RRosternomics
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Astros HOU

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GM: Gerry Hunsicker

Overview

CONTEND ↗ rising
expensive & winning · year 2 in this regime · payroll 1.0× league · TAB +3.5
+3.5TAB — talent above budget12th/30
+2.0WAB — realized wins (TAB + luck)14th/30
5.0depth — 2+ WAR regulars19th/30
-3.2dead WAR — sub-replacement drag12th/30
32%dead money %18th/30
0.519win %12th/30
37.8roster fWAR12th/30
-4surplus $M (value vs cost)11th/30
$66Mpayroll $M13th/30

Roster

CFLance Berkman 122GBrian L. Hunter 88GBarry Wesson 9G
LFDaryle Ward 122GLance Berkman 76GOrlando Merced 20G
RFRichard Hidalgo 110GOrlando Merced 44GJason Lane 27G
SSJulio Lugo 84GJose Vizcaino 58GAdam Everett 34G
2BCraig Biggio 142GJose Vizcaino 25GMark Loretta 6G
3BGeoff Blum 104GMark Loretta 57GMorgan Ensberg 43G
1BJeff Bagwell 153GAlan Zinter 8GOrlando Merced 7G
STARTERSRoy Oswalt 6.1WARWade Miller 3.3WARCarlos Hernández 1.4WARPete Munro 1.2WARDave Mlicki 0.6WAR
CBrad Ausmus 129GGregg Zaun 44GRaúl Chávez 2G
DHJeff Bagwell 4GOrlando Merced 1GDaryle Ward 1G
BULLPEN★ Billy Wagner 35svOctavio Dotel 31hPedro Borbón 17hRicky Stone 10hTom Gordon 6hBrandon Puffer 2hScott Linebrink 1hJim Mann 0h
CBrad Ausmus 129 · Gregg Zaun 44 · Raúl Chávez 2
1BJeff Bagwell 153 · Alan Zinter 8 · Orlando Merced 7
2BCraig Biggio 142 · Jose Vizcaino 25 · Mark Loretta 6
3BGeoff Blum 104 · Mark Loretta 57 · Morgan Ensberg 43
SSJulio Lugo 84 · Jose Vizcaino 58 · Adam Everett 34
LFDaryle Ward 122 · Lance Berkman 76 · Orlando Merced 20
CFLance Berkman 122 · Brian L. Hunter 88 · Barry Wesson 9
RFRichard Hidalgo 110 · Orlando Merced 44 · Jason Lane 27
DHJeff Bagwell 4 · Orlando Merced 1 · Daryle Ward 1
SPRoy Oswalt 6.1 · Wade Miller 3.3 · Carlos Hernández 1.4 · Pete Munro 1.2 · Dave Mlicki 0.6
BP★ Billy Wagner 35 · Octavio Dotel 31 · Pedro Borbón 17 · Ricky Stone 10 · Tom Gordon 6 · Brandon Puffer 2 · Scott Linebrink 1 · Jim Mann 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.

2002 roster — value & surplus

PlayerAgeServiceGfWARSalary $MSurplus $M
Roy Oswalt 24 pre-arb 356.1 0.3 +10.2
Lance Berkman 26 arb 1586.1 0.5 +9.9
Jeff Bagwell 34 FA-elig 1584.8 11.0 -2.7
Wade Miller 25 arb 263.3 0.3 +5.4
Octavio Dotel 28 arb 832.8 0.4 +4.3
Craig Biggio 36 FA-elig 1451.9 8.8 -5.5
Billy Wagner 30 FA-elig 701.6 8.0 -5.2
Orlando Merced 35 FA-elig 1231.6 1.1 +1.7
Jose Vizcaino 34 FA-elig 1251.6 1.7 +1.1
Geoff Blum 29 arb 1301.5 0.3 +2.3
Carlos Hernández 22 pre-arb 251.4 0.2 +2.2
Pete Munro 27 – 191.2 – –
Brad Ausmus 33 FA-elig 1301.0 5.0 -3.2
Brian L. Hunter 31 FA-elig 981.0 1.0 +0.7
Dave Mlicki 34 FA-elig 220.6 6.2 -5.1
Julio Lugo 26 pre-arb 880.6 0.3 +0.8
Tim Redding 24 – 180.6 – –
Mark Loretta↔ MIL 30 FA-elig 210.5 1.0 -0.2
Morgan Ensberg 26 pre-arb 490.4 0.2 +0.5
Jason Lane 25 – 440.3 – –
Richard Hidalgo 27 arb 1140.3 5.5 -4.9
Tom Gordon↔ CHC 34 FA-elig 150.3 1.2 -0.8
Kirk Saarloos 23 – 170.2 – –
Brandon Puffer 26 – 550.2 – –
Brad Lidge 25 – 60.2 – –
Scott Linebrink 25 pre-arb 220.2 0.2 +0.0
Keith Ginter↔ MIL 26 – 70.1 – –
T.J. Mathews 32 FA-elig 120.1 1.0 -0.8
Ricky Stone 27 pre-arb 780.1 0.2 -0.1
Raul Chavez 29 – 20.1 – –
Shane Reynolds 34 FA-elig 13-0.0 7.7 -7.7
Jim Mann 27 – 17-0.0 – –
Hipolito Pichardo 32 FA-elig 1-0.1 0.5 -0.6
Nelson Cruz 29 arb 43-0.1 0.4 -0.6
Adam Everett 25 pre-arb 40-0.2 0.4 -0.7
Pedro Borbon Jr.↔ TOR 34 FA-elig 56-0.2 1.3 -1.7
Alan Zinter 34 – 39-0.4 – –
Jeriome Robertson 25 – 11-0.4 – –
Daryle Ward 27 arb 136-0.4 0.4 -1.1
Barry Wesson 25 – 15-0.4 – –
Gregg Zaun 31 FA-elig 76-0.9 1.1 -2.6

Key additions (new vs 2001)

PlayerfWAR
Geoff Blum1.5
Pete Munro1.2
Brian L. Hunter1.0
Mark Loretta0.5
Morgan Ensberg0.4
Jason Lane0.3

Key subtractions (gone from 2001)

Player2001 fWAR
Moises Alou3.6
Vinny Castilla2.3
Pedro Astacio0.8
Tony Eusebio0.4
Ron Villone0.2
Scott Servais0.1

Current & Historical Payroll

2002 payroll
$66.2M

What the front office was committed to as of 2002, 2002–2008. 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 (16)

PlayerAgeSvc2002200320042005200620072008
Jeff Bagwell3411.000$11.0M$13.0M$16.0M$18.0MFREE AGENT
Craig Biggio3614.000$8.8M$9.8M$3.0M$3.0M$4.0M$5.2MFREE AGENT
Billy Wagner307.000$8.0M$8.0MFREE AGENT
Shane Reynolds3410.000$7.7MFREE AGENT
Dave Mlicki3410.000$6.2MFREE AGENT
Brad Ausmus339.000$5.0M$5.5M$1.0M$3.0MFREE AGENT$4.0M$2.0M
Jose Vizcaino3413.000$1.7M$2.0M$1.2M$1.2MFREE AGENT
Pedro Borbon Jr.3410.000$1.3MFREE AGENT
Tom Gordon3414.000$1.2MFREE AGENT
Gregg Zaun317.000$1.1M$957kFREE AGENT
Orlando Merced3512.000$1.1M$1.7MFREE AGENT
T.J. Mathews327.000$1.0MFREE AGENT
Brian L. Hunter318.000$1.0M$1.2MFREE AGENT
Mark Loretta307.000$981kFREE AGENT$2.5M$2.8M
Hipolito Pichardo3210.000$500kFREE AGENT
Raul Chavez296.000—$300k$315k$360kFREE AGENT

Arbitration-eligible (8)

PlayerAgeSvc2002200320042005200620072008
Richard Hidalgo275.000$5.5MFREE AGENT
Lance Berkman263.000$500kARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Octavio Dotel283.000$435kARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Nelson Cruz295.000$375kFREE AGENT
Daryle Ward274.000$375kARB 3FREE AGENT
Wade Miller253.000$350kARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Geoff Blum293.000$315kARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Pete Munro273.000—ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT

Pre-arbitration (17)

PlayerAgeSvc2002200320042005200620072008
Adam Everett251.000$367kPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Julio Lugo262.000$325kARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Roy Oswalt241.000$300kPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Scott Linebrink252.000$230kARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Carlos Hernández221.000$210kPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Ricky Stone271.000$200kPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Morgan Ensberg262.000$200kARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Alan Zinter34–—
Jeriome Robertson250.000—Pre-ArbPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Jim Mann27–—
Keith Ginter262.000—ARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Brad Lidge250.000—Pre-ArbPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Tim Redding241.000—Pre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Jason Lane250.000—Pre-ArbPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Brandon Puffer26–—
Kirk Saarloos230.000—Pre-ArbPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Barry Wesson25–—

Graphs

Every roster slot ranked best→worst by WAR. Bars = Astros 2002; 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.