RRosternomics
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Tigers DET

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GM: Dave Dombrowski

Overview

CONTEND ↗ rising
expensive & winning · year 2 in this regime · payroll 1.09× league · TAB +6.4
+6.4TAB — talent above budget9th/30
+4.9WAB — realized wins (TAB + luck)8th/30
7.0depth — 2+ WAR regulars10th/30
-4.6dead WAR — sub-replacement drag15th/30
26%dead money %11th/30
0.543win %9th/30
41.8roster fWAR7th/30
-2surplus $M (value vs cost)12th/30
$90Mpayroll $M11th/30

Roster

CFCurtis Granderson 157GRyan Raburn 13GOmar Infante 12G
LFMarcus Thames 37GTimo Perez 21GRyan Raburn 10G
RFMagglio Ordonez 143GRyan Raburn 16GMarcus Thames 9G
SSCarlos Guillén 132GRamon Santiago 31GNeifi Perez 24G
2BPlacido Polanco 141GOmar Infante 20GRyan Raburn 10G
3BBrandon Inge 150GOmar Infante 9GMike Hessman 4G
1BSean Casey 131GCarlos Guillén 36GMarcus Thames 33G
STARTERSJustin Verlander 3.6WARJeremy Bonderman 2.8WARNate Robertson 1.8WARKenny Rogers 0.4WARJair Jurrjens 0.2WAR
CIvan Rodriguez 127GMike Rabelo 49G
DHGary Sheffield 119GMagglio Ordonez 14GSean Casey 7G
BULLPEN★ Todd Jones 38svFernando Rodney 12hJason Grilli 11hBobby Seay 10hZach Miner 9hTim Byrdak 8hJoel Zumaya 7hMacay McBride 4h
CIvan Rodriguez 127 · Mike Rabelo 49
1BSean Casey 131 · Carlos Guillén 36 · Marcus Thames 33
2BPlacido Polanco 141 · Omar Infante 20 · Ryan Raburn 10
3BBrandon Inge 150 · Omar Infante 9 · Mike Hessman 4
SSCarlos Guillén 132 · Ramon Santiago 31 · Neifi Perez 24
LFMarcus Thames 37 · Timo Perez 21 · Ryan Raburn 10
CFCurtis Granderson 157 · Ryan Raburn 13 · Omar Infante 12
RFMagglio Ordonez 143 · Ryan Raburn 16 · Marcus Thames 9
DHGary Sheffield 119 · Magglio Ordonez 14 · Sean Casey 7
SPJustin Verlander 3.6 · Jeremy Bonderman 2.8 · Nate Robertson 1.8 · Kenny Rogers 0.4 · Jair Jurrjens 0.2
BP★ Todd Jones 38 · Fernando Rodney 12 · Jason Grilli 11 · Bobby Seay 10 · Zach Miner 9 · Tim Byrdak 8 · Joel Zumaya 7 · Macay McBride 4

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.

2007 roster — value & surplus

PlayerAgeServiceGfWARSalary $MSurplus $M
Magglio Ordonez 33 FA-elig 1578.0 13.2 +4.1
Curtis Granderson 26 arb 1587.9 0.4 +16.6
Placido Polanco 31 FA-elig 1425.3 4.6 +6.9
Justin Verlander 24 pre-arb 323.6 1.0 +6.7
Carlos Guillén 31 FA-elig 1513.3 5.0 +2.0
Gary Sheffield 38 FA-elig 1333.0 10.9 -4.5
Jeremy Bonderman 24 arb 282.8 4.5 +1.5
Nate Robertson 29 arb 301.8 3.3 +0.7
Brandon Inge 30 FA-elig 1511.7 4.9 -1.2
Ivan Rodriguez 35 FA-elig 1291.5 10.6 -7.4
Bobby Seay 29 FA-elig 580.9 0.5 +1.5
Todd Jones 39 FA-elig 630.7 4.8 -3.2
Ramon Santiago 27 – 320.7 0.5 +0.9
Jason Grilli 30 FA-elig 570.6 0.4 +0.9
Fernando Rodney 30 arb 480.6 1.0 +0.2
Tim Byrdak 33 – 390.5 – –
Marcus Thames 30 arb 860.5 0.4 +0.7
Zach Miner 25 – 340.5 – –
Timo Perez 32 – 290.5 – –
Kenny Rogers 42 FA-elig 110.4 8.0 -7.2
Ryan Raburn 26 – 490.3 0.2 +0.4
Yorman Bazardo 22 – 110.3 – –
Joel Zumaya 22 pre-arb 280.2 0.4 +0.1
Andrew Miller 22 – 130.2 0.1 +0.3
Jair Jurrjens 21 – 70.2 – –
Mike Hessman 29 – 170.2 – –
Jordan Tata 25 – 30.1 – –
Sean Casey 32 FA-elig 1430.1 4.0 -3.9
Frankie De La Cruz 23 – 6-0.0 – –
Mike Rabelo 27 pre-arb 51-0.1 0.4 -0.5
Aquilino Lopez 32 – 10-0.1 – –
Jose Mesa↔ PHI 41 FA-elig 16-0.1 0.7 -1.0
Clay Rapada↔ CHC 26 – 4-0.2 – –
Omar Infante 25 arb 66-0.2 1.3 -1.6
Brent Clevlen 23 – 13-0.2 – –
Macay McBride↔ ATL 24 pre-arb 20-0.2 0.2 -0.7
Chad Durbin 29 FA-elig 36-0.3 0.4 -1.0
Neifi Perez 34 FA-elig 33-0.3 2.5 -3.1
Jose Capellan↔ MIL 26 – 10-0.3 – –
Wilfredo Ledezma↔ ATL 26 arb 23-0.4 0.2 -1.0
Cameron Maybin 20 – 24-0.4 0.1 -0.9
Mike Maroth↔ STL 29 arb 14-0.4 1.4 -2.4
Virgil Vasquez 25 – 5-0.5 – –
Craig Monroe↔ CHC 30 FA-elig 99-0.9 3.9 -5.8

Key additions (new vs 2006)

PlayerfWAR
Gary Sheffield3.0
Tim Byrdak0.5
Timo Perez0.5
Ryan Raburn0.3
Yorman Bazardo0.3
Jair Jurrjens0.2

Key subtractions (gone from 2006)

Player2006 fWAR
Chris Shelton1.1
Vance Wilson0.5
Jamie Walker0.5
Alexis Gomez0.3
Roman Colon0.1
Kevin Hooper0.0

Current & Historical Payroll

2007 payroll
$89.8M

What the front office was committed to as of 2007, 2007–2013. 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 (17)

PlayerAgeSvc2007200820092010201120122013
Magglio Ordonez3310.000$13.2M$15.8M$19.0M$17.8M$10.0MFREE AGENT
Gary Sheffield3819.000$10.9M$13.3MFREE AGENT
Ivan Rodriguez3516.000$10.6M$8.8MFREE AGENT
Kenny Rogers4218.000$8.0M$8.0MFREE AGENT
Carlos Guillén319.000$5.0M$12.0M$10.0M$13.0M$12.9MFREE AGENT
Brandon Inge306.000$4.9M$6.2M$6.3M$6.6M$5.5M$4.9MFREE AGENT
Todd Jones3914.000$4.8M$7.0MFREE AGENT
Placido Polanco319.000$4.6M$4.6M$4.6MFREE AGENT
Sean Casey3210.000$4.0MFREE AGENT
Craig Monroe306.000$3.9MFREE AGENT
Neifi Perez3411.000$2.5MFREE AGENT
Jose Mesa4120.000$714kFREE AGENT
Bobby Seay296.000$450k$780k$1.3MFREE AGENT
Jason Grilli307.000$395k$357kFREE AGENT
Chad Durbin298.000$385kFREE AGENT
Tim Byrdak339.000—FREE AGENT
Timo Perez327.000—FREE AGENT

Arbitration-eligible (13)

PlayerAgeSvc2007200820092010201120122013
Jeremy Bonderman244.000$4.5MARB 3FREE AGENT
Nate Robertson295.000$3.3MFREE AGENT
Mike Maroth295.000$1.4MFREE AGENT
Omar Infante255.000$1.3MFREE AGENT
Fernando Rodney305.000$1.0MFREE AGENT
Ramon Santiago275.000$500kFREE AGENT
Marcus Thames305.000$432kFREE AGENT
Curtis Granderson263.000$410kARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Wilfredo Ledezma264.000$217kARB 3FREE AGENT
Ryan Raburn263.000$190kARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Mike Hessman294.000—ARB 3FREE AGENT
Aquilino Lopez324.000—ARB 3FREE AGENT
Jose Capellan263.000—ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT

Pre-arbitration (14)

PlayerAgeSvc2007200820092010201120122013
Justin Verlander242.000$1.0MARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Joel Zumaya221.000$410kPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Mike Rabelo271.000$380kPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Macay McBride242.000$211kARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Andrew Miller221.000$125kPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Cameron Maybin200.000$92kPre-ArbPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Yorman Bazardo222.000—ARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Zach Miner251.000—Pre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Virgil Vasquez25–—
Frankie De La Cruz230.000—Pre-ArbPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Clay Rapada260.000—Pre-ArbPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Jordan Tata251.000—Pre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Jair Jurrjens210.000—Pre-ArbPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Brent Clevlen23–—

Graphs

Every roster slot ranked best→worst by WAR. Bars = Tigers 2007; 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.