RRosternomics
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Royals KCR

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GM: Dayton Moore

Overview

REBUILD ↘ cooling
cheap & losing · year 2 in this regime · payroll 0.68× league · TAB -13.9
-13.9TAB — talent above budget25th/30
-17.8WAB — realized wins (TAB + luck)28th/30
5.0depth — 2+ WAR regulars17th/30
-11.0dead WAR — sub-replacement drag28th/30
24%dead money %8th/30
0.364win %27th/30
15.5roster fWAR27th/30
-36surplus $M (value vs cost)18th/30
$87Mpayroll $M24th/30

Roster

CFBubba Starling 36GBrett Phillips 23GWhit Merrifield 17G
LFAlex Gordon 146GTerrance Gore 9GBubba Starling 6G
RFWhit Merrifield 61GJorge Soler 56GBubba Starling 23G
SSAdalberto Mondesi 100GHumberto Arteaga 36GNicky Lopez 33G
2BWhit Merrifield 82GNicky Lopez 76GHumberto Arteaga 2G
3BHunter Dozier 100GCheslor Cuthbert 40GKelvin Gutiérrez 18G
1BRyan O'Hearn 94GCheslor Cuthbert 46GLucas Duda 19G
STARTERSBrad Keller 2.3WARJakob Junis 1.5WARDanny Duffy 1.4WARMike Montgomery 0.3WARJorge López -0.3WAR
CCam Gallagher 44GMeibrys Viloria 41GNick Dini 20G
DHJorge Soler 107GHunter Dozier 15GLucas Duda 14G
BULLPEN★ Ian Kennedy 30svScott Barlow 14hTim Hill 9hKevin McCarthy 6hWily Peralta 5hJake Newberry 4hJacob Barnes 1hBrad Boxberger 0h
CCam Gallagher 44 · Meibrys Viloria 41 · Nick Dini 20
1BRyan O'Hearn 94 · Cheslor Cuthbert 46 · Lucas Duda 19
2BWhit Merrifield 82 · Nicky Lopez 76 · Humberto Arteaga 2
3BHunter Dozier 100 · Cheslor Cuthbert 40 · Kelvin Gutiérrez 18
SSAdalberto Mondesi 100 · Humberto Arteaga 36 · Nicky Lopez 33
LFAlex Gordon 146 · Terrance Gore 9 · Bubba Starling 6
CFBubba Starling 36 · Brett Phillips 23 · Whit Merrifield 17
RFWhit Merrifield 61 · Jorge Soler 56 · Bubba Starling 23
DHJorge Soler 107 · Hunter Dozier 15 · Lucas Duda 14
SPBrad Keller 2.3 · Jakob Junis 1.5 · Danny Duffy 1.4 · Mike Montgomery 0.3 · Jorge López -0.3
BP★ Ian Kennedy 30 · Scott Barlow 14 · Tim Hill 9 · Kevin McCarthy 6 · Wily Peralta 5 · Jake Newberry 4 · Jacob Barnes 1 · Brad Boxberger 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.

2019 roster — value & surplus

PlayerAgeServiceGfWARSalary $MSurplus $M
Jorge Soler 27 arb 1623.5 4.7 +6.8
Whit Merrifield 30 arb 1623.3 1.0 +9.7
Hunter Dozier 27 arb 1393.2 0.6 +9.8
Adalberto Mondesi 23 arb 1022.6 0.6 +7.9
Brad Keller 23 pre-arb 282.3 0.6 +6.8
Jakob Junis 26 pre-arb 311.5 0.6 +4.4
Ian Kennedy 34 FA-elig 631.5 16.5 -11.7
Danny Duffy 30 FA-elig 231.4 15.2 -10.8
Scott Barlow 26 pre-arb 611.1 0.7 +3.1
Homer Bailey↔ OAK 33 FA-elig 181.1 0.2 +3.6
Jake Diekman↔ OAK 32 FA-elig 480.8 1.4 +1.2
Cam Gallagher 26 pre-arb 450.6 0.6 +1.5
Alex Gordon 35 FA-elig 1500.6 20.0 -18.1
Kevin McCarthy 27 arb 560.5 0.6 +1.2
Tim Hill 29 pre-arb 460.5 0.6 +1.1
Martín Maldonado↔ CHC 32 FA-elig 740.5 1.8 -0.1
Terrance Gore 28 arb 370.5 0.7 +1.0
Mike Montgomery↔ CHC 29 arb 130.3 1.0 +0.1
Brett Phillips 25 pre-arb 300.3 0.1 +0.9
Randy Rosario↔ CHC 25 pre-arb 60.1 0.2 +0.3
Richard Lovelady 23 – 250.1 0.2 +0.1
Jorge Bonifacio 26 pre-arb 50.1 0.0 +0.3
Brian Flynn 29 FA-elig 110.0 0.8 -0.7
Kelvin Gutiérrez 24 – 200.0 0.1 -0.1
Erick Mejia 24 – 90.0 0.1 -0.1
Brad Boxberger 31 FA-elig 290.0 2.2 -2.2
Chris Ellis 26 pre-arb 10.0 0.6 -0.5
Ryan McBroom 27 – 23-0.1 0.1 -0.3
Ben Lively 27 – 1-0.1 0.0 -0.3
Jesse Hahn 29 arb 6-0.1 0.8 -1.1
Gabe Speier 24 – 9-0.1 0.1 -0.4
Kyle Zimmer 27 pre-arb 15-0.1 0.6 -1.0
Nick Dini 25 – 20-0.2 0.2 -0.7
Josh Staumont 25 – 16-0.2 0.2 -0.9
Jorge López 26 arb 39-0.3 0.6 -1.4
Eric Skoglund 26 pre-arb 6-0.3 0.6 -1.4
Nicky Lopez 24 – 103-0.3 0.4 -1.3
Billy Hamilton↔ ATL 28 FA-elig 93-0.3 3.3 -4.4
Jake Newberry 24 pre-arb 27-0.3 0.3 -1.4
Frank Schwindel 27 pre-arb 6-0.4 0.6 -1.9
Jacob Barnes↔ MIL 29 arb 15-0.4 0.3 -1.6
Wily Peralta 30 FA-elig 42-0.4 2.2 -3.7
Heath Fillmyer 25 pre-arb 12-0.4 0.1 -1.6
Glenn Sparkman 27 pre-arb 31-0.5 0.5 -2.1
Bubba Starling 26 pre-arb 56-0.7 0.2 -2.5
Cheslor Cuthbert 26 arb 87-0.7 0.8 -3.3
Meibrys Viloria 22 pre-arb 42-0.9 0.2 -3.1
Humberto Arteaga 25 – 41-0.9 0.3 -3.2
Ryan O'Hearn 25 pre-arb 105-1.1 0.6 -4.0
Lucas Duda 33 FA-elig 39-1.1 1.2 -4.9
Chris Owings↔ BOS 27 FA-elig 41-1.1 1.8 -5.5

Key additions (new vs 2018)

PlayerfWAR
Homer Bailey1.1
Jake Diekman0.8
Martín Maldonado0.5
Terrance Gore0.5
Mike Montgomery0.3
Randy Rosario0.1

Key subtractions (gone from 2018)

Player2018 fWAR
Mike Moustakas1.2
Kelvin Herrera0.7
Jon Jay0.5
Brian Goodwin0.4
Jerry Vasto-0.1
Ryan Goins-0.1

Current & Historical Payroll

2019 payroll
$87.4M
2020 guaranteed
$0M

What the front office was committed to as of 2019, 2019–2025. Guaranteed $ are contract commitments signed by 2019; 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 (10)

PlayerAgeSvc2019202020212022202320242025
Alex Gordon3511.092$20.0MFREE AGENT
Ian Kennedy349.124$16.5MFREE AGENT
Danny Duffy307.085$15.2MFREE AGENT
Billy Hamilton286.000$3.3MFREE AGENT
Wily Peralta307.000$2.2MFREE AGENT
Brad Boxberger317.000$2.2MFREE AGENT
Martín Maldonado326.156$1.8MFREE AGENT
Jake Diekman326.050$1.4MFREE AGENT
Lucas Duda339.000$1.2MFREE AGENT
Homer Bailey3310.017$177kFREE AGENT

Arbitration-eligible (6)

PlayerAgeSvc2019202020212022202320242025
Jorge Soler273.142$4.7MARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Chris Owings275.012$1.8MFREE AGENT
Mike Montgomery293.089$961kARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Cheslor Cuthbert263.030$850kARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Jesse Hahn293.067$800kARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Brian Flynn293.086$800kARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT

Pre-arbitration (35)

PlayerAgeSvc2019202020212022202320242025
Whit Merrifield302.101$1.0MARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Terrance Gore281.030$650kPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Scott Barlow260.030$650kPre-ArbPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Jakob Junis262.000$578kARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Kevin McCarthy271.124$578kPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Brad Keller231.000$578kPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Adalberto Mondesi231.088$576kPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Tim Hill291.000$573kPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Eric Skoglund261.068$568kPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Hunter Dozier271.060$567kPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Jorge López260.102$562kPre-ArbPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Ryan O'Hearn250.062$558kPre-ArbPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Cam Gallagher260.106$557kPre-ArbPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Kyle Zimmer270.000$555kPre-ArbPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Frank Schwindel270.000$555kPre-ArbPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Chris Ellis260.000$555kPre-ArbPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Glenn Sparkman271.001$480kPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Nicky Lopez240.000$415kPre-ArbPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Jake Newberry240.044$313kPre-ArbPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Humberto Arteaga250.000$260kPre-ArbPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Jacob Barnes292.098$258kARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Bubba Starling260.067$239kPre-ArbPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Meibrys Viloria220.030$227kPre-ArbPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Richard Lovelady230.000$224kPre-ArbPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Josh Staumont250.000$215kPre-ArbPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Randy Rosario250.132$178kPre-ArbPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Nick Dini250.000$158kPre-ArbPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Heath Fillmyer250.104$149kPre-ArbPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Kelvin Gutiérrez240.000$140kPre-ArbPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Brett Phillips250.140$134kPre-ArbPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Erick Mejia240.000$81kPre-ArbPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Gabe Speier240.000$81kPre-ArbPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Ryan McBroom270.000$81kPre-ArbPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Ben Lively271.083$36kPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Jorge Bonifacio261.095$21kPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT

Graphs

Every roster slot ranked best→worst by WAR. Bars = Royals 2019; 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.