RRosternomics
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Royals KCR

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GM: Dayton Moore

Overview

REBUILD ↗ rising
cheap & losing · year 9 in this regime · payroll 0.69× league · TAB -5.6
-5.6TAB — talent above budget22nd/30
-2.1WAB — realized wins (TAB + luck)19th/30
5.0depth — 2+ WAR regulars25th/30
-8.3dead WAR — sub-replacement drag27th/30
53%dead money %25th/30
0.463win %20th/30
24.0roster fWAR25th/30
-8surplus $M (value vs cost)15th/30
$61Mpayroll $M23rd/30

Roster

CFJoey Gathright 100GDavid DeJesus 68GMitch Maier 33G
LFDavid DeJesus 71GJose Guillen 45GEsteban German 39G
RFMark Teahen 92GJose Guillen 67GDavid DeJesus 23G
SSTony Pena Jr. 94GMike Aviles 91GAlberto Callaspo 18G
2BMark Grudzielanek 85GAlberto Callaspo 46GEsteban German 35G
3BAlex Gordon 133GMark Teahen 19GMike Aviles 7G
1BRoss Gload 111GBilly Butler 34GRyan Shealy 20G
STARTERSZack Greinke 4.3WARGil Meche 4.2WARKyle Davies 1.5WARLuke Hochevar 1.2WARBrian Bannister 1.0WAR
CJohn Buck 107GMiguel Olivo 58GMatt Tupman 1G
DHBilly Butler 82GJose Guillen 43GMiguel Olivo 21G
BULLPEN★ Joakim Soria 42svRamon E Ramirez 21hRon Mahay 21hJuan Carlos Oviedo 7hJimmy Gobble 4hJoel Peralta 1hRobinson Tejeda 1hYasuhiko Yabuta 0h
CJohn Buck 107 · Miguel Olivo 58 · Matt Tupman 1
1BRoss Gload 111 · Billy Butler 34 · Ryan Shealy 20
2BMark Grudzielanek 85 · Alberto Callaspo 46 · Esteban German 35
3BAlex Gordon 133 · Mark Teahen 19 · Mike Aviles 7
SSTony Pena Jr. 94 · Mike Aviles 91 · Alberto Callaspo 18
LFDavid DeJesus 71 · Jose Guillen 45 · Esteban German 39
CFJoey Gathright 100 · David DeJesus 68 · Mitch Maier 33
RFMark Teahen 92 · Jose Guillen 67 · David DeJesus 23
DHBilly Butler 82 · Jose Guillen 43 · Miguel Olivo 21
SPZack Greinke 4.3 · Gil Meche 4.2 · Kyle Davies 1.5 · Luke Hochevar 1.2 · Brian Bannister 1.0
BP★ Joakim Soria 42 · Ramon E Ramirez 21 · Ron Mahay 21 · Juan Carlos Oviedo 7 · Jimmy Gobble 4 · Joel Peralta 1 · Robinson Tejeda 1 · Yasuhiko Yabuta 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.

2008 roster — value & surplus

PlayerAgeServiceGfWARSalary $MSurplus $M
Mike Aviles 27 – 1024.3 0.4 +9.5
Zack Greinke 24 arb 324.3 1.4 +8.3
Gil Meche 29 FA-elig 344.2 11.4 -1.8
Alex Gordon 24 pre-arb 1342.6 0.4 +5.6
David DeJesus 28 arb 1352.6 2.5 +3.3
Ramon E Ramirez 26 pre-arb 711.8 0.4 +3.7
Kyle Davies 24 – 211.5 0.4 +2.9
Mark Grudzielanek 38 FA-elig 861.4 4.5 -1.3
Joakim Soria 24 pre-arb 631.3 0.4 +2.6
Luke Hochevar 24 pre-arb 221.2 1.2 +1.6
Alberto Callaspo 25 pre-arb 741.1 0.4 +2.2
Brian Bannister 27 pre-arb 321.0 0.4 +1.9
Juan Carlos Oviedo 26 arb 450.7 0.4 +1.1
Miguel Olivo 29 FA-elig 840.6 2.0 -0.7
John Bale 34 FA-elig 130.5 2.2 -1.0
Robinson Tejeda↔ TEX 26 – 250.5 – –
Ron Mahay 37 FA-elig 570.4 4.0 -3.1
Brett Tomko↔ SDP 35 FA-elig 160.4 2.2 -1.3
Ryan Shealy 28 – 200.4 – –
Brandon Duckworth 32 – 70.4 – –
John Buck 27 arb 1090.4 2.2 -1.4
Horacio Ramirez↔ CHW 28 – 150.4 – –
Joey Gathright 27 arb 1050.2 0.4 +0.1
Carlos Rosa 23 – 20.2 – –
Matt Tupman 28 pre-arb 10.1 0.4 -0.3
Kila Ka'aihue 24 – 120.0 – –
Neal Musser 27 – 1-0.0 – –
Jeff Fulchino 28 – 12-0.0 – –
Jason Smith 30 – 22-0.1 – –
Devon Lowery 25 – 5-0.1 – –
Josh Newman↔ COL 26 – 4-0.1 – –
Kip Wells↔ COL 31 FA-elig 10-0.1 1.2 -1.5
Yasuhiko Yabuta 35 pre-arb 31-0.2 2.5 -2.9
Jimmy Gobble 26 arb 39-0.3 1.3 -2.0
Esteban German 30 FA-elig 89-0.3 1.0 -1.7
Mark Teahen 26 arb 149-0.3 2.3 -3.1
Hideo Nomo 39 – 3-0.3 – –
Mitch Maier 26 – 34-0.5 – –
Joel Peralta 32 – 40-0.8 0.5 -2.4
Jose Guillen 32 FA-elig 153-0.8 12.0 -13.9
Billy Butler 22 pre-arb 124-1.1 0.4 -2.8
Ross Gload 32 FA-elig 122-1.6 1.3 -4.9
Tony Pena Jr. 27 pre-arb 95-1.7 0.4 -4.3

Key additions (new vs 2007)

PlayerfWAR
Mike Aviles4.3
Ramon E Ramirez1.8
Alberto Callaspo1.1
Miguel Olivo0.6
Robinson Tejeda0.5
Ron Mahay0.4

Key subtractions (gone from 2007)

Player2007 fWAR
Odalis Perez1.1
Reggie Sanders0.6
Emil Brown0.3
Jorge De La Rosa0.3
John Thomson0.2
David Riske0.1

Current & Historical Payroll

2008 payroll
$60.6M

What the front office was committed to as of 2008, 2008–2014. 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 (13)

PlayerAgeSvc2008200920102011201220132014
Jose Guillen3211.000$12.0M$12.0M$8.6MFREE AGENT
Gil Meche299.000$11.4M$11.4M$12.4MFREE AGENT
Mark Grudzielanek3813.000$4.5MFREE AGENT
Ron Mahay3713.000$4.0M$2.9MFREE AGENT
John Bale349.000$2.2M$1.2MFREE AGENT
Brett Tomko3511.000$2.2MFREE AGENT
Miguel Olivo296.000$2.0M$2.7MFREE AGENT
Ross Gload328.000$1.3MFREE AGENT
Kip Wells319.000$1.2MFREE AGENT
Esteban German306.000$1.0MFREE AGENT
Hideo Nomo3913.000—FREE AGENT
Brandon Duckworth327.000—FREE AGENT
Jason Smith307.000—FREE AGENT

Arbitration-eligible (12)

PlayerAgeSvc2008200920102011201220132014
David DeJesus285.000$2.5MFREE AGENT
Mark Teahen263.000$2.3MARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
John Buck274.000$2.2MARB 3FREE AGENT
Zack Greinke244.000$1.4MARB 3FREE AGENT
Jimmy Gobble265.000$1.3MFREE AGENT
Joel Peralta323.000$450kARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Joey Gathright274.000$427kARB 3FREE AGENT
Juan Carlos Oviedo263.000$405kARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Kyle Davies243.000$390kARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Horacio Ramirez285.000—FREE AGENT
Robinson Tejeda263.000—ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Ryan Shealy283.000—ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT

Pre-arbitration (18)

PlayerAgeSvc2008200920102011201220132014
Yasuhiko Yabuta350.000$2.5MPre-ArbPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Luke Hochevar241.000$1.2MPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Joakim Soria241.000$426kPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Brian Bannister272.000$421kARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Alex Gordon241.000$406kPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Tony Pena Jr.272.000$405kARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Billy Butler221.000$399kPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Ramon E Ramirez262.000$397kARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Alberto Callaspo252.000$394kARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Mike Aviles270.000$390kPre-ArbPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Matt Tupman280.000$390kPre-ArbPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Mitch Maier262.000—ARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Devon Lowery25–—
Jeff Fulchino282.000—ARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Kila Ka'aihue240.000—Pre-ArbPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Josh Newman26–—
Carlos Rosa230.000—Pre-ArbPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Neal Musser27–—

Graphs

Every roster slot ranked best→worst by WAR. Bars = Royals 2008; 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.