RRosternomics
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Tigers DET

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GM: Dave Dombrowski

Overview

FORCED-SPEND ↘ cooling
expensive & losing · year 1 in this regime · payroll 1.5× league · TAB -13.8
-13.8TAB — talent above budget29th/30
-13.2WAB — realized wins (TAB + luck)27th/30
5.0depth — 2+ WAR regulars25th/30
-4.7dead WAR — sub-replacement drag13th/30
40%dead money %17th/30
0.457win %21st/30
25.4roster fWAR24th/30
-79surplus $M (value vs cost)29th/30
$132Mpayroll $M2nd/30

Roster

CFCurtis Granderson 140GClete Thomas 16GBrandon Inge 13G
LFMarcus Thames 73GMatt Joyce 60GRyan Raburn 30G
RFMagglio Ordonez 135GMatt Joyce 25GRyan Raburn 22G
SSEdgar Renteria 138GRamon Santiago 33GMichael Hollimon 6G
2BPlacido Polanco 141GRamon Santiago 21GRyan Raburn 16G
3BCarlos Guillén 89GBrandon Inge 51GRyan Raburn 18G
1BMiguel Cabrera 143GCarlos Guillén 24GMarcus Thames 9G
STARTERSJustin Verlander 3.2WARArmando Galarraga 1.5WARNate Robertson 1.0WARZach Miner 0.9WARKenny Rogers 0.9WAR
CBrandon Inge 60GDane Sardinha 17GDusty Ryan 15G
DHGary Sheffield 106GMarcus Thames 14GJeff Larish 12G
BULLPEN★ Todd Jones 18svKyle Farnsworth 14hBobby Seay 13hFreddy Dolsi 7hCasey Fossum 6hGary Glover 5hFernando Rodney 5hAquilino López 4h
CBrandon Inge 60 · Dane Sardinha 17 · Dusty Ryan 15
1BMiguel Cabrera 143 · Carlos Guillén 24 · Marcus Thames 9
2BPlacido Polanco 141 · Ramon Santiago 21 · Ryan Raburn 16
3BCarlos Guillén 89 · Brandon Inge 51 · Ryan Raburn 18
SSEdgar Renteria 138 · Ramon Santiago 33 · Michael Hollimon 6
LFMarcus Thames 73 · Matt Joyce 60 · Ryan Raburn 30
CFCurtis Granderson 140 · Clete Thomas 16 · Brandon Inge 13
RFMagglio Ordonez 135 · Matt Joyce 25 · Ryan Raburn 22
DHGary Sheffield 106 · Marcus Thames 14 · Jeff Larish 12
SPJustin Verlander 3.2 · Armando Galarraga 1.5 · Nate Robertson 1.0 · Zach Miner 0.9 · Kenny Rogers 0.9
BP★ Todd Jones 18 · Kyle Farnsworth 14 · Bobby Seay 13 · Freddy Dolsi 7 · Casey Fossum 6 · Gary Glover 5 · Fernando Rodney 5 · Aquilino López 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.

2008 roster — value & surplus

PlayerAgeServiceGfWARSalary $MSurplus $M
Curtis Granderson 27 arb 1414.1 1.0 +8.3
Justin Verlander 25 arb 333.2 1.1 +6.1
Placido Polanco 32 FA-elig 1413.0 4.6 +2.2
Miguel Cabrera 25 arb 1602.6 11.3 -5.3
Carlos Guillén 32 FA-elig 1132.1 12.0 -7.3
Magglio Ordonez 34 FA-elig 1461.7 15.8 -12.0
Matt Joyce 23 – 921.6 – –
Armando Galarraga 26 – 301.5 0.4 +3.1
Ramon Santiago 28 FA-elig 581.2 0.6 +2.1
Ivan Rodriguez↔ NYY 36 FA-elig 821.2 8.8 -6.2
Edgar Renteria 31 FA-elig 1381.1 10.0 -7.4
Nate Robertson 30 FA-elig 321.0 4.2 -1.9
Bobby Seay 30 FA-elig 601.0 0.8 +1.4
Zach Miner 26 pre-arb 450.9 0.4 +1.6
Kenny Rogers 43 FA-elig 300.9 8.0 -6.0
Aquilino Lopez 33 arb 480.6 0.4 +1.0
Dusty Ryan 23 – 150.6 – –
Mike Hessman 30 – 120.4 – –
Fernando Rodney 31 FA-elig 380.3 1.7 -0.9
Jeremy Bonderman 25 arb 120.3 8.5 -7.8
Eddie Bonine 27 – 50.2 – –
Clay Rapada 27 – 250.2 – –
Casey Fossum 30 – 310.2 – –
Chris Lambert 25 – 80.1 – –
Clete Thomas 24 pre-arb 400.1 0.4 -0.1
Michael Hollimon 26 – 110.1 – –
Brent Clevlen 24 – 110.1 – –
Jason Grilli↔ COL 31 FA-elig 90.0 0.1 -0.0
Freddy Garcia 31 – 30.0 – –
Gary Glover↔ TBR 31 FA-elig 18-0.0 0.4 -0.5
Yorman Bazardo 23 arb 3-0.0 0.4 -0.5
Kyle Farnsworth↔ NYY 32 FA-elig 16-0.1 1.6 -1.7
Freddy Dolsi 25 – 42-0.1 – –
Denny Bautista↔ PIT 27 arb 16-0.1 0.1 -0.3
Brandon Inge 31 FA-elig 113-0.1 6.2 -6.5
Francis Beltran 28 – 11-0.1 – –
Dane Sardinha 29 – 17-0.2 – –
Francisco Cruceta 26 – 13-0.2 – –
Gary Sheffield 39 FA-elig 114-0.2 13.3 -13.9
Joel Zumaya 23 pre-arb 21-0.4 0.4 -1.2
Jeff Larish 25 – 42-0.4 – –
Ryan Raburn 27 arb 92-0.4 0.4 -1.4
Todd Jones 40 FA-elig 45-0.5 7.0 -8.2
Marcus Thames 31 FA-elig 103-0.6 1.3 -2.6
Jacque Jones↔ MIA 33 FA-elig 24-0.6 3.6 -5.0
Dontrelle Willis 26 arb 8-0.6 7.0 -8.4

Key additions (new vs 2007)

PlayerfWAR
Miguel Cabrera2.6
Matt Joyce1.6
Armando Galarraga1.5
Edgar Renteria1.1
Dusty Ryan0.6
Eddie Bonine0.2

Key subtractions (gone from 2007)

Player2007 fWAR
Tim Byrdak0.5
Timo Perez0.5
Andrew Miller0.2
Jair Jurrjens0.2
Jordan Tata0.1
Sean Casey0.1

Current & Historical Payroll

2008 payroll
$131.8M

What the front office was committed to as of 2008, 2008–2014. 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)

PlayerAgeSvc2008200920102011201220132014
Magglio Ordonez3411.000$15.8M$19.0M$17.8M$10.0MFREE AGENT
Gary Sheffield3920.000$13.3MFREE AGENT
Carlos Guillén3210.000$12.0M$10.0M$13.0M$12.9MFREE AGENT
Edgar Renteria3112.000$10.0MFREE AGENT
Ivan Rodriguez3617.000$8.8MFREE AGENT
Kenny Rogers4319.000$8.0MFREE AGENT
Todd Jones4015.000$7.0MFREE AGENT
Brandon Inge317.000$6.2M$6.3M$6.6M$5.5M$4.9MFREE AGENT
Placido Polanco3210.000$4.6M$4.6MFREE AGENT
Nate Robertson306.000$4.2M$7.0MFREE AGENT
Jacque Jones339.000$3.6MFREE AGENT
Fernando Rodney316.000$1.7M$2.7MFREE AGENT
Kyle Farnsworth329.000$1.6MFREE AGENT
Marcus Thames316.000$1.3M$2.3MFREE AGENT
Bobby Seay307.000$780k$1.3MFREE AGENT
Ramon Santiago286.000$575k$825k$1.2M$1.4M$2.1M$2.1MFREE AGENT
Gary Glover319.000$412kFREE AGENT
Jason Grilli318.000$63kFREE AGENT
Freddy Garcia319.000—FREE AGENT
Casey Fossum307.000—FREE AGENT

Arbitration-eligible (10)

PlayerAgeSvc2008200920102011201220132014
Miguel Cabrera255.000$11.3MFREE AGENT
Jeremy Bonderman255.000$8.5MFREE AGENT
Dontrelle Willis265.000$7.0MFREE AGENT
Justin Verlander253.000$1.1MARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Curtis Granderson274.000$1.0MARB 3FREE AGENT
Aquilino Lopez335.000$400kFREE AGENT
Ryan Raburn274.000$396kARB 3FREE AGENT
Yorman Bazardo233.000$395kARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Denny Bautista274.000$124kARB 3FREE AGENT
Mike Hessman305.000—FREE AGENT

Pre-arbitration (16)

PlayerAgeSvc2008200920102011201220132014
Joel Zumaya232.000$420kARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Zach Miner262.000$410kARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Clete Thomas240.000$390kPre-ArbPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Armando Galarraga261.000$390kPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Dane Sardinha29–—
Francis Beltran28–—
Francisco Cruceta26–—
Eddie Bonine270.000—Pre-ArbPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Michael Hollimon26–—
Dusty Ryan230.000—Pre-ArbPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Clay Rapada271.000—Pre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Freddy Dolsi250.000—Pre-ArbPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Brent Clevlen24–—
Matt Joyce230.000—Pre-ArbPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Jeff Larish250.000—Pre-ArbPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Chris Lambert25–—

Graphs

Every roster slot ranked best→worst by WAR. Bars = Tigers 2008; 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.