RRosternomics
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Tigers DET

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GM: Joe Klein

Overview

FORCED-SPEND ↘ cooling
expensive & losing · year 3 in this regime · payroll 1.03× league · TAB -22.2
-22.2TAB — talent above budget28th/28
-13.2WAB — realized wins (TAB + luck)27th/28
2.0depth — 2+ WAR regulars28th/28
-8.2dead WAR — sub-replacement drag27th/28
22%dead money %12th/28
0.417win %25th/28
11.0roster fWAR28th/28
-23surplus $M (value vs cost)27th/28
$34Mpayroll $M15th/28

Roster

CFChad Curtis 144GMilt Cuyler 1GTodd Steverson 1G
LFBobby Higginson 66GMilt Cuyler 34GPhil Nevin 27G
RFDanny Bautista 84GBobby Higginson 67GTodd Steverson 10G
SSChris Gomez 97GAlan Trammell 60GSteve Rodriguez 5G
2BScott Fletcher 63GLou Whitaker 63GChris Gomez 31G
3BTravis Fryman 144G
1BCecil Fielder 77GTony Clark 27GFranklin Stubbs 20G
STARTERSFelipe Lira 1.7WARBrian Bohanon 1.2WARSean Bergman 1.1WARJose Lima 0.9WARMike Moore 0.0WAR
CJohn Flaherty 112GRon Tingley 53G
DHKirk Gibson 63GCecil Fielder 58GLou Whitaker 8G
BULLPEN★ John Doherty 6svJoe Boever 0hBrian Maxcy 0hMike Christopher 0hBen Blomdahl 0hMike Myers 0hGreg Gohr 0hDwayne Henry 0h
CJohn Flaherty 112 · Ron Tingley 53
1BCecil Fielder 77 · Tony Clark 27 · Franklin Stubbs 20
2BScott Fletcher 63 · Lou Whitaker 63 · Chris Gomez 31
3BTravis Fryman 144
SSChris Gomez 97 · Alan Trammell 60 · Steve Rodriguez 5
LFBobby Higginson 66 · Milt Cuyler 34 · Phil Nevin 27
CFChad Curtis 144 · Milt Cuyler 1 · Todd Steverson 1
RFDanny Bautista 84 · Bobby Higginson 67 · Todd Steverson 10
DHKirk Gibson 63 · Cecil Fielder 58 · Lou Whitaker 8
SPFelipe Lira 1.7 · Brian Bohanon 1.2 · Sean Bergman 1.1 · Jose Lima 0.9 · Mike Moore 0.0
BP★ John Doherty 6 · Joe Boever 0 · Brian Maxcy 0 · Mike Christopher 0 · Ben Blomdahl 0 · Mike Myers 0 · Greg Gohr 0 · Dwayne Henry 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.

1995 roster — value & surplus

PlayerAgeServiceGfWARSalary $MSurplus $M
Travis Fryman 26 arb 1443.5 4.2 -0.8
David Wells↔ CIN 32 FA-elig 182.1 1.4 +0.7
Felipe Lira 23 pre-arb 371.7 0.1 +1.5
Chad Curtis 26 arb 1441.6 1.9 -0.4
Lou Whitaker 38 FA-elig 841.3 3.8 -2.5
Mike Henneman↔ HOU 33 FA-elig 291.3 2.8 -1.6
Brian Bohanon 26 arb 521.2 0.2 +1.0
Sean Bergman 25 pre-arb 281.1 0.1 +0.9
Jose Lima 22 pre-arb 150.9 0.1 +0.8
Cecil Fielder 31 FA-elig 1360.7 9.2 -8.5
John Doherty 28 arb 480.7 0.4 +0.3
Alan Trammell 37 FA-elig 740.7 1.3 -0.7
Kirk Gibson 38 FA-elig 700.6 1.3 -0.7
Bobby Higginson 24 pre-arb 1310.4 0.1 +0.3
Mike Christopher 31 arb 360.4 0.2 +0.2
Ron Tingley 36 FA-elig 540.4 0.3 +0.1
Greg Gohr 27 pre-arb 100.3 0.2 +0.2
Kevin Wickander↔ MIL 30 FA-elig 210.1 0.1 -0.0
Tony Clark 23 – 270.1 – –
John Flaherty 27 arb 1120.1 0.2 -0.1
Dwayne Henry 33 – 100.1 – –
Mike Moore 35 FA-elig 250.0 3.3 -3.3
Rudy Pemberton 25 – 12-0.0 – –
Pat Ahearne 25 – 4-0.0 – –
Sean Whiteside 24 – 2-0.1 – –
Clint Sodowsky 22 – 6-0.1 – –
Mike Myers↔ MIA 26 pre-arb 11-0.1 0.1 -0.2
C.J. Nitkowski↔ CIN 22 pre-arb 11-0.2 0.1 -0.2
Franklin Stubbs 34 FA-elig 62-0.2 0.3 -0.5
Joe Hall 29 pre-arb 7-0.2 0.1 -0.3
Ben Blomdahl 24 – 14-0.2 – –
Juan Samuel↔ KCR 34 FA-elig 76-0.2 0.3 -0.5
Shannon Penn 25 – 3-0.3 – –
Buddy Groom↔ MIA 29 arb 23-0.3 0.1 -0.4
Todd Steverson 23 pre-arb 30-0.3 0.1 -0.4
Joe Boever 34 FA-elig 60-0.3 0.6 -0.9
Mike Gardiner 29 arb 9-0.3 0.2 -0.5
Brian Maxcy 24 pre-arb 41-0.4 0.1 -0.5
Scott Fletcher 36 FA-elig 67-0.4 0.2 -0.7
Milt Cuyler 26 arb 41-0.4 0.3 -0.8
Steve Rodriguez↔ BOS 24 – 12-0.5 – –
Danny Bautista 23 pre-arb 89-0.6 0.1 -0.7
Phil Nevin↔ HOU 24 pre-arb 29-0.6 0.1 -0.7
Chris Gomez 24 pre-arb 123-1.1 0.2 -1.3
Derrick White 25 pre-arb 39-1.3 0.1 -1.4

Key additions (new vs 1994)

PlayerfWAR
Felipe Lira1.7
Chad Curtis1.6
Brian Bohanon1.2
Bobby Higginson0.4
Mike Christopher0.4
Ron Tingley0.4

Key subtractions (gone from 1994)

Player1994 fWAR
Tony Phillips4.4
Mickey Tettleton1.4
Tim Belcher1.2
Junior Felix1.1
Bill Gullickson0.7
Storm Davis0.3

Current & Historical Payroll

1995 payroll
$34.2M

What the front office was committed to as of 1995, 1995–2001. 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 (14)

PlayerAgeSvc1995199619971998199920002001
Cecil Fielder3110.000$9.2M$6.2MFREE AGENT
Lou Whitaker3818.000$3.8MFREE AGENT
Mike Moore3513.000$3.3MFREE AGENT
Mike Henneman338.000$2.8MFREE AGENT
David Wells328.000$1.4MFREE AGENT
Kirk Gibson3816.000$1.3MFREE AGENT
Alan Trammell3718.000$1.3M$600kFREE AGENT
Joe Boever3410.000$600kFREE AGENT
Juan Samuel3412.000$313kFREE AGENT
Franklin Stubbs3411.000$310kFREE AGENT
Ron Tingley3613.000$280kFREE AGENT
Scott Fletcher3614.000$250kFREE AGENT
Kevin Wickander306.000$116kFREE AGENT
Dwayne Henry3311.000—FREE AGENT

Arbitration-eligible (9)

PlayerAgeSvc1995199619971998199920002001
Travis Fryman265.000$4.2MFREE AGENT
Chad Curtis263.000$1.9MARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
John Doherty283.000$375kARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Milt Cuyler265.000$340kFREE AGENT
Brian Bohanon265.000$185kFREE AGENT
John Flaherty273.000$172kARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Mike Gardiner295.000$165kFREE AGENT
Mike Christopher314.000$156kARB 3FREE AGENT
Buddy Groom293.000$118kARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT

Pre-arbitration (22)

PlayerAgeSvc1995199619971998199920002001
Chris Gomez242.000$215kARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Greg Gohr272.000$165kARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Danny Bautista232.000$145kARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Sean Bergman252.000$138kARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Jose Lima221.000$129kPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Joe Hall291.000$120kPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Bobby Higginson240.000$109kPre-ArbPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Felipe Lira230.000$109kPre-ArbPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Todd Steverson230.000$109kPre-ArbPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Brian Maxcy240.000$109kPre-ArbPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Derrick White252.000$109kARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Mike Myers260.000$92kPre-ArbPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Phil Nevin240.000$67kPre-ArbPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
C.J. Nitkowski220.000$60kPre-ArbPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Pat Ahearne25–—
Ben Blomdahl24–—
Tony Clark230.000—Pre-ArbPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Rudy Pemberton250.000—Pre-ArbPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Shannon Penn25–—
Steve Rodriguez24–—
Clint Sodowsky220.000—Pre-ArbPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Sean Whiteside24–—

Graphs

Every roster slot ranked best→worst by WAR. Bars = Tigers 1995; 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.