RRosternomics
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Royals KCR

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GM: Allard Baird

Overview

REBUILD → steady
cheap & losing · year 4 in this regime · payroll 0.67× league · TAB -7.1
-7.1TAB — talent above budget24th/30
+6.2WAB — realized wins (TAB + luck)10th/30
6.0depth — 2+ WAR regulars18th/30
-9.3dead WAR — sub-replacement drag29th/30
36%dead money %18th/30
0.512win %17th/30
22.2roster fWAR25th/30
-11surplus $M (value vs cost)18th/30
$46Mpayroll $M26th/30

Roster

CFCarlos Beltrán 130GMichael Tucker 30GDavid DeJesus 8G
LFRaul Ibanez 128GRondell White 121GMichael Tucker 21G
RFAaron Guiel 87GMichael Tucker 47GDee Brown 17G
SSAngel Berroa 158GDesi Relaford 6GMendy López 4G
2BDesi Relaford 89GCarlos Febles 67GBrent Abernathy 11G
3BJoe Randa 129GDesi Relaford 33GMendy López 13G
1BKen Harvey 99GMike Sweeney 45GRaul Ibanez 22G
STARTERSDarrell May 2.8WARJeremy Affeldt 2.6WARJose Lima 1.1WARKyle Snyder 1.0WARRunelvys Hernandez 1.0WAR
CBrent Mayne 112GMike DiFelice 58GTom Prince 29G
DHMike Sweeney 62GKen Harvey 32GMichael Tucker 14G
BULLPEN★ Mike MacDougal 27svJason Grimsley 28hCurt Leskanic 11hAl Levine 10hGraeme Lloyd 7hSean Lowe 7hD.J. Carrasco 6hKris Wilson 1h
CBrent Mayne 112 · Mike DiFelice 58 · Tom Prince 29
1BKen Harvey 99 · Mike Sweeney 45 · Raul Ibanez 22
2BDesi Relaford 89 · Carlos Febles 67 · Brent Abernathy 11
3BJoe Randa 129 · Desi Relaford 33 · Mendy López 13
SSAngel Berroa 158 · Desi Relaford 6 · Mendy López 4
LFRaul Ibanez 128 · Rondell White 121 · Michael Tucker 21
CFCarlos Beltrán 130 · Michael Tucker 30 · David DeJesus 8
RFAaron Guiel 87 · Michael Tucker 47 · Dee Brown 17
DHMike Sweeney 62 · Ken Harvey 32 · Michael Tucker 14
SPDarrell May 2.8 · Jeremy Affeldt 2.6 · Jose Lima 1.1 · Kyle Snyder 1.0 · Runelvys Hernandez 1.0
BP★ Mike MacDougal 27 · Jason Grimsley 28 · Curt Leskanic 11 · Al Levine 10 · Graeme Lloyd 7 · Sean Lowe 7 · D.J. Carrasco 6 · Kris Wilson 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.

2003 roster — value & surplus

PlayerAgeServiceGfWARSalary $MSurplus $M
Carlos Beltrán 26 arb 1416.9 6.0 +6.3
Darrell May 31 FA-elig 352.8 0.5 +4.5
Angel Berroa 25 pre-arb 1582.7 0.3 +4.5
Jeremy Affeldt 24 pre-arb 362.6 0.3 +4.3
Joe Randa 33 FA-elig 1312.4 4.5 -0.2
Raul Ibanez 31 FA-elig 1572.0 3.0 +0.6
Mike Sweeney 29 FA-elig 1081.6 11.0 -8.1
Aaron Guiel 30 – 991.4 – –
Jose Lima 30 – 141.1 – –
Runelvys Hernandez 25 pre-arb 161.0 0.3 +1.4
Kyle Snyder 25 – 151.0 – –
Rondell White↔ SDP 31 FA-elig 220.7 0.9 +0.3
Miguel Asencio 22 pre-arb 80.6 0.3 +0.8
Jimmy Gobble 21 – 90.6 – –
Mike MacDougal 26 pre-arb 680.6 0.3 +0.8
Brian Anderson↔ CLE 31 FA-elig 70.6 0.3 +0.7
Jamey Wright 28 – 40.6 – –
Curt Leskanic↔ MIL 35 FA-elig 270.5 1.9 -0.9
Jason Grimsley 35 FA-elig 760.5 2.0 -1.1
Mike DiFelice 34 FA-elig 620.4 0.6 +0.2
Brent Mayne 35 FA-elig 1130.4 2.8 -2.0
Graeme Lloyd↔ NYM 36 FA-elig 160.1 0.2 +0.0
D.J. Carrasco 26 pre-arb 500.1 0.3 -0.1
Kris Wilson 26 arb 290.1 0.3 -0.1
Paul Abbott 35 – 100.1 – –
Desi Relaford 29 FA-elig 1410.0 0.9 -0.8
Jeremy Hill 25 – 10.0 – –
Mendy López 29 arb 52-0.0 0.3 -0.3
Kevin Appier↔ ANA 35 FA-elig 4-0.0 2.0 -2.0
Gookie Dawkins 24 – 3-0.0 – –
Julius Matos 28 – 28-0.0 – –
David DeJesus 23 – 12-0.1 – –
Tom Prince↔ MIN 38 FA-elig 8-0.1 0.1 -0.2
Nate Field 27 – 19-0.1 – –
Rontrez Johnson 26 pre-arb 8-0.1 0.3 -0.5
Ryan Bukvich 25 pre-arb 9-0.1 0.3 -0.5
Rick DeHart 33 – 4-0.1 – –
Al Levine↔ TBR 35 – 18-0.1 – –
Morgan Burkhart 31 – 6-0.1 – –
Jason Gilfillan 26 – 13-0.2 – –
Brad Voyles 26 – 11-0.2 – –
Les Walrond 26 – 7-0.2 – –
Scott Mullen↔ LAD 28 – 2-0.2 – –
Brandon Berger 28 pre-arb 13-0.3 0.3 -0.8
Sean Lowe 32 – 28-0.3 – –
Jarrod Patterson 29 – 13-0.4 – –
Brent Abernathy↔ TBR 25 pre-arb 10-0.6 0.2 -1.3
Chris George 23 pre-arb 18-0.7 0.3 -1.5
Albie Lopez 31 FA-elig 15-0.7 1.5 -2.8
Michael Tucker 32 FA-elig 104-0.9 2.8 -4.3
Ken Harvey 25 pre-arb 135-1.1 0.3 -2.2
Carlos Febles 27 arb 74-1.3 0.8 -3.1
Dee Brown 25 arb 50-1.4 0.3 -2.7

Key additions (new vs 2002)

PlayerfWAR
Jose Lima1.1
Kyle Snyder1.0
Rondell White0.7
Jimmy Gobble0.6
Brian Anderson0.6
Jamey Wright0.6

Key subtractions (gone from 2002)

Player2002 fWAR
Paul Byrd3.1
Jeff Suppan1.4
Roberto Hernandez0.6
A.J. Hinch0.5
Dusty Wathan0.2
Jeff Austin0.1

Current & Historical Payroll

2003 payroll
$46.2M

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 (22)

PlayerAgeSvc2003200420052006200720082009
Mike Sweeney298.000$11.0M$11.0M$11.0M$11.0M$11.0MFREE AGENT
Joe Randa338.000$4.5M$3.2MFREE AGENT
Raul Ibanez317.000$3.0MFREE AGENT
Brent Mayne3513.000$2.8MFREE AGENT
Michael Tucker328.000$2.8MFREE AGENT
Jason Grimsley3514.000$2.0M$562kFREE AGENT
Kevin Appier3514.000$2.0M$300kFREE AGENT
Curt Leskanic3510.000$1.9M$784kFREE AGENT
Albie Lopez3110.000$1.5MFREE AGENT
Desi Relaford297.000$900k$900kFREE AGENT
Rondell White3110.000$883kFREE AGENT
Mike DiFelice347.000$625kFREE AGENT
Darrell May318.000$450k$1.8MFREE AGENT
Brian Anderson3110.000$309k$3.2M$3.2MFREE AGENT
Graeme Lloyd3610.000$200kFREE AGENT
Tom Prince3816.000$112kFREE AGENT
Paul Abbott3513.000—FREE AGENT
Rick DeHart336.000—FREE AGENT
Al Levine357.000—FREE AGENT
Jose Lima309.000—FREE AGENT$2.5M
Sean Lowe326.000—FREE AGENT
Jamey Wright287.000—FREE AGENT$800k

Arbitration-eligible (6)

PlayerAgeSvc2003200420052006200720082009
Carlos Beltrán265.000$6.0MFREE AGENT
Carlos Febles275.000$775kFREE AGENT
Kris Wilson263.000$311kARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Dee Brown255.000$310kFREE AGENT
Mendy López295.000$300kFREE AGENT
Scott Mullen283.000—ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT

Pre-arbitration (25)

PlayerAgeSvc2003200420052006200720082009
Miguel Asencio221.000$314kPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Jeremy Affeldt241.000$313kPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Runelvys Hernandez251.000$306kPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Ryan Bukvich251.000$304kPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Brandon Berger282.000$304kARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Chris George232.000$304kARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Angel Berroa252.000$302kARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Mike MacDougal262.000$301kARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Rontrez Johnson260.000$300kPre-ArbPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Ken Harvey252.000$300kARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
D.J. Carrasco260.000$300kPre-ArbPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Brent Abernathy252.000$250kARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Jeremy Hill25–—
Kyle Snyder250.000—Pre-ArbPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Gookie Dawkins24–—
Jarrod Patterson29–—
Morgan Burkhart31–—
Les Walrond26–—
Brad Voyles26–—
Nate Field271.000—Pre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Aaron Guiel301.000—Pre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Julius Matos28–—
Jimmy Gobble210.000—Pre-ArbPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Jason Gilfillan26–—
David DeJesus230.000—Pre-ArbPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT

Graphs

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