.2 +4.1
Joe Kennedy 25 arb 272.7 0.3 +4.3
Vinny Castilla 36 FA-elig 1482.5 2.1 +2.2
Jason Jennings 25 arb 372.0 0.3 +3.1
Larry Walker↔ STL 37 FA-elig 381.6 5.9 -3.1
Matt Holliday 24 – 1211.3 0.3 +2.0
Jeff Fassero↔ ARI 41 FA-elig 401.3 0.5 +1.8
Royce Clayton 34 FA-elig 1461.2 0.7 +1.4
Shawn Estes 31 FA-elig 361.1 0.6 +1.2
Charles Johnson 32 FA-elig 1091.0 9.0 -7.2
Aaron Cook 25 – 161.0 0.3 +1.5
Steve Reed 39 FA-elig 650.7 0.6 +0.6
Brian Fuentes 28 arb 470.6 0.3 +0.7
Clint Barmes 25 – 200.5 – –
Allan Simpson 26 – 320.4 – –
Mark Sweeney 34 FA-elig 1220.4 0.4 +0.2
Scott Dohmann 26 – 410.3 – –
Jamey Wright 29 – 140.3 0.3 +0.2
JD Closser 24 – 360.2 – –
Garrett Atkins 24 – 150.2 – –
Jorge Piedra 25 – 380.2 – –
Scott Elarton↔ CLE 28 FA-elig 80.2 0.1 +0.2
Todd Greene 33 FA-elig 750.2 0.6 -0.2
Travis Driskill 32 – 50.2 – –
Javier López 26 pre-arb 640.1 0.3 -0.1
Chin-hui Tsao 23 – 100.1 – –
Jeff Francis 23 – 70.0 – –
Chris Gissell 26 – 5-0.1 – –
Aaron Miles 27 pre-arb 134-0.1 0.3 -0.4
Andy Tracy 30 – 15-0.1 – –
Kevin Jarvis↔ SEA 34 FA-elig 2-0.2 0.8 -1.2
Jason Young 24 – 2-0.2 – –
Marc Kroon 31 – 6-0.2 – –
Adam Bernero 27 arb 16-0.3 0.3 -0.8
Turk Wendell 37 FA-elig 12-0.3 0.7 -1.3
Kit Pellow 30 pre-arb 59-0.3 0.3 -0.9
Vladimir Nunez 29 FA-elig 22-0.3 0.7 -1.3
Preston Wilson 29 FA-elig 58-0.4 9.0 -9.6
Rene Reyes 26 pre-arb 28-0.4 0.3 -1.0
Tim Harikkala 32 – 55-0.4 – –
Brad Hawpe 25 – 42-0.5 – –
Denny Stark 29 arb 6-0.7 0.3 -1.6
Luis Gonzalez 25 pre-arb 102-0.9 0.3 -1.8
Choo Freeman 24 – 45-1.1 – –
Shawn Chacon 26 arb 66-1.1 1.9 -3.8
Denny Hocking 34 FA-elig 55-1.4 0.7 -3.0

Key additions (new vs 2003)

PlayerfWAR
Jeromy Burnitz3.1
Joe Kennedy2.7
Vinny Castilla2.5
Matt Holliday1.3
Jeff Fassero1.3
Royce Clayton1.2

Key subtractions (gone from 2003)

Player2003 fWAR
Darren Oliver2.8
Chris Stynes2.1
Jay Payton1.2
Jose Jimenez1.1
Justin Speier0.5
Greg Norton0.4

Current & Historical Payroll

2004 payroll
$51.0M

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 (19)

PlayerAgeSvc2004200520062007200820092010
Todd Helton307.000$11.6M$12.6M$16.6M$16.6M$16.6M$16.6M$17.8M
Charles Johnson3210.000$9.0MFREE AGENT
Preston Wilson296.000$9.0M$6.4MFREE AGENT
Larry Walker3715.000$5.9MFREE AGENT
Vinny Castilla3613.000$2.1MFREE AGENT$2.6M
Jeromy Burnitz3511.000$1.2MFREE AGENT
Kevin Jarvis3410.000$850kFREE AGENT
Vladimir Nunez296.000$700kFREE AGENT
Turk Wendell3711.000$700kFREE AGENT
Denny Hocking3411.000$650kFREE AGENT
Royce Clayton3413.000$650kFREE AGENT
Shawn Estes319.000$600kFREE AGENT
Steve Reed3912.000$600kFREE AGENT
Todd Greene338.000$550k$650kFREE AGENT
Jeff Fassero4113.000$488kFREE AGENT
Mark Sweeney349.000$400kFREE AGENT
Jamey Wright298.000$300k$550kFREE AGENT
Scott Elarton286.000$132kFREE AGENT
Marc Kroon319.000—FREE AGENT

Arbitration-eligible (7)

PlayerAgeSvc2004200520062007200820092010
Shawn Chacon263.000$1.9MARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Jason Jennings253.000$340kARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Denny Stark295.000$321kFREE AGENT
Joe Kennedy253.000$320kARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Adam Bernero274.000$320kARB 3FREE AGENT
Brian Fuentes283.000$320kARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Andy Tracy304.000—ARB 3FREE AGENT

Pre-arbitration (21)

PlayerAgeSvc2004200520062007200820092010
Javier López261.000$318kPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Kit Pellow302.000$310kARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Rene Reyes261.000$300kPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Aaron Cook252.000$300kARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Aaron Miles271.000$300kPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Matt Holliday240.000$300kPre-ArbPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Luis Gonzalez250.000$300kPre-ArbPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Tim Harikkala32–—
Travis Driskill32–—
Chris Gissell26–—
Allan Simpson260.000—Pre-ArbPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
JD Closser240.000—Pre-ArbPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Jason Young24–—
Brad Hawpe250.000—Pre-ArbPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Garrett Atkins241.000—Pre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Clint Barmes251.000—Pre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Choo Freeman240.000—Pre-ArbPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Chin-hui Tsao231.000—Pre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Scott Dohmann260.000—Pre-ArbPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Jorge Piedra250.000—Pre-ArbPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Jeff Francis230.000—Pre-ArbPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT

Graphs

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