RRosternomics
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Tigers DET

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GM: Bill Lajoie

Overview

FORCED-SPEND ↘ cooling
expensive & losing · year 1 in this regime · payroll 1.14× league · TAB -20.8
-20.8TAB — talent above budget26th/26
-24.7WAB — realized wins (TAB + luck)26th/26
5.0depth — 2+ WAR regulars21st/26
-9.4dead WAR — sub-replacement drag25th/26
36%dead money %22nd/26
0.364win %26th/26
15.0roster fWAR26th/26
-10surplus $M (value vs cost)26th/26
$16Mpayroll $M9th/26

Roster

CFGary Pettis 119GKenny Williams 35GScott Lusader 8G
LFFred Lynn 68GTracy Jones 43GGary Ward 35G
RFChet Lemon 111GKenny Williams 27GTracy Jones 25G
SSAlan Trammell 117GMike Brumley 42GAl Pedrique 12G
2BLou Whitaker 145GMike Brumley 24GDoug Strange 9G
3BRick Schu 83GDoug Strange 54GChris Brown 17G
1BDave Bergman 123GKeith Moreland 31GGary Ward 26G
STARTERSFrank Tanana 3.1WARJack Morris 1.4WARKevin Ritz 1.3WARDoyle Alexander 0.9WARPaul Gibson 0.8WAR
CMike Heath 117GMatt Nokes 51GMatt Sinatro 13G
DHFred Lynn 34GMatt Nokes 27GGary Ward 17G
BULLPEN★ Willie Hernandez 15svMike Henneman 0hFrank Williams 0hEd Nunez 0hBrad Havens 0hMike Schwabe 0hSteve Searcy 0hRamon Pena 0h
CMike Heath 117 · Matt Nokes 51 · Matt Sinatro 13
1BDave Bergman 123 · Keith Moreland 31 · Gary Ward 26
2BLou Whitaker 145 · Mike Brumley 24 · Doug Strange 9
3BRick Schu 83 · Doug Strange 54 · Chris Brown 17
SSAlan Trammell 117 · Mike Brumley 42 · Al Pedrique 12
LFFred Lynn 68 · Tracy Jones 43 · Gary Ward 35
CFGary Pettis 119 · Kenny Williams 35 · Scott Lusader 8
RFChet Lemon 111 · Kenny Williams 27 · Tracy Jones 25
DHFred Lynn 34 · Matt Nokes 27 · Gary Ward 17
SPFrank Tanana 3.1 · Jack Morris 1.4 · Kevin Ritz 1.3 · Doyle Alexander 0.9 · Paul Gibson 0.8
BP★ Willie Hernandez 15 · Mike Henneman 0 · Frank Williams 0 · Ed Nunez 0 · Brad Havens 0 · Mike Schwabe 0 · Steve Searcy 0 · Ramon Pena 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.

1989 roster — value & surplus

PlayerAgeServiceGfWARSalary $MSurplus $M
Lou Whitaker 32 FA-elig 1485.1 1.0 +0.8
Frank Tanana 35 FA-elig 333.1 0.9 +0.2
Alan Trammell 31 FA-elig 1213.0 1.1 -0.0
Mike Heath 34 FA-elig 1222.6 0.4 +0.5
Gary Pettis 31 FA-elig 1192.4 0.4 +0.4
Jack Morris 34 FA-elig 241.4 2.0 -1.5
Kevin Ritz 24 pre-arb 121.3 0.1 +0.4
Doyle Alexander 38 FA-elig 330.9 1.0 -0.7
Paul Gibson 29 pre-arb 450.8 0.1 +0.2
Keith Moreland↔ BAL 35 FA-elig 900.7 1.1 -0.8
Fred Lynn 37 FA-elig 1170.6 1.6 -1.4
Mike Henneman 27 pre-arb 600.5 0.2 +0.0
Gary Ward↔ NYY 35 FA-elig 1050.4 0.1 +0.1
Dave Bergman 36 FA-elig 1370.4 0.4 -0.3
Matt Nokes 25 arb 870.4 0.2 -0.1
Brian Dubois 22 pre-arb 60.2 0.1 +0.0
David Palmer 31 FA-elig 50.2 0.2 -0.1
Ramon Pena 27 – 80.2 – –
Jeff Datz 29 – 70.1 – –
Scott Lusader 24 – 400.1 – –
Randy Bockus 28 – 20.1 – –
Mike Trujillo 29 – 80.0 – –
Rob Richie 23 – 190.0 – –
Willie Hernandez 34 FA-elig 32-0.0 1.3 -1.3
Shawn Holman 24 – 5-0.0 – –
Al Pedrique 28 – 31-0.1 – –
Pat Sheridan↔ SFG 31 FA-elig 50-0.1 0.2 -0.2
Rick Schu 27 arb 98-0.1 0.2 -0.2
Steve Searcy 25 pre-arb 8-0.1 0.1 -0.1
Tracy Jones↔ SFG 28 arb 46-0.2 0.2 -0.2
Jeff Robinson 27 pre-arb 16-0.2 0.2 -0.2
Chris Brown 27 arb 17-0.2 0.3 -0.4
Billy Bean↔ LAD 25 pre-arb 9-0.3 0.0 -0.1
Mike Schwabe 24 – 13-0.3 – –
Matt Sinatro 29 – 13-0.3 – –
Randy Nosek 22 – 2-0.3 – –
Dave Beard 29 FA-elig 2-0.4 0.1 -0.2
Ed Nunez 26 – 27-0.4 – –
Brad Havens↔ CLE 29 FA-elig 13-0.4 0.1 -0.3
Kenny Williams 25 arb 94-0.5 0.1 -0.3
Frank Williams 31 arb 42-0.6 0.4 -0.6
Doug Strange 25 pre-arb 64-0.6 0.1 -0.3
Torey Lovullo 23 – 29-0.6 – –
Chet Lemon 34 FA-elig 127-1.0 0.8 -1.2
Charles Hudson 30 FA-elig 18-1.1 0.5 -0.9
Mike Brumley 27 pre-arb 92-1.7 0.1 -0.7

Key additions (new vs 1988)

PlayerfWAR
Kevin Ritz1.3
Keith Moreland0.7
Gary Ward0.4
Brian Dubois0.2
David Palmer0.2
Ramon Pena0.2

Key subtractions (gone from 1988)

Player1988 fWAR
Luis Salazar2.1
Walt Terrell1.5
Dwayne Murphy1.3
Darrell Evans1.1
Tom Brookens1.0
Eric King0.4

Current & Historical Payroll

1989 payroll
$15.5M

What the front office was committed to as of 1989, 1989–1995. 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 (20)

PlayerAgeSvc1989199019911992199319941995
Jack Morris3412.000$2.0M$2.1MFREE AGENT
Fred Lynn3715.000$1.6MFREE AGENT
Willie Hernandez3412.000$1.3MFREE AGENT
Alan Trammell3112.000$1.1M$1.8M$2.2M$2.4M$1.8M$3.0M$1.3M
Keith Moreland3511.000$1.1MFREE AGENT
Lou Whitaker3212.000$1.0M$1.8M$2.0M$2.2M$3.4M$2.8M$3.8M
Doyle Alexander3818.000$1.0MFREE AGENT
Frank Tanana3516.000$925k$1.1M$1.9M$1.7MFREE AGENT
Chet Lemon3414.000$829k$829kFREE AGENT
Charles Hudson306.000$525kFREE AGENT
Gary Pettis317.000$440kFREE AGENT
Dave Bergman3614.000$438k$525k$575k$375kFREE AGENT
Mike Heath3411.000$425k$600kFREE AGENT
Pat Sheridan318.000$179kFREE AGENT
David Palmer3111.000$175kFREE AGENT
Brad Havens298.000$146kFREE AGENT
Dave Beard299.000$90kFREE AGENT
Gary Ward3510.000$63k$538kFREE AGENT
Ed Nunez267.000—$400kFREE AGENT
Matt Sinatro298.000—FREE AGENT

Arbitration-eligible (7)

PlayerAgeSvc1989199019911992199319941995
Frank Williams315.000$425kFREE AGENT
Chris Brown275.000$278kFREE AGENT
Matt Nokes254.000$195kARB 3FREE AGENT
Rick Schu275.000$185kFREE AGENT
Tracy Jones283.000$160kARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Kenny Williams253.000$118kARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Mike Trujillo294.000—ARB 3FREE AGENT

Pre-arbitration (19)

PlayerAgeSvc1989199019911992199319941995
Mike Henneman272.000$195kARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Jeff Robinson272.000$175kARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Paul Gibson291.000$92kPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Mike Brumley272.000$75kARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Steve Searcy251.000$69kPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Brian Dubois220.000$68kPre-ArbPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Doug Strange250.000$68kPre-ArbPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Kevin Ritz240.000$68kPre-ArbPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Billy Bean252.000$11kARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Randy Bockus28–—
Jeff Datz29–—
Shawn Holman24–—
Torey Lovullo231.000—Pre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Scott Lusader242.000—ARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Randy Nosek220.000—Pre-ArbPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Al Pedrique282.000—ARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Ramon Pena27–—
Rob Richie23–—
Mike Schwabe240.000—Pre-ArbPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT

Graphs

Every roster slot ranked best→worst by WAR. Bars = Tigers 1989; 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.