RRosternomics
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Mets NYM

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GM: Steve Phillips

Overview

FORCED-SPEND ↘ cooling
expensive & losing · year 2 in this regime · payroll 1.38× league · TAB -7.5
-7.5TAB — talent above budget22nd/30
-10.6WAB — realized wins (TAB + luck)23rd/30
3.0depth — 2+ WAR regulars27th/30
-2.3dead WAR — sub-replacement drag5th/30
21%dead money %10th/30
0.466win %19th/30
30.5roster fWAR17th/30
-45surplus $M (value vs cost)29th/30
$91Mpayroll $M6th/30

Roster

CFTimo Perez 92GRaul Gonzalez 18GBrady Clark 5G
LFRoger Cedeno 132GTimo Perez 25GTony Tarasco 18G
RFJeromy Burnitz 140GJoe McEwing 24GTimo Perez 17G
SSRey Ordonez 142GJohn Valentin 24GJoe McEwing 21G
2BRoberto Alomar 147GJoe McEwing 13GMarco Scutaro 12G
3BEdgardo Alfonzo 134GJohn Valentin 18GTy Wigginton 14G
1BMo Vaughn 134GJohn Valentin 22GJoe McEwing 20G
STARTERSAl Leiter 3.5WARSteve Trachsel 1.9WARJeff D'Amico 1.4WARPedro Astacio 1.0WARJohn Thomson 0.8WAR
CMike Piazza 121GVance Wilson 66GJason Phillips 7G
DHMike Piazza 6GJeromy Burnitz 1GTony Tarasco 1G
BULLPEN★ Armando Benítez 33svDavid Weathers 17hMark Guthrie 17hSteve Reed 17hScott Strickland 15hJaime Cerda 3hGrant Roberts 0hSatoru Komiyama 0h
CMike Piazza 121 · Vance Wilson 66 · Jason Phillips 7
1BMo Vaughn 134 · John Valentin 22 · Joe McEwing 20
2BRoberto Alomar 147 · Joe McEwing 13 · Marco Scutaro 12
3BEdgardo Alfonzo 134 · John Valentin 18 · Ty Wigginton 14
SSRey Ordonez 142 · John Valentin 24 · Joe McEwing 21
LFRoger Cedeno 132 · Timo Perez 25 · Tony Tarasco 18
CFTimo Perez 92 · Raul Gonzalez 18 · Brady Clark 5
RFJeromy Burnitz 140 · Joe McEwing 24 · Timo Perez 17
DHMike Piazza 6 · Jeromy Burnitz 1 · Tony Tarasco 1
SPAl Leiter 3.5 · Steve Trachsel 1.9 · Jeff D'Amico 1.4 · Pedro Astacio 1.0 · John Thomson 0.8
BP★ Armando Benítez 33 · David Weathers 17 · Mark Guthrie 17 · Steve Reed 17 · Scott Strickland 15 · Jaime Cerda 3 · Grant Roberts 0 · Satoru Komiyama 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.

2002 roster — value & surplus

PlayerAgeServiceGfWARSalary $MSurplus $M
Edgardo Alfonzo 28 FA-elig 1355.3 6.2 +3.0
Al Leiter 36 FA-elig 333.5 9.2 -3.3
Mike Piazza 33 FA-elig 1353.4 10.6 -4.8
Jay Payton↔ COL 29 arb 872.0 0.2 +3.1
Steve Trachsel 31 FA-elig 311.9 4.3 -1.1
Timo Perez 27 – 1361.8 – –
Jeff D'Amico 26 FA-elig 291.4 1.8 +0.6
Roberto Alomar 34 FA-elig 1491.4 7.9 -5.6
Vance Wilson 29 arb 741.1 0.2 +1.6
Armando Benitez 29 FA-elig 621.0 5.8 -4.0
Shawn Estes↔ CIN 29 FA-elig 241.0 5.0 -3.2
Pedro Astacio 33 FA-elig 311.0 4.0 -2.3
Rey Ordonez 31 FA-elig 1440.8 6.2 -4.9
John Thomson↔ COL 28 arb 90.8 0.3 +1.0
Tony Tarasco 31 – 600.8 – –
Jeromy Burnitz 33 FA-elig 1540.7 7.2 -6.0
Ty Wigginton 24 – 460.6 – –
Mark Guthrie 36 FA-elig 680.6 1.8 -0.8
Scott Strickland↔ WSN 26 arb 680.6 0.3 +0.6
David Weathers 32 FA-elig 710.5 1.8 -1.0
Steve Reed↔ SDP 37 FA-elig 240.5 0.2 +0.6
Mo Vaughn 34 FA-elig 1390.3 12.2 -11.6
Jason Phillips 25 – 110.3 – –
Grant Roberts 24 pre-arb 340.3 0.2 +0.3
Jaime Cerda 23 – 320.3 – –
Jason Middlebrook↔ SDP 27 – 30.3 – –
John Valentin 35 FA-elig 1140.2 0.6 -0.2
Mike Bacsik 24 – 110.1 – –
Pedro Feliciano 25 – 60.1 – –
Esix Snead 26 – 170.1 – –
Pat Strange 21 – 50.1 – –
McKay Christensen 26 – 40.1 – –
Raul Gonzalez↔ CIN 28 – 300.1 – –
Brady Clark↔ CIN 29 pre-arb 100.0 0.0 +0.0
Jae Weong Seo 25 – 10.0 – –
Kane Davis 27 pre-arb 160.0 0.2 -0.2
Pete Walker↔ TOR 33 – 10.0 – –
Bruce Chen↔ CIN 25 arb 10.0 0.0 +0.0
Gary Matthews Jr.↔ BAL 27 arb 2-0.0 0.1 -0.1
Satoru Komiyama 36 pre-arb 25-0.1 0.5 -0.7
Mark Little↔ ARI 29 arb 3-0.1 0.0 -0.2
Mark Johnson 34 FA-elig 42-0.1 0.5 -0.7
Tyler Walker 26 – 5-0.2 – –
Marco Scutaro 26 – 27-0.2 – –
Bobby Jones↔ SDP 30 – 13-0.2 – –
Mark Corey↔ COL 27 – 13-0.2 – –
Roger Cedeno 27 FA-elig 149-0.3 2.4 -2.9
Joe McEwing 29 arb 105-0.8 0.8 -2.2

Key additions (new vs 2001)

PlayerfWAR
Jeff D'Amico1.4
Roberto Alomar1.4
Shawn Estes1.0
Pedro Astacio1.0
John Thomson0.8
Tony Tarasco0.8

Key subtractions (gone from 2001)

Player2001 fWAR
Kevin Appier3.2
Robin Ventura2.7
Rick Reed2.7
Glendon Rusch2.6
Desi Relaford2.1
Tsuyoshi Shinjo1.7

Current & Historical Payroll

2002 payroll
$90.6M

What the front office was committed to as of 2002, 2002–2008. 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 (20)

PlayerAgeSvc2002200320042005200620072008
Mo Vaughn3411.000$12.2M$17.2MFREE AGENT
Mike Piazza3310.000$10.6M$15.6M$16.1M$16.1MFREE AGENT
Al Leiter3615.000$9.2M$8.0M$10.3MFREE AGENT
Roberto Alomar3414.000$7.9M$4.2MFREE AGENT
Jeromy Burnitz339.000$7.2M$6.3MFREE AGENT
Rey Ordonez316.000$6.2MFREE AGENT
Edgardo Alfonzo287.000$6.2MFREE AGENT
Armando Benitez298.000$5.8M$4.5MFREE AGENT
Shawn Estes297.000$5.0MFREE AGENT
Steve Trachsel319.000$4.3M$3.0M$5.0M$6.8M$2.5MFREE AGENT
Pedro Astacio3310.000$4.0M$7.0MFREE AGENT
Roger Cedeno277.000$2.4M$4.9MFREE AGENT
Jeff D'Amico266.000$1.8MFREE AGENT
David Weathers3211.000$1.8M$3.7M$1.9MFREE AGENT
Mark Guthrie3613.000$1.8MFREE AGENT
John Valentin3510.000$550kFREE AGENT
Mark Johnson347.000$475kFREE AGENT
Steve Reed3710.000$185kFREE AGENT
Tony Tarasco319.000—FREE AGENT
Pete Walker337.000—FREE AGENT

Arbitration-eligible (10)

PlayerAgeSvc2002200320042005200620072008
Joe McEwing294.000$750kARB 3FREE AGENT
Scott Strickland263.000$350kARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
John Thomson285.000$330kFREE AGENT
Jay Payton294.000$235kARB 3FREE AGENT
Vance Wilson293.000$222kARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Gary Matthews Jr.273.000$66kARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Mark Little294.000$9kARB 3FREE AGENT
Bruce Chen254.000$5kARB 3FREE AGENT
Bobby Jones305.000—FREE AGENT
McKay Christensen263.000—ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT

Pre-arbitration (18)

PlayerAgeSvc2002200320042005200620072008
Satoru Komiyama360.000$500kPre-ArbPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Kane Davis272.000$235kARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Grant Roberts242.000$212kARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Brady Clark292.000$38kARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Jae Weong Seo250.000—Pre-ArbPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Jason Middlebrook27–—
Raul Gonzalez28–—
Jason Phillips251.000—Pre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Marco Scutaro260.000—Pre-ArbPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Timo Perez272.000—ARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Tyler Walker260.000—Pre-ArbPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Esix Snead26–—
Mike Bacsik241.000—Pre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Mark Corey27–—
Jaime Cerda230.000—Pre-ArbPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Pat Strange21–—
Pedro Feliciano250.000—Pre-ArbPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Ty Wigginton240.000—Pre-ArbPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT

Graphs

Every roster slot ranked best→worst by WAR. Bars = Mets 2002; 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.