RRosternomics
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Tigers DET

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GM: Randy Smith

Overview

REBUILD ↘ cooling
cheap & losing · year 1 in this regime · payroll 0.67× league · TAB -26.2
-26.2TAB — talent above budget28th/28
-23.7WAB — realized wins (TAB + luck)28th/28
4.0depth — 2+ WAR regulars26th/28
-15.2dead WAR — sub-replacement drag28th/28
40%dead money %28th/28
0.327win %28th/28
3.1roster fWAR28th/28
-16surplus $M (value vs cost)26th/28
$22Mpayroll $M22nd/28

Roster

CFKimera Bartee 95GBobby Higginson 19GDuane Singleton 15G
LFBobby Higginson 63GChad Curtis 48GCurtis Pride 45G
RFMelvin Nieves 84GBobby Higginson 57GRuben Sierra 20G
SSAlan Trammell 43GTravis Fryman 29GDamion Easley 21G
2BMark Lewis 144GDamion Easley 16GAlan Trammell 11G
3BTravis Fryman 128GPhil Nevin 24GAlan Trammell 8G
1BTony Clark 86GTim Hyers 9GEddie Williams 7G
STARTERSFelipe Lira 2.2WAROmar Olivares 2.0WARA.J. Sager 1.1WARJustin Thompson 0.8WARC.J. Nitkowski -0.1WAR
CBrad Ausmus 119GRaul Casanova 22GPhil Nevin 4G
DHRuben Sierra 78GEddie Williams 49GCurtis Pride 26G
BULLPEN★ Mike Myers 6svRichie Lewis 0hJoey Eischen 0hJose Lima 0hJohn Cummings 0hRandy Veres 0hMike Walker 0hTom Urbani 0h
CBrad Ausmus 119 · Raul Casanova 22 · Phil Nevin 4
1BTony Clark 86 · Tim Hyers 9 · Eddie Williams 7
2BMark Lewis 144 · Damion Easley 16 · Alan Trammell 11
3BTravis Fryman 128 · Phil Nevin 24 · Alan Trammell 8
SSAlan Trammell 43 · Travis Fryman 29 · Damion Easley 21
LFBobby Higginson 63 · Chad Curtis 48 · Curtis Pride 45
CFKimera Bartee 95 · Bobby Higginson 19 · Duane Singleton 15
RFMelvin Nieves 84 · Bobby Higginson 57 · Ruben Sierra 20
DHRuben Sierra 78 · Eddie Williams 49 · Curtis Pride 26
SPFelipe Lira 2.2 · Omar Olivares 2.0 · A.J. Sager 1.1 · Justin Thompson 0.8 · C.J. Nitkowski -0.1
BP★ Mike Myers 6 · Richie Lewis 0 · Joey Eischen 0 · Jose Lima 0 · John Cummings 0 · Randy Veres 0 · Mike Walker 0 · Tom Urbani 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.

1996 roster — value & surplus

PlayerAgeServiceGfWARSalary $MSurplus $M
Bobby Higginson 25 pre-arb 1303.6 0.2 +2.9
Felipe Lira 24 pre-arb 322.2 0.2 +1.7
Travis Fryman 27 FA-elig 1572.1 5.2 -3.4
Omar Olivares 28 FA-elig 252.0 0.5 +1.2
Curtis Pride 27 arb 951.1 0.1 +0.8
A.J. Sager 31 pre-arb 221.1 0.2 +0.7
Mike Myers 27 pre-arb 831.1 0.1 +0.8
Cecil Fielder↔ NYY 32 FA-elig 1071.0 6.2 -5.3
Justin Thompson 23 pre-arb 110.8 0.1 +0.6
Phil Nevin 25 pre-arb 380.7 0.1 +0.5
Jose Lima 23 pre-arb 390.6 0.1 +0.4
Brad Ausmus↔ SDP 27 arb 750.6 0.2 +0.3
Chad Curtis↔ LAD 27 arb 1040.4 1.4 -1.1
Richie Lewis 30 arb 720.3 0.2 +0.1
Mark Parent↔ BAL 34 FA-elig 380.3 0.3 -0.1
John Cummings↔ LAD 27 arb 210.1 0.1 -0.0
John Flaherty↔ SDP 28 arb 470.1 0.1 -0.0
Danny Bautista↔ ATL 24 arb 250.1 0.1 -0.1
Joey Eischen↔ LAD 26 pre-arb 240.0 0.1 -0.0
Damion Easley↔ ANA 26 arb 210.0 0.1 -0.1
Scott Aldred↔ MIN 28 FA-elig 110.0 0.0 -0.0
Brian Moehler 24 – 20.0 – –
Phil Hiatt 27 – 7-0.0 – –
Trever Miller 23 pre-arb 5-0.0 0.1 -0.1
Greg Gohr↔ ANA 28 arb 17-0.0 0.1 -0.1
Bob Scanlan↔ KCR 29 – 8-0.1 – –
Gregg Olson↔ HOU 29 FA-elig 43-0.1 0.3 -0.5
C.J. Nitkowski 23 – 11-0.1 – –
John Farrell 33 – 2-0.2 – –
Brian Maxcy 25 – 2-0.2 – –
Kimera Bartee 23 pre-arb 110-0.3 0.1 -0.3
Jeff McCurry 26 – 2-0.3 – –
Shannon Penn 26 – 6-0.3 – –
Randy Veres 30 FA-elig 25-0.3 0.2 -0.4
Clint Sodowsky 23 pre-arb 7-0.3 0.1 -0.4
Tom Urbani↔ STL 28 arb 16-0.3 0.1 -0.4
Brian Williams 27 arb 40-0.4 0.5 -0.8
Greg Keagle 25 pre-arb 26-0.4 0.1 -0.4
Tony Clark 24 pre-arb 100-0.4 0.1 -0.5
Chris Gomez↔ SDP 25 arb 48-0.4 0.1 -0.5
Fausto Cruz 24 – 14-0.5 – –
Ruben Sierra↔ NYY 30 FA-elig 46-0.5 2.0 -2.5
Tim Hyers 24 – 17-0.6 – –
Duane Singleton 23 – 18-0.6 – –
Raul Casanova 23 – 25-0.7 – –
Mark Lewis 26 arb 145-0.7 0.7 -1.3
Todd Van Poppel↔ OAK 24 arb 9-0.7 0.1 -0.7
Mike Christopher 32 arb 13-0.7 0.2 -0.8
Melvin Nieves 24 arb 120-0.8 0.2 -0.8
Mike Walker 29 – 20-1.0 – –
Alan Trammell 38 FA-elig 66-1.3 0.6 -1.7
Eddie Williams 31 FA-elig 77-1.3 0.3 -1.4
Andujar Cedeno↔ HOU 26 FA-elig 52-1.5 0.2 -1.5

Key additions (new vs 1995)

PlayerfWAR
Omar Olivares2.0
Curtis Pride1.1
A.J. Sager1.1
Justin Thompson0.8
Brad Ausmus0.6
Richie Lewis0.3

Key subtractions (gone from 1995)

Player1995 fWAR
David Wells2.1
Lou Whitaker1.3
Mike Henneman1.3
Brian Bohanon1.2
Sean Bergman1.1
John Doherty0.7

Current & Historical Payroll

1996 payroll
$22.0M

What the front office was committed to as of 1996, 1996–2002. 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 (13)

PlayerAgeSvc1996199719981999200020012002
Cecil Fielder3211.000$6.2MFREE AGENT
Travis Fryman276.000$5.2M$6.4MFREE AGENT
Ruben Sierra3010.000$2.0MFREE AGENT
Alan Trammell3819.000$600kFREE AGENT
Omar Olivares286.000$505k$707kFREE AGENT
Eddie Williams3110.000$350kFREE AGENT
Mark Parent3410.000$339kFREE AGENT
Gregg Olson298.000$331kFREE AGENT
Andujar Cedeno266.000$250kFREE AGENT
Randy Veres307.000$179kFREE AGENT
Scott Aldred286.000$46kFREE AGENT
John Farrell339.000—FREE AGENT
Mike Walker298.000—FREE AGENT

Arbitration-eligible (18)

PlayerAgeSvc1996199719981999200020012002
Chad Curtis274.000$1.4MARB 3FREE AGENT
Mark Lewis265.000$670kFREE AGENT
Brian Williams275.000$500kFREE AGENT
Brad Ausmus273.000$210kARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Mike Christopher325.000$200kFREE AGENT
Richie Lewis304.000$170kARB 3FREE AGENT
Melvin Nieves244.000$170kARB 3FREE AGENT
Curtis Pride273.000$150kARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
John Cummings273.000$143kARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Tom Urbani283.000$137kARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Damion Easley264.000$131kARB 3FREE AGENT
Danny Bautista243.000$110kARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
John Flaherty284.000$109kARB 3FREE AGENT
Greg Gohr283.000$106kARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Chris Gomez253.000$96kARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Todd Van Poppel245.000$77kFREE AGENT
Phil Hiatt273.000—ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Bob Scanlan295.000—FREE AGENT

Pre-arbitration (22)

PlayerAgeSvc1996199719981999200020012002
Felipe Lira241.000$170kPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Bobby Higginson251.000$170kPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
A.J. Sager312.000$160kARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Jose Lima232.000$145kARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Mike Myers271.000$128kPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Phil Nevin251.000$120kPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Trever Miller230.000$109kPre-ArbPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Tony Clark241.000$109kPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Kimera Bartee230.000$109kPre-ArbPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Greg Keagle250.000$109kPre-ArbPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Clint Sodowsky231.000$109kPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Justin Thompson230.000$109kPre-ArbPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Joey Eischen262.000$62kARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Raul Casanova230.000—Pre-ArbPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Fausto Cruz24–—
Tim Hyers242.000—ARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Brian Maxcy251.000—Pre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Jeff McCurry261.000—Pre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Brian Moehler240.000—Pre-ArbPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
C.J. Nitkowski231.000—Pre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Shannon Penn26–—
Duane Singleton23–—

Graphs

Every roster slot ranked best→worst by WAR. Bars = Tigers 1996; 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.