RRosternomics
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Royals KCR

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GM: Herk Robinson

Overview

WINDOW ↗ rising
cheap & winning · year 1 in this regime · payroll 0.45× league · TAB +2.1
+2.1TAB — talent above budget15th/30
-7.2WAB — realized wins (TAB + luck)23rd/30
8.0depth — 2+ WAR regulars10th/30
-8.1dead WAR — sub-replacement drag24th/30
58%dead money %30th/30
0.398win %28th/30
26.5roster fWAR21st/30
+13surplus $M (value vs cost)5th/30
$22Mpayroll $M27th/30

Roster

CFCarlos Beltrán 154GJohnny Damon 8GJed Hansen 2G
LFJohnny Damon 132GScott Pose 18GMark Quinn 15G
RFJermaine Dye 157GScott Pose 6GJohnny Damon 3G
SSRey Sanchez 134GRay Holbert 22GSteve Scarsone 16G
2BCarlos Febles 122GJed Hansen 21GRay Holbert 11G
3BJoe Randa 156GScott Leius 10GJed Hansen 4G
1BMike Sweeney 74GLarry Sutton 30GJeremy Giambi 26G
STARTERSJosé Rosado 3.7WARJeff Suppan 2.8WARJay Witasick 1.0WARMac Suzuki 0.4WARBlake Stein 0.3WAR
CChad Kreuter 101GTim Spehr 59GSal Fasano 23G
DHMike Sweeney 69GJeremy Giambi 48GScott Pose 13G
BULLPEN★ Jeff Montgomery 12svTim Byrdak 10hScott Service 7hBrad Rigby 5hJose Santiago 4hAlvin Morman 3hTerry Mathews 3hKen Ray 1h
CChad Kreuter 101 · Tim Spehr 59 · Sal Fasano 23
1BMike Sweeney 74 · Larry Sutton 30 · Jeremy Giambi 26
2BCarlos Febles 122 · Jed Hansen 21 · Ray Holbert 11
3BJoe Randa 156 · Scott Leius 10 · Jed Hansen 4
SSRey Sanchez 134 · Ray Holbert 22 · Steve Scarsone 16
LFJohnny Damon 132 · Scott Pose 18 · Mark Quinn 15
CFCarlos Beltrán 154 · Johnny Damon 8 · Jed Hansen 2
RFJermaine Dye 157 · Scott Pose 6 · Johnny Damon 3
DHMike Sweeney 69 · Jeremy Giambi 48 · Scott Pose 13
SPJosé Rosado 3.7 · Jeff Suppan 2.8 · Jay Witasick 1.0 · Mac Suzuki 0.4 · Blake Stein 0.3
BP★ Jeff Montgomery 12 · Tim Byrdak 10 · Scott Service 7 · Brad Rigby 5 · Jose Santiago 4 · Alvin Morman 3 · Terry Mathews 3 · Ken Ray 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.

1999 roster — value & surplus

PlayerAgeServiceGfWARSalary $MSurplus $M
Carlos Beltrán 22 pre-arb 1564.3 0.2 +5.2
Johnny Damon 25 arb 1454.3 2.1 +3.3
Jermaine Dye 25 arb 1584.2 0.3 +5.1
José Rosado 24 arb 333.7 0.3 +4.3
Rey Sanchez 31 FA-elig 1342.9 1.2 +2.4
Jeff Suppan 24 arb 322.8 0.2 +3.3
Mike Sweeney 25 arb 1502.7 0.3 +3.1
Joe Randa 29 arb 1562.4 0.9 +2.1
Kevin Appier↔ OAK 31 FA-elig 221.8 3.1 -0.9
Carlos Febles 23 pre-arb 1231.4 0.2 +1.6
Jay Witasick 26 arb 321.0 0.2 +1.1
Mark Quinn 25 pre-arb 170.7 0.2 +0.7
Sal Fasano 27 arb 230.4 0.2 +0.3
Tim Spehr 32 FA-elig 600.4 0.3 +0.2
Mac Suzuki↔ SEA 24 arb 220.4 0.1 +0.4
Dan Reichert 22 pre-arb 80.3 0.2 +0.2
Blake Stein↔ OAK 25 pre-arb 120.3 0.2 +0.1
Jeff King 34 FA-elig 210.2 4.0 -3.7
Alvin Morman 30 arb 490.1 0.4 -0.2
Terry Mathews 34 – 240.1 – –
Jim Pittsley↔ MIL 25 arb 50.1 0.1 +0.1
Chad Durbin 21 – 10.0 – –
Jeff Montgomery 37 FA-elig 49-0.0 2.5 -2.5
Orber Moreno 22 pre-arb 7-0.0 0.2 -0.2
Steve Scarsone 33 FA-elig 46-0.1 0.2 -0.3
Chris Fussell 23 pre-arb 17-0.1 0.2 -0.3
Glendon Rusch↔ NYM 24 – 3-0.1 – –
Felix Martinez 25 – 6-0.1 – –
Mendy López 25 – 7-0.1 – –
Lance Carter 24 – 6-0.1 – –
Jose Santiago 24 pre-arb 34-0.1 0.2 -0.4
Scott Service 32 FA-elig 68-0.1 0.7 -0.9
Marc Pisciotta 28 – 8-0.2 – –
Derek Wallace 27 arb 8-0.2 0.2 -0.4
Matt Whisenant↔ SDP 28 pre-arb 48-0.2 0.2 -0.4
Chad Kreuter 34 FA-elig 107-0.2 0.9 -1.1
Ken Ray 24 – 13-0.2 – –
Don Wengert 29 arb 11-0.2 0.3 -0.6
Scott Pose 32 FA-elig 86-0.3 0.2 -0.6
Dan Murray↔ NYM 25 – 4-0.3 – –
Dee Brown 21 – 12-0.3 – –
Jeremy Giambi 24 pre-arb 90-0.4 0.2 -0.6
Ray Holbert 28 arb 34-0.4 0.2 -0.7
Brad Rigby↔ OAK 26 pre-arb 20-0.4 0.1 -0.6
Joe Vitiello 29 – 13-0.4 – –
Tim Byrdak 25 pre-arb 33-0.5 0.2 -0.8
Brian Barber 26 arb 8-0.5 0.2 -0.8
Larry Sutton 29 pre-arb 43-0.5 0.2 -0.9
Scott Leius 33 FA-elig 37-0.9 0.2 -1.4
Jed Hansen 26 pre-arb 49-1.2 0.2 -1.7

Key additions (new vs 1998)

PlayerfWAR
Rey Sanchez2.9
Joe Randa2.4
Jay Witasick1.0
Mark Quinn0.7
Mac Suzuki0.4
Dan Reichert0.3

Key subtractions (gone from 1998)

Player1998 fWAR
Jose Offerman4.6
Dean Palmer1.9
Tim Belcher1.9
Hipolito Pichardo1.2
Pat Rapp1.2
Ricky Bones0.4

Current & Historical Payroll

1999 payroll
$22.1M

What the front office was committed to as of 1999, 1999–2005. 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 (11)

PlayerAgeSvc1999200020012002200320042005
Jeff King3410.000$4.0MFREE AGENT
Kevin Appier3110.000$3.1MFREE AGENT$9.5M$300k
Jeff Montgomery3712.000$2.5MFREE AGENT
Rey Sanchez318.000$1.2M$2.3M$1.5MFREE AGENT
Chad Kreuter3411.000$875kFREE AGENT
Scott Service3211.000$745kFREE AGENT
Tim Spehr328.000$330kFREE AGENT
Scott Pose326.000$225k$232kFREE AGENT
Scott Leius339.000$200kFREE AGENT
Steve Scarsone337.000$200kFREE AGENT
Terry Mathews348.000—FREE AGENT

Arbitration-eligible (16)

PlayerAgeSvc1999200020012002200320042005
Johnny Damon254.000$2.1MARB 3FREE AGENT
Joe Randa294.000$910kARB 3FREE AGENT
Alvin Morman303.000$365kARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
José Rosado243.000$300kARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Mike Sweeney254.000$265kARB 3FREE AGENT
Jermaine Dye253.000$260kARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Don Wengert294.000$260kARB 3FREE AGENT
Jeff Suppan244.000$235kARB 3FREE AGENT
Sal Fasano273.000$235kARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Derek Wallace273.000$216kARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Ray Holbert285.000$215kFREE AGENT
Brian Barber264.000$210kARB 3FREE AGENT
Jay Witasick263.000$210kARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Mac Suzuki243.000$123kARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Jim Pittsley254.000$64kARB 3FREE AGENT
Joe Vitiello294.000—ARB 3FREE AGENT

Pre-arbitration (23)

PlayerAgeSvc1999200020012002200320042005
Larry Sutton292.000$240kARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Jed Hansen262.000$204kARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Jose Santiago242.000$201kARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Orber Moreno220.000$200kPre-ArbPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Carlos Febles231.000$200kPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Chris Fussell231.000$200kPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Jeremy Giambi241.000$200kPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Tim Byrdak251.000$200kPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Mark Quinn250.000$200kPre-ArbPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Carlos Beltrán221.000$200kPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Dan Reichert220.000$200kPre-ArbPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Matt Whisenant282.000$193kARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Blake Stein251.000$192kPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Brad Rigby262.000$82kARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Felix Martinez252.000—ARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Marc Pisciotta282.000—ARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Glendon Rusch242.000—ARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Mendy López251.000—Pre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Dee Brown211.000—Pre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Ken Ray24–—
Dan Murray25–—
Lance Carter240.000—Pre-ArbPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Chad Durbin210.000—Pre-ArbPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT

Graphs

Every roster slot ranked best→worst by WAR. Bars = Royals 1999; 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.