RRosternomics
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Tigers DET

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GM: Dave Dombrowski

Overview

FORCED-SPEND ↘ cooling
expensive & losing · year 2 in this regime · payroll 1.36× league · TAB -6.3
-6.3TAB — talent above budget23rd/30
-0.5WAB — realized wins (TAB + luck)17th/30
6.0depth — 2+ WAR regulars18th/30
-5.8dead WAR — sub-replacement drag23rd/30
48%dead money %21st/30
0.528win %13th/30
31.9roster fWAR18th/30
-47surplus $M (value vs cost)26th/30
$124Mpayroll $M5th/30

Roster

CFCurtis Granderson 160GRyan Raburn 7GClete Thomas 7G
LFRyan Raburn 70GCarlos Guillén 42GClete Thomas 23G
RFMagglio Ordonez 104GClete Thomas 87GRyan Raburn 14G
SSAdam Everett 116GRamon Santiago 69GBrent Dlugach 2G
2BPlacido Polanco 151GRamon Santiago 29GDon Kelly 1G
3BBrandon Inge 161GRyan Raburn 6GDon Kelly 4G
1BMiguel Cabrera 153GJeff Larish 11GRyan Raburn 10G
STARTERSJustin Verlander 8.4WAREdwin Jackson 3.6WARRick Porcello 1.8WARNate Robertson 0.5WARArmando Galarraga 0.5WAR
CGerald Laird 135GAlex Avila 25GDusty Ryan 12G
DHMarcus Thames 54GAubrey Huff 47GCarlos Guillén 34G
BULLPEN★ Fernando Rodney 37svBobby Seay 28hBrandon Lyon 15hJoel Zumaya 7hRyan Perry 6hFu-Te Ni 3hEddie Bonine 0hCasey Fien 0h
CGerald Laird 135 · Alex Avila 25 · Dusty Ryan 12
1BMiguel Cabrera 153 · Jeff Larish 11 · Ryan Raburn 10
2BPlacido Polanco 151 · Ramon Santiago 29 · Don Kelly 1
3BBrandon Inge 161 · Ryan Raburn 6 · Don Kelly 4
SSAdam Everett 116 · Ramon Santiago 69 · Brent Dlugach 2
LFRyan Raburn 70 · Carlos Guillén 42 · Clete Thomas 23
CFCurtis Granderson 160 · Ryan Raburn 7 · Clete Thomas 7
RFMagglio Ordonez 104 · Clete Thomas 87 · Ryan Raburn 14
DHMarcus Thames 54 · Aubrey Huff 47 · Carlos Guillén 34
SPJustin Verlander 8.4 · Edwin Jackson 3.6 · Rick Porcello 1.8 · Nate Robertson 0.5 · Armando Galarraga 0.5
BP★ Fernando Rodney 37 · Bobby Seay 28 · Brandon Lyon 15 · Joel Zumaya 7 · Ryan Perry 6 · Fu-Te Ni 3 · Eddie Bonine 0 · Casey Fien 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.

2009 roster — value & surplus

PlayerAgeServiceGfWARSalary $MSurplus $M
Justin Verlander 26 arb 358.4 3.7 +16.3
Miguel Cabrera 26 FA-elig 1605.0 14.4 -2.3
Edwin Jackson 25 FA-elig 333.6 2.2 +6.5
Curtis Granderson 28 arb 1603.0 3.5 +3.6
Placido Polanco 33 FA-elig 1532.9 4.6 +2.2
Brandon Inge 32 FA-elig 1612.0 6.3 -1.5
Rick Porcello 20 pre-arb 311.8 2.1 +2.2
Ryan Raburn 28 arb 1131.5 0.4 +3.3
Clete Thomas 25 pre-arb 1021.2 0.4 +2.5
Magglio Ordonez 35 FA-elig 1310.9 19.0 -16.9
Brandon Lyon 29 FA-elig 650.8 4.2 -2.3
Bobby Seay 31 FA-elig 670.8 1.3 +0.6
Adam Everett 32 FA-elig 1180.7 1.0 +0.7
Alex Avila 22 – 290.7 0.4 +1.3
Luke French↔ SEA 23 – 70.6 – –
Armando Galarraga 27 pre-arb 290.5 0.4 +0.9
Ramon Santiago 29 FA-elig 930.5 0.8 +0.3
Nate Robertson 31 FA-elig 280.5 7.0 -5.9
Zach Miner 27 arb 510.4 0.4 +0.5
Fu-Te Ni 26 pre-arb 360.4 0.4 +0.5
Fernando Rodney 32 FA-elig 730.3 2.7 -1.9
Freddy Dolsi 26 pre-arb 60.3 0.4 +0.2
Jeff Larish 26 pre-arb 320.2 0.4 +0.2
Josh Anderson↔ KCR 26 pre-arb 740.2 0.3 +0.2
Ryan Perry 22 pre-arb 530.2 0.4 +0.1
Wilkin Ramirez 23 pre-arb 150.2 0.4 -0.0
Don Kelly 29 pre-arb 310.0 0.4 -0.3
Marcus Thames 32 FA-elig 870.0 2.3 -2.3
Alfredo Figaro 24 pre-arb 5-0.0 0.4 -0.4
Casey Fien 25 pre-arb 9-0.0 0.4 -0.5
Juan Rincon↔ COL 30 FA-elig 7-0.1 0.2 -0.3
Brent Dlugach 26 pre-arb 5-0.1 0.4 -0.5
Clay Rapada 28 pre-arb 3-0.1 0.4 -0.6
Eddie Bonine 28 pre-arb 10-0.1 0.4 -0.6
Dontrelle Willis 27 FA-elig 7-0.1 10.0 -10.3
Carlos Guillén 33 FA-elig 81-0.2 10.0 -10.4
Joel Zumaya 24 arb 29-0.2 0.7 -1.3
Dusty Ryan 24 pre-arb 12-0.2 0.4 -1.0
Chris Lambert↔ BAL 26 – 2-0.3 – –
Jeremy Bonderman 26 FA-elig 8-0.4 12.5 -13.3
Matt Treanor 33 arb 4-0.4 0.8 -1.6
Jarrod Washburn↔ SEA 34 FA-elig 8-0.4 2.8 -3.9
Dane Sardinha 30 – 12-0.7 – –
Aubrey Huff↔ BAL 32 FA-elig 40-0.9 2.1 -4.2
Gerald Laird 29 FA-elig 135-1.6 2.8 -6.7

Key additions (new vs 2008)

PlayerfWAR
Edwin Jackson3.6
Rick Porcello1.8
Brandon Lyon0.8
Adam Everett0.7
Alex Avila0.7
Luke French0.6

Key subtractions (gone from 2008)

Player2008 fWAR
Matt Joyce1.6
Ivan Rodriguez1.2
Edgar Renteria1.1
Kenny Rogers0.9
Aquilino Lopez0.6
Mike Hessman0.4

Current & Historical Payroll

2009 payroll
$124.1M

What the front office was committed to as of 2009, 2009–2015. 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 (19)

PlayerAgeSvc2009201020112012201320142015
Magglio Ordonez3512.000$19.0M$17.8M$10.0MFREE AGENT
Miguel Cabrera266.000$14.4M$20.0M$20.0M$21.0M$21.0M$22.0M$22.0M
Jeremy Bonderman266.000$12.5M$12.5MFREE AGENT
Dontrelle Willis276.000$10.0M$7.5MFREE AGENT
Carlos Guillén3311.000$10.0M$13.0M$12.9MFREE AGENT
Nate Robertson317.000$7.0MFREE AGENT
Brandon Inge328.000$6.3M$6.6M$5.5M$4.9MFREE AGENT
Placido Polanco3311.000$4.6MFREE AGENT
Brandon Lyon298.000$4.2MFREE AGENT
Jarrod Washburn3411.000$2.8MFREE AGENT
Gerald Laird296.000$2.8M$4.0MFREE AGENT$1.0M
Fernando Rodney327.000$2.7MFREE AGENT
Marcus Thames327.000$2.3MFREE AGENT
Edwin Jackson256.000$2.2MFREE AGENT
Aubrey Huff329.000$2.1MFREE AGENT
Bobby Seay318.000$1.3MFREE AGENT
Adam Everett328.000$1.0M$1.6MFREE AGENT
Ramon Santiago297.000$825k$1.2M$1.4M$2.1M$2.1MFREE AGENT
Juan Rincon308.000$159kFREE AGENT

Arbitration-eligible (6)

PlayerAgeSvc2009201020112012201320142015
Justin Verlander264.000$3.7MARB 3FREE AGENT
Curtis Granderson285.000$3.5MFREE AGENT
Matt Treanor335.000$750kFREE AGENT
Joel Zumaya243.000$735kARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Zach Miner273.000$438kARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Ryan Raburn285.000$410kFREE AGENT

Pre-arbitration (20)

PlayerAgeSvc2009201020112012201320142015
Rick Porcello200.000$2.1MPre-ArbPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Armando Galarraga272.000$435kARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Freddy Dolsi261.000$407kPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Clay Rapada282.000$405kARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Jeff Larish261.000$403kPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Clete Thomas251.000$403kPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Brent Dlugach260.000$400kPre-ArbPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Don Kelly292.000$400kARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Eddie Bonine281.000$400kPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Dusty Ryan241.000$400kPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Ryan Perry220.000$400kPre-ArbPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Wilkin Ramirez230.000$400kPre-ArbPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Alfredo Figaro240.000$400kPre-ArbPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Alex Avila220.000$400kPre-ArbPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Fu-Te Ni260.000$400kPre-ArbPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Casey Fien250.000$400kPre-ArbPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Josh Anderson262.000$251kARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Dane Sardinha30–—
Luke French23–—
Chris Lambert26–—

Graphs

Every roster slot ranked best→worst by WAR. Bars = Tigers 2009; 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.