RRosternomics
𝕏

Tigers DET

‹ ›

GM: Dave Dombrowski

Overview

CONTEND ↗ rising
expensive & winning · year 3 in this regime · payroll 1.25× league · TAB +7.9
+7.9TAB — talent above budget7th/30
+3.2WAB — realized wins (TAB + luck)11th/30
8.0depth — 2+ WAR regulars11th/30
-7.7dead WAR — sub-replacement drag27th/30
22%dead money %4th/30
0.543win %11th/30
44.8roster fWAR3rd/30
-8surplus $M (value vs cost)13th/30
$124Mpayroll $M7th/30

2012: won pennant · 88–74. Ranks are vs the 30 teams that season.

Roster

CFAustin Jackson 137GQuintin Berry 22GDon Kelly 8G
LFQuintin Berry 64GAndy Dirks 59GDelmon Young 31G
RFBrennan Boesch 121GDon Kelly 35GAndy Dirks 24G
SSJhonny Peralta 149GRamon Santiago 20GDanny Worth 3G
2BOmar Infante 144GRamon Santiago 71GRyan Raburn 32G
3BMiguel Cabrera 154GRamon Santiago 6GOmar Infante 6G
1BPrince Fielder 159GDon Kelly 8GMiguel Cabrera 2G
STARTERSJustin Verlander 6.8WARMax Scherzer 4.5WARDoug Fister 3.5WARRick Porcello 2.9WARDrew Smyly 1.8WAR
CAlex Avila 113GGerald Laird 56GBryan Holaday 6G
DHDelmon Young 118GAndy Dirks 10GBrennan Boesch 9G
BULLPEN★ Jose Valverde 35svJoaquín Benoit 30hPhil Coke 20hOctavio Dotel 11hBrayan Villarreal 10hDarin Downs 1hDuane Below 0hLuis Marte 0h
CAlex Avila 113 · Gerald Laird 56 · Bryan Holaday 6
1BPrince Fielder 159 · Don Kelly 8 · Miguel Cabrera 2
2BOmar Infante 144 · Ramon Santiago 71 · Ryan Raburn 32
3BMiguel Cabrera 154 · Ramon Santiago 6 · Omar Infante 6
SSJhonny Peralta 149 · Ramon Santiago 20 · Danny Worth 3
LFQuintin Berry 64 · Andy Dirks 59 · Delmon Young 31
CFAustin Jackson 137 · Quintin Berry 22 · Don Kelly 8
RFBrennan Boesch 121 · Don Kelly 35 · Andy Dirks 24
DHDelmon Young 118 · Andy Dirks 10 · Brennan Boesch 9
SPJustin Verlander 6.8 · Max Scherzer 4.5 · Doug Fister 3.5 · Rick Porcello 2.9 · Drew Smyly 1.8
BP★ Jose Valverde 35 · Joaquín Benoit 30 · Phil Coke 20 · Octavio Dotel 11 · Brayan Villarreal 10 · Darin Downs 1 · Duane Below 0 · Luis Marte 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.

2012 roster — value & surplus

PlayerAgeServiceGfWARSalary $MSurplus $M
Miguel Cabrera 29 FA-elig 1617.3 21.0 -2.2
Justin Verlander 29 FA-elig 336.8 20.0 -2.4
Austin Jackson 25 pre-arb 1375.1 0.5 +12.6
Prince Fielder 28 FA-elig 1625.0 23.0 -10.0
Max Scherzer 27 arb 324.5 3.8 +7.8
Doug Fister 28 arb 263.5 0.5 +8.5
Alex Avila 25 arb 1163.0 0.5 +7.1
Rick Porcello 23 arb 312.9 3.1 +4.5
Jhonny Peralta 30 FA-elig 1502.0 5.5 -0.4
Andy Dirks 26 pre-arb 881.8 0.5 +4.2
Drew Smyly 23 – 231.8 0.4 +4.2
Octavio Dotel 38 FA-elig 571.5 3.0 +1.0
Aníbal Sánchez↔ MIA 28 FA-elig 121.3 3.1 +0.3
Quintin Berry 27 – 941.0 0.5 +2.1
Brayan Villarreal 25 pre-arb 501.0 0.5 +2.0
Jose Valverde 34 FA-elig 710.9 9.0 -6.6
Brandon Inge↔ OAK 35 FA-elig 90.8 0.6 +1.5
Phil Coke 29 arb 660.7 1.1 +0.7
Al Alburquerque 26 pre-arb 80.4 0.5 +0.7
Omar Infante↔ MIA 30 FA-elig 640.3 1.7 -0.9
Darin Downs 27 pre-arb 180.2 0.5 +0.1
Luke Putkonen 26 pre-arb 120.2 0.5 +0.0
Duane Below 26 pre-arb 270.2 0.5 +0.0
Joaquín Benoit 34 FA-elig 730.1 5.5 -5.2
Avisaíl García 21 – 230.0 0.1 +0.0
Hernán Pérez 21 – 20.0 0.5 -0.4
Bryan Holaday 24 – 60.0 0.5 -0.4
Thad Weber 27 – 20.0 – –
Matt Young 29 – 50.0 – –
Clete Thomas↔ MIN 28 arb 3-0.0 0.1 -0.1
Brad Eldred 31 – 5-0.1 – –
Jose Ortega 23 pre-arb 2-0.1 0.5 -0.7
Danny Worth 26 pre-arb 43-0.1 0.5 -0.9
Casey Crosby 23 – 3-0.1 0.5 -0.9
Luis Marte 25 pre-arb 13-0.2 0.5 -0.9
Adam Wilk 24 pre-arb 3-0.2 0.5 -1.1
Omir Santos 31 – 3-0.2 – –
Ramon Santiago 32 FA-elig 93-0.3 2.1 -2.8
Jeff Baker↔ ATL 31 FA-elig 15-0.3 0.2 -1.0
Jacob Turner↔ MIA 21 pre-arb 3-0.3 0.4 -1.2
Daniel Schlereth 26 arb 6-0.4 0.5 -1.6
Collin Balester 26 arb 11-0.5 0.5 -1.8
Gerald Laird 32 FA-elig 63-0.6 1.0 -2.7
Brennan Boesch 27 pre-arb 132-0.7 0.5 -2.3
Don Kelly 32 arb 75-0.8 0.9 -2.9
Delmon Young 26 FA-elig 151-1.2 6.8 -9.7
Ryan Raburn 31 FA-elig 66-1.4 2.1 -5.8

Key additions (new vs 2011)

PlayerfWAR
Prince Fielder5.0
Drew Smyly1.8
Octavio Dotel1.5
Aníbal Sánchez1.3
Quintin Berry1.0
Omar Infante0.3

Key subtractions (gone from 2011)

Player2011 fWAR
Casper Wells0.9
Wilson Betemit0.5
Brad Penny0.2
Ryan Perry0.2
Scott Sizemore0.2
Lester Oliveros0.0

Current & Historical Payroll

2012 payroll
$124.1M

What the front office was committed to as of 2012, 2012–2018. 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 (12)

PlayerAgeSvc2012201320142015201620172018
Prince Fielder286.068$23.0M$23.0MFREE AGENT
Miguel Cabrera298.101$21.0M$21.0M$22.0M$22.0M$28.0M$28.0M$30.0M
Justin Verlander296.001$20.0M$20.0M$20.0M$28.0M$28.0M$23.8MFREE AGENT
Jose Valverde348.090$9.0M$2.0MFREE AGENT
Joaquín Benoit3415.040$5.5M$5.5MFREE AGENT
Jhonny Peralta307.118$5.5M$6.0MFREE AGENT
Octavio Dotel3812.113$3.0M$3.5MFREE AGENT
Ramon Santiago327.095$2.1M$2.1MFREE AGENT
Omar Infante3014.020$1.7M$4.0MFREE AGENT
Gerald Laird327.007$1.0MFREE AGENT
Brandon Inge3510.095$596kFREE AGENT
Brad Eldred317.000—FREE AGENT

Arbitration-eligible (6)

PlayerAgeSvc2012201320142015201620172018
Delmon Young265.034$6.8MFREE AGENT
Max Scherzer273.079$3.8MARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Aníbal Sánchez285.099$3.1MFREE AGENT
Ryan Raburn314.109$2.1MARB 3FREE AGENT
Phil Coke293.028$1.1MARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Jeff Baker315.049$248kFREE AGENT

Pre-arbitration (29)

PlayerAgeSvc2012201320142015201620172018
Rick Porcello232.170$3.1MARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Don Kelly322.149$900kARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Alex Avila252.061$510kARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Doug Fister282.058$507kARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Brennan Boesch272.000$502kARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Austin Jackson252.000$500kARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Al Alburquerque261.000$495kPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Daniel Schlereth261.111$490kPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Andy Dirks260.127$485kPre-ArbPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Collin Balester262.016$485kARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Casey Crosby23–$482k
Danny Worth262.049$482kARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Duane Below261.050$482kPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Bryan Holaday240.000$480kPre-ArbPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Luke Putkonen262.018$480kARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Jose Ortega230.049$480kPre-ArbPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Quintin Berry272.080$480kARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Darin Downs272.044$480kARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Brayan Villarreal251.084$480kPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Hernán Pérez210.000$480kPre-ArbPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Luis Marte251.000$480kPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Adam Wilk240.056$480kPre-ArbPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Drew Smyly230.000$391kPre-ArbPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Jacob Turner210.029$353kPre-ArbPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Clete Thomas281.027$96kPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Avisaíl García210.000$89kPre-ArbPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Omir Santos31–—
Matt Young291.000—Pre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Thad Weber270.000—Pre-ArbPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT

Graphs

Every roster slot ranked best→worst by WAR. Bars = Tigers 2012; 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.