RRosternomics
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Royals KCR

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GM: Dayton Moore

Overview

REBUILD ↘ cooling
cheap & losing · year 1 in this regime · payroll 0.81× league · TAB -16.8
-16.8TAB — talent above budget27th/30
-21.3WAB — realized wins (TAB + luck)29th/30
3.0depth — 2+ WAR regulars25th/30
-9.3dead WAR — sub-replacement drag29th/30
30%dead money %9th/30
0.358win %29th/30
14.9roster fWAR27th/30
-56surplus $M (value vs cost)25th/30
$106Mpayroll $M20th/30

Roster

CFAbraham Almonte 35GBrian Goodwin 32GWhit Merrifield 30G
LFAlex Gordon 125GBrian Goodwin 12GJorge Bonifacio 7G
RFJorge Bonifacio 55GJorge Soler 52GRosell Herrera 29G
SSAlcides Escobar 104GAdalberto Mondesi 61GRyan Goins 4G
2BWhit Merrifield 108GRyan Goins 28GRosell Herrera 18G
3BHunter Dozier 37GAlcides Escobar 29GCheslor Cuthbert 12G
1BHunter Dozier 51GRyan O'Hearn 31GCheslor Cuthbert 10G
STARTERSBrad Keller 2.7WARJakob Junis 1.5WARDanny Duffy 1.2WARIan Kennedy 1.1WARJason Hammel 0.9WAR
CSalvador Perez 96GCam Gallagher 20GMeibrys Viloria 10G
DHSalvador Perez 30GLucas Duda 24GMike Moustakas 17G
BULLPEN★ Wily Peralta 14svKevin McCarthy 15hTim Hill 13hBrian Flynn 4hBrandon Maurer 3hJason Adam 2hBlaine Boyer 2hGlenn Sparkman 0h
CSalvador Perez 96 · Cam Gallagher 20 · Meibrys Viloria 10
1BHunter Dozier 51 · Ryan O'Hearn 31 · Cheslor Cuthbert 10
2BWhit Merrifield 108 · Ryan Goins 28 · Rosell Herrera 18
3BHunter Dozier 37 · Alcides Escobar 29 · Cheslor Cuthbert 12
SSAlcides Escobar 104 · Adalberto Mondesi 61 · Ryan Goins 4
LFAlex Gordon 125 · Brian Goodwin 12 · Jorge Bonifacio 7
CFAbraham Almonte 35 · Brian Goodwin 32 · Whit Merrifield 30
RFJorge Bonifacio 55 · Jorge Soler 52 · Rosell Herrera 29
DHSalvador Perez 30 · Lucas Duda 24 · Mike Moustakas 17
SPBrad Keller 2.7 · Jakob Junis 1.5 · Danny Duffy 1.2 · Ian Kennedy 1.1 · Jason Hammel 0.9
BP★ Wily Peralta 14 · Kevin McCarthy 15 · Tim Hill 13 · Brian Flynn 4 · Brandon Maurer 3 · Jason Adam 2 · Blaine Boyer 2 · Glenn Sparkman 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.

2018 roster — value & surplus

PlayerAgeServiceGfWARSalary $MSurplus $M
Whit Merrifield 29 pre-arb 1585.0 0.6 +16.5
Adalberto Mondesi 22 pre-arb 752.8 0.3 +9.1
Brad Keller 22 pre-arb 412.7 0.5 +8.5
Jakob Junis 25 pre-arb 301.5 0.6 +4.4
Danny Duffy 29 FA-elig 281.2 14.0 -9.7
Mike Moustakas↔ MIL 29 FA-elig 981.2 3.5 +0.7
Alex Gordon 34 FA-elig 1411.2 20.0 -15.9
Ian Kennedy 33 FA-elig 221.1 16.0 -12.1
Ryan O'Hearn 24 – 441.0 0.2 +3.2
Jason Hammel 35 FA-elig 390.9 9.0 -5.9
Kelvin Herrera↔ WSN 28 FA-elig 270.7 4.5 -2.0
Heath Fillmyer 24 – 170.6 0.3 +1.8
Jorge Soler 26 arb 610.6 4.7 -2.6
Tim Hill 28 pre-arb 700.5 0.5 +1.3
Jon Jay↔ ARI 33 FA-elig 590.5 1.2 +0.4
Brett Phillips↔ MIL 24 pre-arb 360.4 0.1 +1.2
Brian Goodwin↔ WSN 27 pre-arb 270.4 0.2 +1.1
Kevin McCarthy 26 pre-arb 650.3 0.5 +0.4
Glenn Sparkman 26 pre-arb 150.3 0.2 +0.7
Jorge López↔ MIL 25 pre-arb 70.3 0.1 +0.8
Cam Gallagher 25 pre-arb 220.2 0.2 +0.7
Scott Barlow 25 pre-arb 60.2 0.7 +0.1
Trevor Oaks 25 – 40.2 0.1 +0.5
Eric Skoglund 25 pre-arb 140.2 0.5 +0.0
Salvador Perez 28 FA-elig 1290.2 8.7 -8.2
Brian Flynn 28 arb 480.1 0.6 -0.3
Ben Lively↔ PHI 26 pre-arb 50.1 0.2 -0.1
Jerry Vasto↔ COL 26 – 5-0.1 0.1 -0.3
Ryan Goins 30 arb 41-0.1 0.5 -0.7
Meibrys Viloria 21 – 10-0.1 0.1 -0.4
Wily Peralta 29 FA-elig 37-0.1 1.5 -1.9
Rosell Herrera↔ CIN 25 – 75-0.1 0.3 -0.8
Ramón Torres 25 pre-arb 9-0.2 0.1 -0.8
Eric Stout 25 – 3-0.2 0.0 -0.7
Cheslor Cuthbert 25 arb 30-0.2 0.6 -1.3
Jorge Bonifacio 25 pre-arb 69-0.2 0.6 -1.3
Lucas Duda↔ ATL 32 FA-elig 87-0.2 2.8 -3.6
Jason Adam 26 – 31-0.3 0.3 -1.4
Jake Newberry 23 – 14-0.3 0.1 -1.3
Enny Romero↔ PIT 27 arb 4-0.3 0.3 -1.5
Justin Grimm↔ SEA 29 FA-elig 16-0.5 1.0 -2.7
Burch Smith 28 arb 38-0.5 0.6 -2.3
Drew Butera↔ COL 34 FA-elig 52-0.7 1.9 -4.3
Brandon Maurer 27 arb 37-0.8 3.0 -5.5
Abraham Almonte 29 – 50-0.8 0.3 -3.0
Blaine Boyer 36 FA-elig 21-0.8 1.0 -3.8
Paulo Orlando 32 arb 25-0.8 0.6 -3.4
Alcides Escobar 31 FA-elig 140-0.9 2.5 -5.5
Hunter Dozier 26 pre-arb 102-0.9 0.4 -3.6

Key additions (new vs 2017)

PlayerfWAR
Brad Keller2.7
Ryan O'Hearn1.0
Heath Fillmyer0.6
Tim Hill0.5
Jon Jay0.5
Brett Phillips0.4

Key subtractions (gone from 2017)

Player2017 fWAR
Lorenzo Cain4.8
Eric Hosmer3.7
Jason Vargas1.8
Scott Alexander1.2
Peter Moylan0.4
Sam Gaviglio0.2

Current & Historical Payroll

2018 payroll
$106.4M
2019 guaranteed
$0M

What the front office was committed to as of 2018, 2018–2024. Guaranteed $ are contract commitments signed by 2018; 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 (11)

PlayerAgeSvc2018201920202021202220232024
Alex Gordon3410.092$20.0MFREE AGENT
Ian Kennedy338.124$16.0MFREE AGENT
Danny Duffy296.085$14.0MFREE AGENT
Jason Hammel3510.153$9.0MFREE AGENT
Salvador Perez286.050$8.7MFREE AGENT
Mike Moustakas296.111$3.5MFREE AGENT
Lucas Duda326.137$2.8MFREE AGENT
Alcides Escobar318.082$2.5MFREE AGENT
Drew Butera347.018$1.9MFREE AGENT
Jon Jay337.134$1.2MFREE AGENT
Blaine Boyer3613.000$1.0MFREE AGENT

Arbitration-eligible (7)

PlayerAgeSvc2018201920202021202220232024
Kelvin Herrera285.157$4.5MFREE AGENT
Brandon Maurer274.089$3.0MARB 3FREE AGENT
Wily Peralta294.112$1.5MARB 3FREE AGENT
Justin Grimm294.153$952kARB 3FREE AGENT
Ryan Goins303.106$489kARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Abraham Almonte293.052$297kARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Enny Romero275.000$282kFREE AGENT

Pre-arbitration (31)

PlayerAgeSvc2018201920202021202220232024
Jorge Soler262.142$4.7MARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Scott Barlow250.000$650kPre-ArbPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Brian Flynn282.086$574kARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Cheslor Cuthbert252.030$574kARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Whit Merrifield291.096$570kPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Paulo Orlando322.099$568kARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Jorge Bonifacio250.164$562kPre-ArbPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Burch Smith281.051$554kPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Jakob Junis251.000$554kPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Tim Hill280.000$545kPre-ArbPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Eric Skoglund250.068$545kPre-ArbPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Brad Keller220.000$545kPre-ArbPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Kevin McCarthy260.124$510kPre-ArbPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Hunter Dozier260.092$410kPre-ArbPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Adalberto Mondesi220.121$311kPre-ArbPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Heath Fillmyer240.000$305kPre-ArbPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Jason Adam260.000$275kPre-ArbPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Rosell Herrera250.000$271kPre-ArbPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Ben Lively260.083$250kPre-ArbPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Glenn Sparkman260.001$214kPre-ArbPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Brian Goodwin271.019$199kPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Ryan O'Hearn240.000$182kPre-ArbPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Cam Gallagher250.048$170kPre-ArbPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Brett Phillips240.053$134kPre-ArbPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Trevor Oaks250.000$132kPre-ArbPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Jake Newberry230.000$129kPre-ArbPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Ramón Torres250.090$94kPre-ArbPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Meibrys Viloria210.000$88kPre-ArbPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Jerry Vasto26–$66k
Jorge López250.015$57kPre-ArbPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Eric Stout250.000$21kPre-ArbPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT

Graphs

Every roster slot ranked best→worst by WAR. Bars = Royals 2018; 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.