RRosternomics
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Royals KCR

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GM: Herk Robinson

Overview

REBUILD ↗ rising
cheap & losing · year 3 in this regime · payroll 0.89× league · TAB -0.2
-0.2TAB — talent above budget15th/28
-12.9WAB — realized wins (TAB + luck)27th/28
5.0depth — 2+ WAR regulars22nd/28
-3.2dead WAR — sub-replacement drag8th/28
25%dead money %14th/28
0.416win %27th/28
32.4roster fWAR16th/28
-3surplus $M (value vs cost)14th/28
$35Mpayroll $M19th/28

Roster

CFJohnny Damon 65GShane Halter 10GRod Myers 8G
LFJohnny Damon 48GYamil Benitez 31GRod Myers 13G
RFJermaine Dye 75GJohnny Damon 47GYamil Benitez 22G
SSJay Bell 149GFelix Martinez 12GDavid Howard 9G
2BJose Offerman 101GDavid Howard 34GJed Hansen 31G
3BDean Palmer 141GCraig Paquette 72GScott Cooper 39G
1BJeff King 150GLarry Sutton 12GScott Cooper 8G
STARTERSKevin Appier 5.1WARJosé Rosado 2.5WARTim Belcher 1.8WARGlendon Rusch 1.5WARJim Pittsley 0.5WAR
CMike Macfarlane 81GMike Sweeney 76GSal Fasano 12G
DHChili Davis 131GJoe Vitiello 10GScott Cooper 3G
BULLPEN★ Jeff Montgomery 14svHector Carrasco 0hJamie Walker 0hHipolito Pichardo 0hGregg Olson 0hLarry Casian 0hMatt Whisenant 0hRandy Veres 0h
CMike Macfarlane 81 · Mike Sweeney 76 · Sal Fasano 12
1BJeff King 150 · Larry Sutton 12 · Scott Cooper 8
2BJose Offerman 101 · David Howard 34 · Jed Hansen 31
3BDean Palmer 141 · Craig Paquette 72 · Scott Cooper 39
SSJay Bell 149 · Felix Martinez 12 · David Howard 9
LFJohnny Damon 48 · Yamil Benitez 31 · Rod Myers 13
CFJohnny Damon 65 · Shane Halter 10 · Rod Myers 8
RFJermaine Dye 75 · Johnny Damon 47 · Yamil Benitez 22
DHChili Davis 131 · Joe Vitiello 10 · Scott Cooper 3
SPKevin Appier 5.1 · José Rosado 2.5 · Tim Belcher 1.8 · Glendon Rusch 1.5 · Jim Pittsley 0.5
BP★ Jeff Montgomery 14 · Hector Carrasco 0 · Jamie Walker 0 · Hipolito Pichardo 0 · Gregg Olson 0 · Larry Casian 0 · Matt Whisenant 0 · Randy Veres 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.

1997 roster — value & surplus

PlayerAgeServiceGfWARSalary $MSurplus $M
Jay Bell 31 FA-elig 1535.4 5.0 +0.5
Kevin Appier 29 FA-elig 345.1 4.8 +0.4
Jeff King 32 FA-elig 1553.4 2.5 +1.0
Chili Davis 37 FA-elig 1402.5 3.8 -1.2
José Rosado 22 pre-arb 342.5 0.2 +2.3
Tim Belcher 35 FA-elig 321.8 2.3 -0.5
Johnny Damon 23 pre-arb 1461.6 0.2 +1.4
Glendon Rusch 22 pre-arb 301.5 0.1 +1.4
Bip Roberts↔ CLE 33 FA-elig 971.4 1.6 -0.2
Jose Offerman 28 FA-elig 1061.4 1.6 -0.2
Dean Palmer↔ TEX 28 FA-elig 490.9 1.6 -0.8
Mike Sweeney 23 pre-arb 840.8 0.2 +0.6
Jed Hansen 24 pre-arb 340.7 0.1 +0.6
Rod Myers 24 pre-arb 310.7 0.2 +0.5
Chris Haney 28 FA-elig 80.6 1.7 -1.1
Shane Halter 27 pre-arb 740.5 0.1 +0.4
Scott Service↔ CIN 30 – 120.5 – –
Randy Veres 31 FA-elig 240.5 0.2 +0.3
Jim Pittsley 23 – 210.5 – –
Ricky Bones↔ CIN 28 FA-elig 220.4 0.3 +0.2
Gregg Olson↔ MIN 30 FA-elig 340.4 0.3 +0.1
Mike Macfarlane 33 FA-elig 820.4 0.9 -0.5
Jeff Montgomery 35 FA-elig 550.4 2.3 -1.9
Tom Goodwin↔ TEX 28 FA-elig 970.3 0.7 -0.4
Felix Martinez 23 – 160.3 – –
Matt Whisenant↔ MIA 26 pre-arb 240.3 0.1 +0.2
Larry Sutton 27 pre-arb 270.2 0.1 +0.1
Mike Perez 32 – 160.2 – –
Brian Bevil 25 pre-arb 180.1 0.1 -0.0
Yamil Benitez 24 pre-arb 530.1 0.1 -0.0
Hector Carrasco↔ CIN 27 arb 280.1 0.2 -0.1
David Howard 30 FA-elig 800.1 0.8 -0.7
Ryan Long 24 – 60.0 – –
Mike Williams 28 – 100.0 – –
Jose Santiago 22 – 40.0 – –
Jon Nunnally↔ CIN 25 pre-arb 13-0.0 0.0 -0.0
Andy Stewart 26 – 5-0.0 – –
Larry Casian↔ CHC 31 FA-elig 32-0.0 0.3 -0.3
Roland DeLaMaza 25 – 1-0.1 – –
Sal Fasano 25 – 13-0.1 – –
Mitch Williams 32 – 7-0.1 – –
Tim Spehr↔ ATL 30 FA-elig 17-0.1 0.2 -0.3
Hipolito Pichardo 27 arb 47-0.2 0.8 -0.9
Jim Converse 25 – 3-0.2 – –
Allen McDill 25 – 3-0.2 – –
Jamie Walker 25 pre-arb 50-0.2 0.1 -0.4
Jason Jacome↔ CLE 26 arb 7-0.3 0.1 -0.3
Scott Cooper 29 FA-elig 75-0.3 0.4 -0.7
Joe Vitiello 27 pre-arb 51-0.4 0.2 -0.7
Craig Paquette 28 arb 77-0.4 0.3 -0.8
Jermaine Dye 23 pre-arb 75-0.5 0.2 -0.7

Key additions (new vs 1996)

PlayerfWAR
Jay Bell5.4
Jeff King3.4
Chili Davis2.5
Glendon Rusch1.5
Dean Palmer0.9
Jed Hansen0.7

Key subtractions (gone from 1996)

Player1996 fWAR
Doug Linton2.2
Keith Lockhart1.3
Michael Tucker1.0
Joe Randa0.9
Mark Gubicza0.7
Bob Hamelin0.7

Current & Historical Payroll

1997 payroll
$34.9M

What the front office was committed to as of 1997, 1997–2003. 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)

PlayerAgeSvc1997199819992000200120022003
Jay Bell3111.000$5.0MFREE AGENT
Kevin Appier298.000$4.8M$4.8M$3.1MFREE AGENT$9.5M
Chili Davis3716.000$3.8MFREE AGENT
Jeff King328.000$2.5M$4.0M$4.0MFREE AGENT
Tim Belcher3510.000$2.3M$2.3MFREE AGENT
Jeff Montgomery3510.000$2.3M$2.8M$2.5MFREE AGENT
Chris Haney286.000$1.7M$1.6MFREE AGENT
Dean Palmer288.000$1.6M$5.8MFREE AGENT
Jose Offerman287.000$1.6M$2.0MFREE AGENT
Bip Roberts3311.000$1.6MFREE AGENT
Mike Macfarlane3310.000$888k$698kFREE AGENT
David Howard306.000$762kFREE AGENT
Tom Goodwin286.000$679kFREE AGENT
Scott Cooper297.000$375kFREE AGENT
Gregg Olson309.000$302kFREE AGENT
Ricky Bones286.000$277k$400kFREE AGENT
Larry Casian317.000$255kFREE AGENT
Randy Veres318.000$185kFREE AGENT
Tim Spehr306.000$177k$187k$330kFREE AGENT
Mike Perez327.000—FREE AGENT
Scott Service309.000—$230k$745kFREE AGENT
Mitch Williams3211.000—FREE AGENT

Arbitration-eligible (6)

PlayerAgeSvc1997199819992000200120022003
Hipolito Pichardo275.000$780kFREE AGENT
Craig Paquette284.000$340kARB 3FREE AGENT
Hector Carrasco273.000$238kARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Jason Jacome263.000$55kARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Jim Converse254.000—ARB 3FREE AGENT
Mike Williams285.000—FREE AGENT

Pre-arbitration (23)

PlayerAgeSvc1997199819992000200120022003
Johnny Damon232.000$240kARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Joe Vitiello272.000$210kARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
José Rosado221.000$200kPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Jermaine Dye231.000$175kPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Mike Sweeney232.000$175kARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Rod Myers241.000$155kPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Brian Bevil251.000$150kPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Yamil Benitez242.000$150kARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Jamie Walker250.000$150kPre-ArbPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Jed Hansen240.000$150kPre-ArbPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Shane Halter270.000$150kPre-ArbPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Larry Sutton270.000$150kPre-ArbPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Glendon Rusch220.000$150kPre-ArbPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Matt Whisenant260.000$124kPre-ArbPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Jon Nunnally252.000$32kARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Roland DeLaMaza25–—
Sal Fasano251.000—Pre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Ryan Long24–—
Felix Martinez230.000—Pre-ArbPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Allen McDill250.000—Pre-ArbPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Jim Pittsley232.000—ARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Jose Santiago220.000—Pre-ArbPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Andy Stewart26–—

Graphs

Every roster slot ranked best→worst by WAR. Bars = Royals 1997; 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.