RRosternomics
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Tigers DET

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GM: Dave Dombrowski

Overview

CONTEND ↗ rising
expensive & winning · year 4 in this regime · payroll 1.47× league · TAB +15.1
+15.1TAB — talent above budget2nd/30
+6.0WAB — realized wins (TAB + luck)11th/30
11.0depth — 2+ WAR regulars2nd/30
-2.7dead WAR — sub-replacement drag4th/30
10%dead money %1st/30
0.574win %6th/30
54.1roster fWAR1st/30
-7surplus $M (value vs cost)15th/30
$153Mpayroll $M5th/30

2013: made playoffs · 93–69. Ranks are vs the 30 teams that season.

Roster

CFAustin Jackson 129GDon Kelly 25GAndy Dirks 4G
LFAndy Dirks 116GMatt Tuiasosopo 63GDon Kelly 38G
RFTorii Hunter 143GDon Kelly 22GAndy Dirks 15G
SSJhonny Peralta 106GJose Iglesias 71GRamon Santiago 27G
2BOmar Infante 118GRamon Santiago 33GHernán Pérez 25G
3BMiguel Cabrera 145GJose Iglesias 37GRamon Santiago 27G
1BPrince Fielder 151GMatt Tuiasosopo 13GVictor Martinez 11G
STARTERSMax Scherzer 6.0WARAníbal Sánchez 5.9WARJustin Verlander 4.8WARDoug Fister 4.2WARRick Porcello 2.9WAR
CAlex Avila 98GBrayan Peña 64GBryan Holaday 14G
DHVictor Martinez 139GPrince Fielder 11GDon Kelly 6G
BULLPEN★ Joaquín Benoit 24svDrew Smyly 21hAl Alburquerque 10hJose Veras 9hBruce Rondón 5hPhil Coke 4hDarin Downs 4hLuke Putkonen 1h
CAlex Avila 98 · Brayan Peña 64 · Bryan Holaday 14
1BPrince Fielder 151 · Matt Tuiasosopo 13 · Victor Martinez 11
2BOmar Infante 118 · Ramon Santiago 33 · Hernán Pérez 25
3BMiguel Cabrera 145 · Jose Iglesias 37 · Ramon Santiago 27
SSJhonny Peralta 106 · Jose Iglesias 71 · Ramon Santiago 27
LFAndy Dirks 116 · Matt Tuiasosopo 63 · Don Kelly 38
CFAustin Jackson 129 · Don Kelly 25 · Andy Dirks 4
RFTorii Hunter 143 · Don Kelly 22 · Andy Dirks 15
DHVictor Martinez 139 · Prince Fielder 11 · Don Kelly 6
SPMax Scherzer 6.0 · Aníbal Sánchez 5.9 · Justin Verlander 4.8 · Doug Fister 4.2 · Rick Porcello 2.9
BP★ Joaquín Benoit 24 · Drew Smyly 21 · Al Alburquerque 10 · Jose Veras 9 · Bruce Rondón 5 · Phil Coke 4 · Darin Downs 4 · Luke Putkonen 1

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.

2013 roster — value & surplus

PlayerAgeServiceGfWARSalary $MSurplus $M
Miguel Cabrera 30 FA-elig 1488.6 21.0 +2.1
Max Scherzer 28 arb 326.0 6.7 +9.3
Aníbal Sánchez 29 FA-elig 295.9 8.8 +6.9
Justin Verlander 30 FA-elig 344.8 20.0 -7.2
Doug Fister 29 arb 334.2 4.0 +7.2
Jhonny Peralta 31 FA-elig 1073.6 6.0 +3.7
Austin Jackson 26 arb 1293.2 3.5 +5.2
Torii Hunter 37 FA-elig 1443.0 12.0 -3.9
Rick Porcello 24 arb 322.9 5.1 +2.8
Omar Infante 31 FA-elig 1182.9 4.0 +3.8
Prince Fielder 29 FA-elig 1622.7 23.0 -15.9
Drew Smyly 24 pre-arb 631.8 0.5 +4.3
Alex Avila 26 arb 1021.4 3.0 +0.9
Joaquín Benoit 35 FA-elig 661.4 5.5 -1.7
Andy Dirks 27 pre-arb 1311.0 0.5 +2.3
Victor Martinez 34 FA-elig 1590.8 13.0 -10.9
Jose Iglesias↔ BOS 23 pre-arb 460.5 0.9 +0.5
Brayan Peña 31 FA-elig 710.5 0.9 +0.3
Bruce Rondón 22 – 300.4 0.3 +0.8
Ramon Santiago 33 FA-elig 800.4 2.1 -1.1
Matt Tuiasosopo 27 arb 810.3 0.5 +0.2
Darin Downs 28 pre-arb 290.2 0.5 +0.1
Al Alburquerque 27 pre-arb 530.2 0.5 -0.0
Jose Veras↔ HOU 32 FA-elig 250.1 0.7 -0.5
Luke Putkonen 27 pre-arb 300.0 0.3 -0.2
Evan Reed 27 – 160.0 – –
Don Kelly 33 FA-elig 1120.0 0.9 -0.8
Octavio Dotel 39 FA-elig 60.0 3.5 -3.5
Phil Coke 30 arb 49-0.0 1.9 -1.9
Nick Castellanos 21 – 11-0.1 0.1 -0.5
Bryan Holaday 25 pre-arb 16-0.1 0.2 -0.6
Jose Alvarez 24 – 14-0.2 0.1 -0.5
Jose Ortega 24 pre-arb 11-0.2 0.1 -0.6
Jeremy Bonderman↔ SEA 30 – 11-0.2 – –
Danny Worth 27 pre-arb 3-0.2 0.1 -0.7
Brayan Villarreal↔ BOS 26 pre-arb 7-0.3 0.4 -1.2
Avisaíl García↔ CHW 22 pre-arb 30-0.4 0.2 -1.2
Hernán Pérez 22 pre-arb 34-0.4 0.2 -1.3
Jose Valverde 35 FA-elig 20-0.6 2.0 -3.5

Key additions (new vs 2012)

PlayerfWAR
Torii Hunter3.0
Victor Martinez0.8
Jose Iglesias0.5
Brayan Peña0.5
Bruce Rondón0.4
Matt Tuiasosopo0.3

Key subtractions (gone from 2012)

Player2012 fWAR
Quintin Berry1.0
Duane Below0.2
Thad Weber0.0
Matt Young0.0
Clete Thomas-0.0
Brad Eldred-0.1

Current & Historical Payroll

2013 payroll
$152.8M

What the front office was committed to as of 2013, 2013–2019. 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 (14)

PlayerAgeSvc2013201420152016201720182019
Prince Fielder297.068$23.0MFREE AGENT
Miguel Cabrera309.101$21.0M$22.0M$22.0M$28.0M$28.0M$30.0M$30.0M
Justin Verlander307.001$20.0M$20.0M$28.0M$28.0M$23.8MFREE AGENT
Victor Martinez349.114$13.0M$12.0M$14.0M$18.0M$18.0M$18.0MFREE AGENT
Torii Hunter3713.132$12.0M$14.0MFREE AGENT
Aníbal Sánchez296.099$8.8M$15.8M$16.8M$16.8M$16.8MFREE AGENT
Jhonny Peralta318.118$6.0MFREE AGENT
Joaquín Benoit3515.040$5.5MFREE AGENT
Omar Infante3115.020$4.0MFREE AGENT
Octavio Dotel3913.113$3.5MFREE AGENT
Ramon Santiago338.095$2.1MFREE AGENT
Jose Valverde3510.000$2.0MFREE AGENT
Brayan Peña318.081$875kFREE AGENT
Jeremy Bonderman3010.000—FREE AGENT

Arbitration-eligible (8)

PlayerAgeSvc2013201420152016201720182019
Max Scherzer284.079$6.7MARB 3FREE AGENT
Rick Porcello243.170$5.1MARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Doug Fister293.058$4.0MARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Austin Jackson263.000$3.5MARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Alex Avila263.061$3.0MARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Phil Coke304.028$1.9MARB 3FREE AGENT
Don Kelly333.138$900kARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Jose Veras325.128$690kFREE AGENT

Pre-arbitration (17)

PlayerAgeSvc2013201420152016201720182019
Jose Iglesias232.000$869kARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Matt Tuiasosopo272.079$525kARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Andy Dirks271.139$505kPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Al Alburquerque272.000$500kARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Drew Smyly240.149$498kPre-ArbPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Darin Downs282.044$494kARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Brayan Villarreal261.084$440kPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Luke Putkonen272.018$295kARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Bruce Rondón220.000$278kPre-ArbPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Avisaíl García220.034$204kPre-ArbPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Hernán Pérez220.002$166kPre-ArbPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Bryan Holaday250.049$155kPre-ArbPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Jose Alvarez240.000$145kPre-ArbPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Jose Ortega240.049$107kPre-ArbPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Danny Worth272.049$80kARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Nick Castellanos210.000$80kPre-ArbPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Evan Reed271.082—Pre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT

Graphs

Every roster slot ranked best→worst by WAR. Bars = Tigers 2013; 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.