RRosternomics
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Astros HOU

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GM: Gerry Hunsicker

Overview

CONTEND ↘ cooling
expensive & winning · year 1 in this regime · payroll 1.07× league · TAB +3.0
+3.0TAB — talent above budget12th/30
+10.2WAB — realized wins (TAB + luck)4th/30
10.0depth — 2+ WAR regulars3rd/30
-5.0dead WAR — sub-replacement drag17th/30
28%dead money %15th/30
0.574win %4th/30
38.0roster fWAR10th/30
-13surplus $M (value vs cost)17th/30
$66Mpayroll $M14th/30

2001: made playoffs · 93–69. Ranks are vs the 30 teams that season.

Roster

CFRichard Hidalgo 128GGlen Barker 60GLance Berkman 40G
LFLance Berkman 128GDaryle Ward 27GRichard Hidalgo 23G
RFMoises Alou 130GRichard Hidalgo 37GOrlando Merced 21G
SSJulio Lugo 133GJose Vizcaino 53GAdam Everett 6G
2BCraig Biggio 154GJose Vizcaino 18GJulio Lugo 2G
3BVinny Castilla 145GChris Truby 35GCharlie Hayes 11G
1BJeff Bagwell 160GDaryle Ward 9GCharlie Hayes 2G
STARTERSRoy Oswalt 4.3WARWade Miller 2.8WARShane Reynolds 2.2WARPedro Astacio 0.8WARTim Redding 0.2WAR
CBrad Ausmus 127GTony Eusebio 48GScott Servais 9G
DHMoises Alou 4GDaryle Ward 3GCraig Biggio 1G
BULLPEN★ Billy Wagner 39svMike Jackson 18hOctavio Dotel 12hNelson Cruz 9hMike Williams 3hWayne Franklin 1hJoe Slusarski 0hScott Linebrink 0h
CBrad Ausmus 127 · Tony Eusebio 48 · Scott Servais 9
1BJeff Bagwell 160 · Daryle Ward 9 · Charlie Hayes 2
2BCraig Biggio 154 · Jose Vizcaino 18 · Julio Lugo 2
3BVinny Castilla 145 · Chris Truby 35 · Charlie Hayes 11
SSJulio Lugo 133 · Jose Vizcaino 53 · Adam Everett 6
LFLance Berkman 128 · Daryle Ward 27 · Richard Hidalgo 23
CFRichard Hidalgo 128 · Glen Barker 60 · Lance Berkman 40
RFMoises Alou 130 · Richard Hidalgo 37 · Orlando Merced 21
DHMoises Alou 4 · Daryle Ward 3 · Craig Biggio 1
SPRoy Oswalt 4.3 · Wade Miller 2.8 · Shane Reynolds 2.2 · Pedro Astacio 0.8 · Tim Redding 0.2
BP★ Billy Wagner 39 · Mike Jackson 18 · Octavio Dotel 12 · Nelson Cruz 9 · Mike Williams 3 · Wayne Franklin 1 · Joe Slusarski 0 · Scott Linebrink 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.

2001 roster — value & surplus

PlayerAgeServiceGfWARSalary $MSurplus $M
Lance Berkman 25 pre-arb 1566.8 0.3 +10.7
Jeff Bagwell 33 FA-elig 1615.2 6.5 +2.0
Roy Oswalt 23 – 284.3 – –
Moises Alou 34 FA-elig 1363.6 5.2 +0.5
Octavio Dotel 27 pre-arb 613.2 0.3 +4.9
Craig Biggio 35 FA-elig 1552.8 7.8 -3.2
Wade Miller 24 pre-arb 322.8 0.2 +4.3
Richard Hidalgo 26 arb 1462.7 3.5 +0.9
Vinny Castilla↔ TBR 33 FA-elig 1222.3 6.1 -2.4
Shane Reynolds 33 FA-elig 282.2 7.2 -3.6
Billy Wagner 29 FA-elig 642.0 5.0 -1.8
Julio Lugo 25 pre-arb 1401.0 0.2 +1.4
Brad Ausmus 32 FA-elig 1280.9 4.2 -2.8
Pedro Astacio↔ COL 32 FA-elig 40.8 1.1 +0.2
Carlos Hernández 21 – 30.5 – –
Nelson Cruz 28 arb 660.4 0.3 +0.4
Tony Eusebio 34 FA-elig 590.4 1.3 -0.7
Ron Villone↔ COL 31 FA-elig 310.2 1.6 -1.3
Tim Redding 23 – 130.2 – –
Scott Servais 34 – 110.1 – –
Mendy López↔ PIT 27 – 100.1 – –
Orlando Merced 34 FA-elig 940.1 0.3 -0.1
Scott Linebrink 24 pre-arb 90.1 0.2 -0.0
Jay Powell↔ COL 29 FA-elig 350.1 0.8 -0.7
Ricky Stone 26 – 60.0 – –
Jim Mann 26 – 40.0 – –
Bill Spiers 35 FA-elig 4-0.0 1.7 -1.7
Keith Ginter 25 – 1-0.0 – –
Adam Everett 24 – 9-0.1 – –
Joe Slusarski↔ ATL 34 FA-elig 8-0.1 0.2 -0.3
Brian Powell 27 – 1-0.1 – –
Tony McKnight↔ PIT 24 – 3-0.1 – –
Wilfredo Rodriguez 22 – 2-0.1 – –
Mike Williams↔ PIT 32 FA-elig 25-0.1 0.5 -0.7
Daryle Ward 26 arb 95-0.2 0.3 -0.6
Charlie Hayes 36 FA-elig 31-0.2 0.5 -0.8
Jose Vizcaino 33 FA-elig 107-0.2 1.5 -1.9
Glen Barker 30 pre-arb 70-0.3 0.3 -0.7
Jose Lima↔ DET 28 FA-elig 14-0.3 2.7 -3.2
Wayne Franklin 27 pre-arb 11-0.3 0.2 -0.7
Chris Truby 27 pre-arb 48-0.3 0.2 -0.8
Kent Bottenfield 32 FA-elig 13-0.6 2.0 -2.9
Dave Mlicki↔ DET 33 FA-elig 19-0.6 3.0 -3.9
Mike Jackson 36 FA-elig 67-0.7 0.8 -1.8
Scott Elarton↔ COL 25 arb 20-0.7 0.3 -1.5

Key additions (new vs 2000)

PlayerfWAR
Roy Oswalt4.3
Vinny Castilla2.3
Brad Ausmus0.9
Pedro Astacio0.8
Carlos Hernández0.5
Nelson Cruz0.4

Key subtractions (gone from 2000)

Player2000 fWAR
Chris Holt3.1
Mitch Meluskey2.3
Ken Caminiti1.8
Roger Cedeno0.6
Marc Valdes0.5
Jose Cabrera0.0

Current & Historical Payroll

2001 payroll
$66.3M

What the front office was committed to as of 2001, 2001–2007. 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 (22)

PlayerAgeSvc2001200220032004200520062007
Craig Biggio3513.000$7.8M$8.8M$9.8M$3.0M$3.0M$4.0M$5.2M
Shane Reynolds339.000$7.2M$7.7MFREE AGENT
Jeff Bagwell3310.000$6.5M$11.0M$13.0M$16.0M$18.0MFREE AGENT
Vinny Castilla3310.000$6.1MFREE AGENT
Moises Alou3411.000$5.2MFREE AGENT
Billy Wagner296.000$5.0M$8.0M$8.0MFREE AGENT
Brad Ausmus328.000$4.2M$5.0M$5.5M$1.0M$3.0MFREE AGENT$4.0M
Dave Mlicki339.000$3.0M$6.2MFREE AGENT
Jose Lima287.000$2.7MFREE AGENT
Kent Bottenfield329.000$2.0MFREE AGENT
Bill Spiers3512.000$1.7MFREE AGENT
Ron Villone316.000$1.6MFREE AGENT
Jose Vizcaino3312.000$1.5M$1.7M$2.0M$1.2M$1.2MFREE AGENT
Tony Eusebio3410.000$1.3MFREE AGENT
Pedro Astacio329.000$1.1MFREE AGENT
Jay Powell296.000$757kFREE AGENT
Mike Jackson3615.000$750kFREE AGENT
Charlie Hayes3613.000$500kFREE AGENT
Mike Williams329.000$462kFREE AGENT
Orlando Merced3411.000$300k$1.1M$1.7MFREE AGENT
Joe Slusarski3410.000$240kFREE AGENT
Scott Servais3410.000—FREE AGENT

Arbitration-eligible (6)

PlayerAgeSvc2001200220032004200520062007
Richard Hidalgo264.000$3.5MARB 3FREE AGENT
Scott Elarton253.000$333kARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Daryle Ward263.000$288kARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Nelson Cruz284.000$285kARB 3FREE AGENT
Mendy López273.000—ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Brian Powell273.000—ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT

Pre-arbitration (17)

PlayerAgeSvc2001200220032004200520062007
Lance Berkman252.000$305kARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Octavio Dotel272.000$305kARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Glen Barker302.000$270kARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Julio Lugo251.000$245kPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Wade Miller242.000$241kARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Chris Truby271.000$238kPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Wayne Franklin271.000$210kPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Scott Linebrink241.000$210kPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Tony McKnight24–—
Ricky Stone260.000—Pre-ArbPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Wilfredo Rodriguez22–—
Adam Everett240.000—Pre-ArbPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Jim Mann26–—
Keith Ginter251.000—Pre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Carlos Hernández210.000—Pre-ArbPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Roy Oswalt230.000—Pre-ArbPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Tim Redding230.000—Pre-ArbPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT

Graphs

Every roster slot ranked best→worst by WAR. Bars = Astros 2001; 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.