RRosternomics
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Yankees NYY

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GM: Brian Cashman

Overview

FORCED-SPEND ↘ cooling
expensive & losing · year 1 in this regime · payroll 2.48× league · TAB -7.3
-7.3TAB — talent above budget25th/30
-4.8WAB — realized wins (TAB + luck)21st/30
9.0depth — 2+ WAR regulars5th/30
-4.9dead WAR — sub-replacement drag14th/30
24%dead money %6th/30
0.549win %7th/30
38.1roster fWAR10th/30
-136surplus $M (value vs cost)30th/30
$218Mpayroll $M1st/30

Roster

CFMelky Cabrera 117GJohnny Damon 34GBrett Gardner 22G
LFJohnny Damon 87GXavier Nady 46GHideki Matsui 21G
RFBobby Abreu 150GXavier Nady 89GJustin Christian 5G
SSDerek Jeter 148GWilson Betemit 14GCody Ransom 9G
2BRobinson Canó 159GAlberto Gonzalez 4GWilson Betemit 3G
3BAlex Rodriguez 131GWilson Betemit 21GMorgan Ensberg 21G
1BJason Giambi 113GRichie Sexson 92GWilson Betemit 36G
STARTERSMike Mussina 3.6WARAndy Pettitte 3.3WARJoba Chamberlain 2.9WARChien-Ming Wang 1.5WARDarrell Rasner 1.1WAR
CIvan Rodriguez 112GJosé Molina 97GChad Moeller 33G
DHHideki Matsui 66GJohnny Damon 27GJason Giambi 26G
BULLPEN★ Mariano Rivera 39svDamaso Marte 25hBrian Bruney 12hJose Veras 10hEdwar Ramirez 5hBilly Traber 1hDavid Robertson 0hDan Giese 0h
CIvan Rodriguez 112 · José Molina 97 · Chad Moeller 33
1BJason Giambi 113 · Richie Sexson 92 · Wilson Betemit 36
2BRobinson Canó 159 · Alberto Gonzalez 4 · Wilson Betemit 3
3BAlex Rodriguez 131 · Wilson Betemit 21 · Morgan Ensberg 21
SSDerek Jeter 148 · Wilson Betemit 14 · Cody Ransom 9
LFJohnny Damon 87 · Xavier Nady 46 · Hideki Matsui 21
CFMelky Cabrera 117 · Johnny Damon 34 · Brett Gardner 22
RFBobby Abreu 150 · Xavier Nady 89 · Justin Christian 5
DHHideki Matsui 66 · Johnny Damon 27 · Jason Giambi 26
SPMike Mussina 3.6 · Andy Pettitte 3.3 · Joba Chamberlain 2.9 · Chien-Ming Wang 1.5 · Darrell Rasner 1.1
BP★ Mariano Rivera 39 · Damaso Marte 25 · Brian Bruney 12 · Jose Veras 10 · Edwar Ramirez 5 · Billy Traber 1 · David Robertson 0 · Dan Giese 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.

2008 roster — value & surplus

PlayerAgeServiceGfWARSalary $MSurplus $M
Alex Rodriguez 32 FA-elig 1385.8 28.0 -14.7
Johnny Damon 34 FA-elig 1433.7 13.0 -4.5
José Molina 33 FA-elig 1003.7 1.9 +6.6
Mike Mussina 39 FA-elig 343.6 11.1 -2.8
Derek Jeter 34 FA-elig 1503.4 21.6 -13.9
Andy Pettitte 36 FA-elig 333.3 16.0 -8.5
Mariano Rivera 38 FA-elig 643.0 15.0 -8.3
Joba Chamberlain 22 pre-arb 422.9 0.4 +6.2
Jason Giambi 37 FA-elig 1452.4 23.4 -17.9
Bobby Abreu 34 FA-elig 1561.6 16.0 -12.3
Chien-Ming Wang 28 arb 151.5 4.0 -0.6
Brett Gardner 24 – 421.1 0.4 +2.2
Darrell Rasner 27 – 241.1 – –
Hideki Matsui 34 arb 930.8 13.0 -11.1
Xavier Nady↔ PIT 29 FA-elig 590.8 1.3 +0.4
Brian Bruney 26 arb 320.5 0.7 +0.5
Dan Giese 31 – 200.5 – –
Phil Coke 25 – 120.5 – –
Damaso Marte↔ PIT 33 FA-elig 250.4 0.7 +0.3
Cody Ransom 32 – 330.4 – –
Phil Hughes 22 pre-arb 80.4 0.4 +0.4
Edwar Ramirez 27 – 550.3 – –
Melky Cabrera 23 arb 1290.2 0.5 +0.1
David Robertson 23 – 250.2 0.2 +0.3
Juan Miranda 25 pre-arb 50.2 0.4 -0.0
Alfredo Aceves 25 – 60.1 – –
Kei Igawa 28 pre-arb 20.1 4.0 -3.8
Chad Moeller 33 – 410.1 – –
Jonathan Albaladejo 25 pre-arb 70.1 0.4 -0.2
Robinson Canó 25 arb 1590.1 3.0 -2.9
Carl Pavano 32 FA-elig 70.0 11.0 -10.9
Jose Veras 27 – 600.0 0.4 -0.3
LaTroy Hawkins↔ HOU 35 FA-elig 330.0 2.2 -2.2
Scott Patterson↔ SDP 29 – 1-0.0 – –
Humberto Sanchez 25 pre-arb 2-0.0 0.4 -0.4
Chris Stewart 26 – 1-0.1 – –
Justin Christian 28 – 24-0.1 – –
Francisco Cervelli 22 – 3-0.2 – –
Sidney Ponson↔ TEX 31 – 16-0.2 – –
Billy Traber 28 arb 19-0.2 0.5 -0.9
Ian Kennedy 23 pre-arb 10-0.2 0.4 -0.8
Chris Britton 25 – 15-0.2 – –
Ross Ohlendorf↔ PIT 25 pre-arb 25-0.2 0.3 -0.9
Richie Sexson↔ SEA 33 FA-elig 22-0.3 3.6 -4.2
Shelley Duncan 28 pre-arb 23-0.3 0.4 -1.1
Wilson Betemit 26 FA-elig 87-0.3 1.2 -1.9
Ivan Rodriguez↔ DET 36 FA-elig 33-0.3 3.6 -4.3
Jorge Posada 37 FA-elig 51-0.4 13.1 -14.0
Alberto Gonzalez↔ WSN 25 – 28-0.5 – –
Kyle Farnsworth↔ DET 32 FA-elig 45-0.7 4.4 -5.9
Morgan Ensberg 32 FA-elig 28-0.7 1.8 -3.3

Key additions (new vs 2007)

PlayerfWAR
Brett Gardner1.1
Xavier Nady0.8
Dan Giese0.5
Phil Coke0.5
Damaso Marte0.4
Cody Ransom0.4

Key subtractions (gone from 2007)

Player2007 fWAR
Roger Clemens1.6
Doug Mientkiewicz0.9
Luis Vizcaino0.3
Matt DeSalvo0.1
Mike Myers0.0
Andy Phillips0.0

Current & Historical Payroll

2008 payroll
$218.5M

What the front office was committed to as of 2008, 2008–2014. 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 (22)

PlayerAgeSvc2008200920102011201220132014
Alex Rodriguez3214.000$28.0M$33.0M$33.0M$32.0M$29.0M$28.0MFREE AGENT
Jason Giambi3713.000$23.4MFREE AGENT
Derek Jeter3413.000$21.6M$21.6M$22.6M$14.7M$16.0M$17.0M$12.0M
Andy Pettitte3613.000$16.0M$5.5M$11.8MFREE AGENT$2.5M$12.0M
Bobby Abreu3412.000$16.0MFREE AGENT
Mariano Rivera3813.000$15.0M$15.0M$15.0M$14.9M$15.0M$10.0MFREE AGENT
Jorge Posada3713.000$13.1M$13.1M$13.1M$13.1MFREE AGENT
Johnny Damon3413.000$13.0M$13.0MFREE AGENT
Mike Mussina3917.000$11.1MFREE AGENT
Carl Pavano3210.000$11.0MFREE AGENT
Kyle Farnsworth329.000$4.4MFREE AGENT
Ivan Rodriguez3617.000$3.6MFREE AGENT
Richie Sexson3311.000$3.6MFREE AGENT
LaTroy Hawkins3513.000$2.2MFREE AGENT
José Molina339.000$1.9M$2.1MFREE AGENT
Morgan Ensberg328.000$1.8MFREE AGENT
Xavier Nady298.000$1.3M$6.5MFREE AGENT
Wilson Betemit267.000$1.2MFREE AGENT
Damaso Marte339.000$747k$3.8M$4.0MFREE AGENT
Sidney Ponson3110.000—FREE AGENT
Chad Moeller338.000—FREE AGENT
Cody Ransom327.000—$455kFREE AGENT

Arbitration-eligible (7)

PlayerAgeSvc2008200920102011201220132014
Hideki Matsui345.000$13.0MFREE AGENT
Chien-Ming Wang283.000$4.0MARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Robinson Canó253.000$3.0MARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Brian Bruney264.000$725kARB 3FREE AGENT
Billy Traber285.000$500kFREE AGENT
Melky Cabrera233.000$461kARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Darrell Rasner273.000—ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT

Pre-arbitration (22)

PlayerAgeSvc2008200920102011201220132014
Kei Igawa281.000$4.0MPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Phil Hughes221.000$406kPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Shelley Duncan281.000$398kPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Ian Kennedy231.000$394kPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Jonathan Albaladejo251.000$393kPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Jose Veras272.000$390kARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Humberto Sanchez250.000$390kPre-ArbPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Brett Gardner240.000$390kPre-ArbPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Juan Miranda250.000$390kPre-ArbPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Joba Chamberlain221.000$390kPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Ross Ohlendorf251.000$326kPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
David Robertson230.000$198kPre-ArbPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Dan Giese31–—
Justin Christian28–—
Chris Stewart262.000—ARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Scott Patterson29–—
Phil Coke250.000—Pre-ArbPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Chris Britton25–—
Francisco Cervelli220.000—Pre-ArbPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Alfredo Aceves250.000—Pre-ArbPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Edwar Ramirez271.000—Pre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Alberto Gonzalez251.000—Pre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT

Graphs

Every roster slot ranked best→worst by WAR. Bars = Yankees 2008; 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.