RRosternomics
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Royals KCR

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GM: Dayton Moore

Overview

REBUILD ↗ rising
cheap & losing · year 1 in this regime · payroll 0.61× league · TAB -0.4
-0.4TAB — talent above budget17th/30
-3.4WAB — realized wins (TAB + luck)20th/30
5.0depth — 2+ WAR regulars21st/30
-7.0dead WAR — sub-replacement drag25th/30
37%dead money %18th/30
0.444win %23rd/30
27.6roster fWAR20th/30
+10surplus $M (value vs cost)8th/30
$60Mpayroll $M28th/30

Roster

CFJarrod Dyson 88GLorenzo Cain 50GJason Bourgeois 23G
LFAlex Gordon 160GJason Bourgeois 2GLorenzo Cain 1G
RFJeff Francoeur 145GLorenzo Cain 9GMitch Maier 6G
SSAlcides Escobar 155GIrving Falu 5GTony Abreu 4G
2BChris Getz 61GYuniesky Betancourt 46GJohnny Giavotella 45G
3BMike Moustakas 149GYuniesky Betancourt 8GTony Abreu 6G
1BEric Hosmer 148GBilly Butler 20GBrayan Peña 3G
STARTERSJeremy Guthrie 1.7WARBruce Chen 1.7WARLuis Mendoza 1.6WARLuke Hochevar 1.4WARFelipe Paulino 0.9WAR
CSalvador Perez 74GBrayan Peña 52GHumberto Quintero 43G
DHBilly Butler 138GBrayan Peña 7GJarrod Dyson 6G
BULLPEN★ Greg Holland 16svKelvin Herrera 19hAaron Crow 19hTim Collins 11hFrancisley Bueno 4hLouis Coleman 2hNate Adcock 1hJeremy Jeffress 0h
CSalvador Perez 74 · Brayan Peña 52 · Humberto Quintero 43
1BEric Hosmer 148 · Billy Butler 20 · Brayan Peña 3
2BChris Getz 61 · Yuniesky Betancourt 46 · Johnny Giavotella 45
3BMike Moustakas 149 · Yuniesky Betancourt 8 · Tony Abreu 6
SSAlcides Escobar 155 · Irving Falu 5 · Tony Abreu 4
LFAlex Gordon 160 · Jason Bourgeois 2 · Lorenzo Cain 1
CFJarrod Dyson 88 · Lorenzo Cain 50 · Jason Bourgeois 23
RFJeff Francoeur 145 · Lorenzo Cain 9 · Mitch Maier 6
DHBilly Butler 138 · Brayan Peña 7 · Jarrod Dyson 6
SPJeremy Guthrie 1.7 · Bruce Chen 1.7 · Luis Mendoza 1.6 · Luke Hochevar 1.4 · Felipe Paulino 0.9
BP★ Greg Holland 16 · Kelvin Herrera 19 · Aaron Crow 19 · Tim Collins 11 · Francisley Bueno 4 · Louis Coleman 2 · Nate Adcock 1 · Jeremy Jeffress 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.

2012 roster — value & surplus

PlayerAgeServiceGfWARSalary $MSurplus $M
Alex Gordon 28 arb 1615.0 6.0 +6.8
Mike Moustakas 23 pre-arb 1493.2 0.5 +7.7
Billy Butler 26 arb 1612.6 8.0 -1.2
Alcides Escobar 25 arb 1552.6 1.0 +5.6
Greg Holland 26 pre-arb 672.3 0.5 +5.3
Kelvin Herrera 22 pre-arb 761.8 0.5 +4.3
Jeremy Guthrie↔ COL 33 FA-elig 141.7 3.0 +1.3
Bruce Chen 35 FA-elig 351.7 4.5 -0.2
Luis Mendoza 28 arb 301.6 0.5 +3.7
Jarrod Dyson 27 pre-arb 1021.4 0.5 +3.3
Luke Hochevar 28 arb 321.4 3.5 +0.2
Lorenzo Cain 26 pre-arb 611.4 0.5 +3.0
Salvador Perez 22 pre-arb 761.1 0.8 +2.2
Aaron Crow 25 pre-arb 731.1 1.0 +1.9
Felipe Paulino 28 arb 70.9 1.9 +0.3
Tim Collins 22 pre-arb 720.8 0.5 +1.5
Will Smith 22 – 160.7 0.5 +1.3
Chris Getz 28 arb 640.6 1.0 +0.5
Jose Mijares↔ SFG 27 arb 510.5 0.6 +0.8
Danny Duffy 23 pre-arb 60.5 0.5 +0.8
Jonathan Broxton↔ CIN 28 FA-elig 350.5 2.3 -1.0
Irving Falu 29 pre-arb 240.5 0.5 +0.7
Vin Mazzaro 25 pre-arb 180.4 0.5 +0.6
Francisley Bueno 31 – 180.3 – –
Roman Colon 32 – 30.0 – –
Jeremy Jeffress 24 pre-arb 130.0 0.5 -0.4
Jake Odorizzi 22 – 2-0.0 0.5 -0.5
Louis Coleman 26 pre-arb 42-0.0 0.5 -0.5
Nate Adcock 24 – 12-0.0 – –
Manny Piña 25 pre-arb 1-0.0 0.5 -0.6
Adam Moore 28 – 4-0.1 – –
Tony Abreu 27 pre-arb 22-0.1 0.5 -0.7
Ryan Verdugo 25 – 1-0.1 0.5 -0.7
Clint Robinson 27 pre-arb 4-0.1 0.5 -0.7
Tommy Hottovy 30 – 9-0.2 0.5 -1.0
David Lough 26 – 20-0.2 0.5 -1.0
Mitch Maier 30 FA-elig 32-0.3 0.9 -1.6
Humberto Quintero 32 FA-elig 43-0.3 1.0 -1.8
Everett Teaford 28 pre-arb 18-0.3 0.5 -1.4
Jason Bourgeois 30 arb 30-0.4 0.5 -1.4
Brayan Peña 30 FA-elig 68-0.4 0.9 -1.9
Jonathan Sánchez↔ COL 29 FA-elig 12-0.5 4.5 -5.9
Johnny Giavotella 24 pre-arb 53-0.6 0.5 -2.1
Yuniesky Betancourt 30 FA-elig 57-0.9 2.0 -4.3
Jeff Francoeur 28 FA-elig 148-1.1 6.0 -8.8
Eric Hosmer 22 pre-arb 152-1.4 0.5 -4.0

Key additions (new vs 2011)

PlayerfWAR
Jeremy Guthrie1.7
Will Smith0.7
Jose Mijares0.5
Jonathan Broxton0.5
Irving Falu0.5
Francisley Bueno0.3

Key subtractions (gone from 2011)

Player2011 fWAR
Melky Cabrera3.8
Jeff Francis1.6
Kyle Davies0.6
Wilson Betemit0.4
Yamaico Navarro0.0
Kanekoa Texeira0.0

Current & Historical Payroll

2012 payroll
$60.5M

What the front office was committed to as of 2012, 2012–2018. 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 (6)

PlayerAgeSvc2012201320142015201620172018
Jeff Francoeur286.088$6.0M$5.5MFREE AGENT
Bruce Chen358.171$4.5M$4.5M$3.0MFREE AGENT
Jonathan Broxton286.020$2.3MFREE AGENT
Yuniesky Betancourt306.067$2.0MFREE AGENT
Brayan Peña308.081$875kFREE AGENT
Roman Colon328.000—FREE AGENT

Arbitration-eligible (10)

PlayerAgeSvc2012201320142015201620172018
Billy Butler264.120$8.0MARB 3FREE AGENT
Alex Gordon284.092$6.0MARB 3FREE AGENT
Jonathan Sánchez295.071$4.5MFREE AGENT
Luke Hochevar283.151$3.5MARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Jeremy Guthrie335.130$3.0MFREE AGENT
Felipe Paulino283.163$1.9MARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Humberto Quintero325.141$1.0MFREE AGENT
Chris Getz283.050$968kARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Mitch Maier303.071$865kARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Jose Mijares273.024$605kARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT

Pre-arbitration (30)

PlayerAgeSvc2012201320142015201620172018
Alcides Escobar252.082$1.0MARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Aaron Crow251.000$1.0MPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Salvador Perez220.050$750kPre-ArbPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Eric Hosmer220.146$502kPre-ArbPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Greg Holland261.028$497kPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Tim Collins221.000$496kPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Louis Coleman260.161$492kPre-ArbPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Vin Mazzaro251.111$491kPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Luis Mendoza281.063$489kPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Everett Teaford281.093$488kPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Jason Bourgeois302.009$488kARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Danny Duffy230.134$488kPre-ArbPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Mike Moustakas230.111$487kPre-ArbPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Jarrod Dyson270.097$484kPre-ArbPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Johnny Giavotella242.055$484kARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Jeremy Jeffress240.083$482kPre-ArbPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Lorenzo Cain260.074$481kPre-ArbPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Kelvin Herrera220.008$481kPre-ArbPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Manny Piña251.000$480kPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Ryan Verdugo25–$480k
Tony Abreu272.111$480kARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Irving Falu290.120$480kPre-ArbPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Tommy Hottovy30–$480k
David Lough260.000$480kPre-ArbPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Will Smith220.000$480kPre-ArbPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Clint Robinson272.028$480kARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Jake Odorizzi220.000$480kPre-ArbPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Adam Moore281.167—Pre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Francisley Bueno310.111—Pre-ArbPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Nate Adcock241.000—Pre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT

Graphs

Every roster slot ranked best→worst by WAR. Bars = Royals 2012; 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.