RRosternomics
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Royals KCR

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GM: Dayton Moore

Overview

FORCED-SPEND ↘ cooling
expensive & losing · year 2 in this regime · payroll 1.1× league · TAB -9.2
-9.2TAB — talent above budget23rd/30
-3.2WAB — realized wins (TAB + luck)17th/30
7.0depth — 2+ WAR regulars11th/30
-6.9dead WAR — sub-replacement drag24th/30
53%dead money %27th/30
0.494win %13th/30
26.2roster fWAR21st/30
-58surplus $M (value vs cost)25th/30
$144Mpayroll $M14th/30

Roster

CFLorenzo Cain 151GPaulo Orlando 18GAlex Gordon 15G
LFAlex Gordon 140GMelky Cabrera 104GJorge Bonifacio 9G
RFJorge Bonifacio 92GMelky Cabrera 46GPaulo Orlando 20G
SSAlcides Escobar 162GAdalberto Mondesi 9GRamón Torres 3G
2BWhit Merrifield 132GRamón Torres 20GAdalberto Mondesi 14G
3BMike Moustakas 127GCheslor Cuthbert 44GRamón Torres 12G
1BEric Hosmer 157GBrandon Moss 14GCheslor Cuthbert 6G
STARTERSDanny Duffy 3.6WARJason Hammel 2.2WARJason Vargas 1.8WARJakob Junis 0.9WARNate Karns 0.4WAR
CSalvador Perez 115GDrew Butera 74GCam Gallagher 13G
DHBrandon Moss 89GMike Moustakas 17GSalvador Perez 13G
BULLPEN★ Kelvin Herrera 26svPeter Moylan 24hRyan Buchter 20hJoakim Soria 20hMike Minor 17hScott Alexander 9hBrandon Maurer 6hNeftalí Feliz 2h
CSalvador Perez 115 · Drew Butera 74 · Cam Gallagher 13
1BEric Hosmer 157 · Brandon Moss 14 · Cheslor Cuthbert 6
2BWhit Merrifield 132 · Ramón Torres 20 · Adalberto Mondesi 14
3BMike Moustakas 127 · Cheslor Cuthbert 44 · Ramón Torres 12
SSAlcides Escobar 162 · Adalberto Mondesi 9 · Ramón Torres 3
LFAlex Gordon 140 · Melky Cabrera 104 · Jorge Bonifacio 9
CFLorenzo Cain 151 · Paulo Orlando 18 · Alex Gordon 15
RFJorge Bonifacio 92 · Melky Cabrera 46 · Paulo Orlando 20
DHBrandon Moss 89 · Mike Moustakas 17 · Salvador Perez 13
SPDanny Duffy 3.6 · Jason Hammel 2.2 · Jason Vargas 1.8 · Jakob Junis 0.9 · Nate Karns 0.4
BP★ Kelvin Herrera 26 · Peter Moylan 24 · Ryan Buchter 20 · Joakim Soria 20 · Mike Minor 17 · Scott Alexander 9 · Brandon Maurer 6 · Neftalí Feliz 2

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.

2017 roster — value & surplus

PlayerAgeServiceGfWARSalary $MSurplus $M
Lorenzo Cain 31 FA-elig 1554.8 11.0 +5.2
Eric Hosmer 27 FA-elig 1623.7 12.2 +0.2
Danny Duffy 28 FA-elig 243.6 5.0 +7.3
Whit Merrifield 28 pre-arb 1453.3 0.5 +10.7
Mike Moustakas 28 FA-elig 1482.6 8.7 +0.0
Mike Minor 29 FA-elig 652.2 4.0 +3.5
Jason Hammel 34 FA-elig 322.2 5.0 +2.4
Salvador Perez 27 FA-elig 1291.9 4.2 +2.3
Jason Vargas 34 FA-elig 321.8 8.0 -1.9
Joakim Soria 33 FA-elig 591.7 8.0 -2.2
Scott Alexander 27 pre-arb 581.2 0.5 +3.4
Jakob Junis 24 – 200.9 – –
Alcides Escobar 30 FA-elig 1620.5 6.5 -4.9
Nate Karns 29 arb 90.4 0.6 +0.9
Peter Moylan 38 FA-elig 790.4 1.0 +0.3
Jorge Bonifacio 24 – 1130.3 0.5 +0.7
Kevin McCarthy 25 pre-arb 330.2 0.3 +0.4
Kelvin Herrera 27 FA-elig 640.2 5.3 -4.7
Sam Gaviglio↔ SEA 27 – 40.2 0.0 +0.6
Travis Wood↔ SDP 30 FA-elig 280.2 2.8 -2.2
Neftalí Feliz↔ MIL 29 FA-elig 200.2 2.2 -1.6
Ryan Buchter↔ SDP 30 arb 290.1 0.2 +0.3
Eric Skoglund 24 – 70.1 0.2 +0.3
Al Alburquerque↔ CHW 31 – 110.1 0.0 +0.3
Mike Morin↔ ANA 26 pre-arb 60.1 0.1 +0.2
Ramón Torres 24 – 330.1 0.3 -0.0
Cam Gallagher 24 – 130.1 0.1 +0.1
Ian Kennedy 32 FA-elig 300.0 13.5 -13.4
Brian Flynn 27 arb 10.0 0.6 -0.5
Miguel Almonte 24 pre-arb 2-0.0 0.0 -0.1
Brandon Maurer↔ SDP 26 arb 26-0.1 0.7 -0.9
Billy Burns 27 pre-arb 7-0.1 0.0 -0.3
Luke Farrell↔ CIN 26 – 1-0.1 0.0 -0.3
Terrance Gore 26 arb 12-0.1 0.5 -1.0
Matt Strahm 25 pre-arb 24-0.1 0.5 -1.0
Andrés Machado 24 – 2-0.2 0.1 -0.6
Christian Colón↔ MIA 28 arb 7-0.2 0.2 -0.7
Adalberto Mondesi 21 pre-arb 25-0.2 0.5 -1.2
Onelki Garcia 27 pre-arb 2-0.2 0.0 -0.7
Seth Maness 28 arb 8-0.2 1.2 -2.0
Melky Cabrera↔ CHW 32 FA-elig 58-0.3 5.6 -6.6
Chris Young 38 FA-elig 14-0.3 5.8 -6.8
Paulo Orlando 31 pre-arb 39-0.3 0.6 -1.7
Brandon Moss 33 FA-elig 118-0.6 3.8 -5.7
Alex Gordon 33 FA-elig 148-0.6 16.0 -18.1
Cheslor Cuthbert 24 pre-arb 58-0.7 0.6 -2.9
Drew Butera 33 FA-elig 75-0.7 1.5 -3.9
Jorge Soler 25 arb 35-0.9 3.7 -6.5
Trevor Cahill↔ SDP 29 FA-elig 10-1.0 0.8 -4.4

Key additions (new vs 2016)

PlayerfWAR
Mike Minor2.2
Jason Hammel2.2
Jakob Junis0.9
Nate Karns0.4
Jorge Bonifacio0.3
Sam Gaviglio0.2

Key subtractions (gone from 2016)

Player2016 fWAR
Jarrod Dyson2.2
Edinson Volquez1.7
Yordano Ventura1.6
Wade Davis1.4
Kendrys Morales0.9
Brett Eibner0.1

Current & Historical Payroll

2017 payroll
$143.5M
2018 guaranteed
$0M

What the front office was committed to as of 2017, 2017–2023. Guaranteed $ are contract commitments signed by 2017; arbitration & free-agent years are projected from service time. Hover a figure for its luxury-tax (CBT) & actual-cash values.

current $ guaranteed $ arbitration (proj) pre-arb (proj) free agent club option player option mutual option vesting option

Guaranteed / signed (14)

PlayerAgeSvc2017201820192020202120222023
Alex Gordon339.092$16.0MFREE AGENT
Ian Kennedy327.124$13.5MFREE AGENT
Jason Vargas349.114$8.0MFREE AGENT
Joakim Soria3310.000$8.0MFREE AGENT
Alcides Escobar307.082$6.5MFREE AGENT
Chris Young3813.000$5.8MFREE AGENT
Melky Cabrera3210.148$5.6MFREE AGENT
Jason Hammel349.153$5.0MFREE AGENT
Brandon Moss336.160$3.8MFREE AGENT
Travis Wood306.004$2.8MFREE AGENT
Neftalí Feliz298.000$2.2MFREE AGENT
Drew Butera336.018$1.5MFREE AGENT
Peter Moylan387.003$1.0MFREE AGENT
Trevor Cahill297.098$833kFREE AGENT

Arbitration-eligible (11)

PlayerAgeSvc2017201820192020202120222023
Eric Hosmer275.146$12.2MFREE AGENT
Lorenzo Cain315.074$11.0MFREE AGENT
Mike Moustakas285.111$8.7MFREE AGENT
Kelvin Herrera274.157$5.3MARB 3FREE AGENT
Danny Duffy285.085$5.0MFREE AGENT
Salvador Perez275.050$4.2MFREE AGENT
Mike Minor295.138$4.0MFREE AGENT
Seth Maness283.154$1.2MARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Brandon Maurer263.089$726kARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Jorge Bonifacio243.054$479kARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Al Alburquerque314.152$47kARB 3FREE AGENT

Pre-arbitration (24)

PlayerAgeSvc2017201820192020202120222023
Jorge Soler252.032$3.7MARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Nate Karns292.033$571kARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Paulo Orlando311.137$558kPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Brian Flynn271.135$556kPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Cheslor Cuthbert241.030$552kPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Matt Strahm250.064$539kPre-ArbPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Adalberto Mondesi210.069$537kPre-ArbPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Terrance Gore260.129$536kPre-ArbPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Scott Alexander270.097$506kPre-ArbPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Whit Merrifield280.101$496kPre-ArbPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Kevin McCarthy250.027$278kPre-ArbPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Ramón Torres241.123$257kPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Ryan Buchter301.010$222kPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Eric Skoglund240.000$193kPre-ArbPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Christian Colón282.008$164kARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Cam Gallagher240.000$137kPre-ArbPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Mike Morin262.110$129kARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Andrés Machado240.000$91kPre-ArbPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Onelki Garcia271.019$50kPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Sam Gaviglio270.000$46kPre-ArbPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Miguel Almonte240.129$38kPre-ArbPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Billy Burns272.020$26kARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Luke Farrell260.000$9kPre-ArbPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Jakob Junis240.000—Pre-ArbPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT

Graphs

Every roster slot ranked best→worst by WAR. Bars = Royals 2017; 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.