RRosternomics
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Astros HOU

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GM: Gerry Hunsicker

Overview

CONTEND ↗ rising
expensive & winning · year 3 in this regime · payroll 1.02× league · TAB +8.4
+8.4TAB — talent above budget8th/30
+4.8WAB — realized wins (TAB + luck)13th/30
10.0depth — 2+ WAR regulars4th/30
-4.3dead WAR — sub-replacement drag13th/30
20%dead money %5th/30
0.537win %10th/30
42.8roster fWAR9th/30
+2surplus $M (value vs cost)9th/30
$70Mpayroll $M14th/30

Roster

CFCraig Biggio 150GBrian L. Hunter 14GColin Porter 7G
LFLance Berkman 153GOrlando Merced 10GBrian L. Hunter 5G
RFRichard Hidalgo 137GOrlando Merced 21GBrian L. Hunter 15G
SSAdam Everett 128GJose Vizcaino 32GGeoff Blum 11G
2BJeff Kent 128GGeoff Blum 25GJose Vizcaino 20G
3BMorgan Ensberg 111GGeoff Blum 83GOrlando Merced 2G
1BJeff Bagwell 158GOrlando Merced 12GGeoff Blum 6G
STARTERSWade Miller 3.3WARTim Redding 3.0WARRoy Oswalt 2.7WARRon Villone 1.3WARJeriome Robertson 1.0WAR
CBrad Ausmus 143GRaúl Chávez 16G
DHOrlando Merced 7GMorgan Ensberg 1GRichard Hidalgo 1G
BULLPEN★ Billy Wagner 44svOctavio Dotel 33hBrad Lidge 28hRicky Stone 6hDan Miceli 5hRick White 4hKirk Saarloos 4hPete Munro 3h
CBrad Ausmus 143 · Raúl Chávez 16
1BJeff Bagwell 158 · Orlando Merced 12 · Geoff Blum 6
2BJeff Kent 128 · Geoff Blum 25 · Jose Vizcaino 20
3BMorgan Ensberg 111 · Geoff Blum 83 · Orlando Merced 2
SSAdam Everett 128 · Jose Vizcaino 32 · Geoff Blum 11
LFLance Berkman 153 · Orlando Merced 10 · Brian L. Hunter 5
CFCraig Biggio 150 · Brian L. Hunter 14 · Colin Porter 7
RFRichard Hidalgo 137 · Orlando Merced 21 · Brian L. Hunter 15
DHOrlando Merced 7 · Morgan Ensberg 1 · Richard Hidalgo 1
SPWade Miller 3.3 · Tim Redding 3.0 · Roy Oswalt 2.7 · Ron Villone 1.3 · Jeriome Robertson 1.0
BP★ Billy Wagner 44 · Octavio Dotel 33 · Brad Lidge 28 · Ricky Stone 6 · Dan Miceli 5 · Rick White 4 · Kirk Saarloos 4 · Pete Munro 3

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.

2003 roster — value & surplus

PlayerAgeServiceGfWARSalary $MSurplus $M
Lance Berkman 27 arb 1536.0 3.5 +7.2
Richard Hidalgo 28 FA-elig 1416.0 8.5 +2.2
Morgan Ensberg 27 arb 1274.6 0.3 +7.8
Jeff Bagwell 35 FA-elig 1603.7 13.0 -6.4
Wade Miller 26 arb 363.3 0.5 +5.4
Jeff Kent 35 FA-elig 1303.3 7.5 -1.6
Tim Redding 25 pre-arb 333.0 0.3 +5.0
Roy Oswalt 25 pre-arb 212.7 0.5 +4.3
Billy Wagner 31 FA-elig 782.3 8.0 -3.8
Adam Everett 26 – 1282.1 0.4 +3.4
Craig Biggio 37 FA-elig 1532.0 9.8 -6.2
Octavio Dotel 29 arb 761.6 1.6 +1.2
Brad Lidge 26 pre-arb 781.4 0.3 +2.2
Ron Villone 33 – 191.3 – –
Jeriome Robertson 26 pre-arb 331.0 0.3 +1.4
Kirk Saarloos 24 – 360.6 – –
Geoff Blum 30 arb 1230.5 1.5 -0.6
Jared Fernandez 31 – 120.4 – –
Jason Lane 26 – 180.3 – –
Dan Miceli↔ CLE 32 FA-elig 230.2 0.1 +0.3
Rodrigo Rosario 25 – 20.2 – –
Brad Ausmus 34 FA-elig 1430.2 5.5 -5.2
Mike Gallo 26 – 320.1 – –
Raul Chavez 30 FA-elig 190.1 0.3 -0.2
Tripp Cromer III 35 – 30.0 – –
David Matranga 26 – 60.0 – –
Scott Linebrink↔ SDP 26 – 90.0 0.1 +0.0
Colin Porter 27 – 240.0 – –
Rick White↔ CHW 34 FA-elig 150.0 0.2 -0.2
Kirk Bullinger 33 – 7-0.1 – –
Mitch Meluskey 29 – 12-0.1 – –
Nate Bland 28 – 22-0.1 – –
Brian L. Hunter 32 FA-elig 56-0.1 1.2 -1.4
Bruce Chen↔ BOS 26 arb 11-0.2 0.5 -0.8
Eric Bruntlett 25 – 31-0.2 – –
Gregg Zaun↔ COL 32 FA-elig 59-0.2 1.0 -1.3
Jonathan Johnson 28 – 4-0.2 – –
Brian Moehler 31 FA-elig 3-0.3 0.5 -1.0
Brandon Puffer 27 – 13-0.3 – –
Jose Vizcaino 35 FA-elig 91-0.4 2.0 -2.6
Pete Munro 28 arb 40-0.4 0.3 -1.0
Julio Lugo↔ TBR 27 arb 22-0.5 0.2 -1.1
Ricky Stone 28 pre-arb 65-0.5 0.3 -1.2
Orlando Merced 36 FA-elig 123-0.9 1.7 -3.3

Key additions (new vs 2002)

PlayerfWAR
Jeff Kent3.3
Ron Villone1.3
Jared Fernandez0.4
Dan Miceli0.2
Rodrigo Rosario0.2
Mike Gallo0.1

Key subtractions (gone from 2002)

Player2002 fWAR
Carlos Hernández1.4
Dave Mlicki0.6
Mark Loretta0.5
Tom Gordon0.3
Keith Ginter0.1
T.J. Mathews0.1

Current & Historical Payroll

2003 payroll
$69.8M

What the front office was committed to as of 2003, 2003–2009. 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)

PlayerAgeSvc2003200420052006200720082009
Jeff Bagwell3512.000$13.0M$16.0M$18.0MFREE AGENT
Craig Biggio3715.000$9.8M$3.0M$3.0M$4.0M$5.2MFREE AGENT
Richard Hidalgo286.000$8.5M$7.5MFREE AGENT
Billy Wagner318.000$8.0MFREE AGENT
Jeff Kent3511.000$7.5M$10.0MFREE AGENT
Brad Ausmus3410.000$5.5M$1.0M$3.0MFREE AGENT$4.0M$2.0M
Jose Vizcaino3514.000$2.0M$1.2M$1.2MFREE AGENT
Orlando Merced3613.000$1.7MFREE AGENT
Brian L. Hunter329.000$1.2MFREE AGENT
Gregg Zaun328.000$957kFREE AGENT
Brian Moehler317.000$500kFREE AGENT$500k$500k$2.3M
Raul Chavez307.000$300k$315k$360kFREE AGENT
Rick White349.000$184kFREE AGENT$476k
Dan Miceli3210.000$141k$600kFREE AGENT
Tripp Cromer III3510.000—FREE AGENT
Ron Villone338.000—FREE AGENT

Arbitration-eligible (12)

PlayerAgeSvc2003200420052006200720082009
Lance Berkman274.000$3.5MARB 3FREE AGENT
Octavio Dotel294.000$1.6MARB 3FREE AGENT
Geoff Blum304.000$1.5MARB 3FREE AGENT
Wade Miller264.000$525kARB 3FREE AGENT
Bruce Chen265.000$481kFREE AGENT
Pete Munro284.000$305kARB 3FREE AGENT
Morgan Ensberg273.000$300kARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Julio Lugo273.000$249kARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Scott Linebrink263.000$52kARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Kirk Bullinger335.000—FREE AGENT
Mitch Meluskey295.000—FREE AGENT
Jonathan Johnson285.000—FREE AGENT

Pre-arbitration (16)

PlayerAgeSvc2003200420052006200720082009
Roy Oswalt252.000$500kARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Adam Everett262.000$370kARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Ricky Stone282.000$325kARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Tim Redding252.000$300kARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Brad Lidge261.000$300kPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Jeriome Robertson261.000$300kPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Jared Fernandez312.000—ARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Jason Lane261.000—Pre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Brandon Puffer27–—
Rodrigo Rosario25–—
Kirk Saarloos241.000—Pre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
David Matranga26–—
Nate Bland28–—
Colin Porter27–—
Eric Bruntlett250.000—Pre-ArbPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Mike Gallo260.000—Pre-ArbPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT

Graphs

Every roster slot ranked best→worst by WAR. Bars = Astros 2003; 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.