RRosternomics
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Yankees NYY

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GM: Brian Cashman

Overview

CONTEND ↗ rising
expensive & winning · year 1 in this regime · payroll 2.28× league · TAB +9.0
+9.0TAB — talent above budget4th/30
+10.3WAB — realized wins (TAB + luck)5th/30
13.0depth — 2+ WAR regulars1st/30
-3.4dead WAR — sub-replacement drag7th/30
12%dead money %1st/30
0.636win %1st/30
53.4roster fWAR1st/30
-79surplus $M (value vs cost)29th/30
$208Mpayroll $M1st/30

2009: World Series champions · 103–59. Ranks are vs the 30 teams that season.

Roster

CFMelky Cabrera 103GBrett Gardner 99GJerry Hairston Jr. 5G
LFJohnny Damon 132GMelky Cabrera 40GJerry Hairston Jr. 19G
RFNick Swisher 130GMelky Cabrera 48GEric Hinske 35G
SSDerek Jeter 150GJerry Hairston Jr. 42GRamiro Pena 34G
2BRobinson Canó 161GJerry Hairston Jr. 12GRamiro Pena 8G
3BAlex Rodriguez 116GJerry Hairston Jr. 49GRamiro Pena 27G
1BMark Teixeira 152GNick Swisher 20GJuan Miranda 8G
STARTERSCC Sabathia 5.8WARAndy Pettitte 3.5WARA.J. Burnett 2.9WARPhil Hughes 2.3WARJoba Chamberlain 1.7WAR
CJorge Posada 100GJosé Molina 49GFrancisco Cervelli 40G
DHHideki Matsui 118GJorge Posada 9GAlex Rodriguez 9G
BULLPEN★ Mariano Rivera 44svPhil Coke 21hBrian Bruney 14hDavid Robertson 5hAlfredo Aceves 5hDamaso Marte 5hJonathan Albaladejo 1hEdwar Ramirez 1h
CJorge Posada 100 · José Molina 49 · Francisco Cervelli 40
1BMark Teixeira 152 · Nick Swisher 20 · Juan Miranda 8
2BRobinson Canó 161 · Jerry Hairston Jr. 12 · Ramiro Pena 8
3BAlex Rodriguez 116 · Jerry Hairston Jr. 49 · Ramiro Pena 27
SSDerek Jeter 150 · Jerry Hairston Jr. 42 · Ramiro Pena 34
LFJohnny Damon 132 · Melky Cabrera 40 · Jerry Hairston Jr. 19
CFMelky Cabrera 103 · Brett Gardner 99 · Jerry Hairston Jr. 5
RFNick Swisher 130 · Melky Cabrera 48 · Eric Hinske 35
DHHideki Matsui 118 · Jorge Posada 9 · Alex Rodriguez 9
SPCC Sabathia 5.8 · Andy Pettitte 3.5 · A.J. Burnett 2.9 · Phil Hughes 2.3 · Joba Chamberlain 1.7
BP★ Mariano Rivera 44 · Phil Coke 21 · Brian Bruney 14 · David Robertson 5 · Alfredo Aceves 5 · Damaso Marte 5 · Jonathan Albaladejo 1 · Edwar Ramirez 1

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.

2009 roster — value & surplus

PlayerAgeServiceGfWARSalary $MSurplus $M
Derek Jeter 35 FA-elig 1536.7 21.6 -5.6
CC Sabathia 28 FA-elig 345.8 15.3 -1.3
Mark Teixeira 29 FA-elig 1565.2 20.6 -8.3
Alex Rodriguez 33 FA-elig 1244.1 33.0 -23.3
Robinson Canó 26 arb 1613.7 6.0 +2.7
Johnny Damon 35 FA-elig 1433.6 13.0 -4.4
Andy Pettitte 37 FA-elig 323.5 5.5 +2.9
Nick Swisher 28 arb 1503.0 5.4 +1.7
A.J. Burnett 32 FA-elig 332.9 16.5 -9.7
Hideki Matsui 35 FA-elig 1422.4 13.0 -7.3
Phil Hughes 23 pre-arb 512.3 0.4 +5.1
Brett Gardner 25 pre-arb 1082.3 0.4 +5.0
Mariano Rivera 39 FA-elig 662.0 15.0 -10.2
Joba Chamberlain 23 pre-arb 321.7 0.4 +3.5
Melky Cabrera 24 arb 1541.5 1.4 +2.2
Alfredo Aceves 26 pre-arb 431.4 0.4 +2.9
Jorge Posada 38 FA-elig 1111.2 13.1 -10.3
José Molina 34 FA-elig 521.0 2.1 +0.3
David Robertson 24 pre-arb 450.8 0.4 +1.4
Jerry Hairston Jr.↔ CIN 33 FA-elig 450.5 0.7 +0.6
Francisco Cervelli 23 pre-arb 420.3 0.4 +0.4
Ramiro Pena 23 pre-arb 690.3 0.4 +0.3
Eric Hinske↔ PIT 31 FA-elig 390.3 0.6 +0.0
Phil Coke 26 pre-arb 720.2 0.4 +0.1
Chad Gaudin↔ SDP 26 FA-elig 110.1 0.7 -0.5
Chien-Ming Wang 29 arb 120.1 5.0 -4.8
Juan Miranda 26 pre-arb 80.1 0.4 -0.3
Sergio Mitre 28 FA-elig 120.0 1.2 -1.2
Josh Towers 32 – 20.0 – –
Mark Melancon 24 pre-arb 130.0 0.4 -0.3
Brian Bruney 27 arb 44-0.0 1.2 -1.3
Freddy Guzman 28 – 10-0.0 – –
Mike Dunn 24 pre-arb 4-0.1 0.4 -0.5
Damaso Marte 34 FA-elig 21-0.1 3.8 -4.0
Kevin Cash 31 – 10-0.1 – –
Ian Kennedy 24 pre-arb 1-0.1 0.4 -0.7
Xavier Nady 30 FA-elig 7-0.1 6.5 -6.9
Anthony Claggett↔ PIT 24 pre-arb 2-0.2 0.3 -0.6
Brett Tomko↔ OAK 36 – 15-0.2 – –
Shelley Duncan 29 – 11-0.2 0.4 -1.0
Jonathan Albaladejo 26 pre-arb 32-0.3 0.4 -1.0
Jose Veras↔ CLE 28 arb 25-0.3 0.2 -0.9
Edwar Ramirez 28 pre-arb 20-0.4 0.4 -1.3
Angel Berroa↔ NYM 31 – 21-0.6 – –
Cody Ransom 33 FA-elig 31-0.7 0.5 -2.2

Key additions (new vs 2008)

PlayerfWAR
CC Sabathia5.8
Mark Teixeira5.2
Nick Swisher3.0
A.J. Burnett2.9
Jerry Hairston Jr.0.5
Ramiro Pena0.3

Key subtractions (gone from 2008)

Player2008 fWAR
Mike Mussina3.6
Jason Giambi2.4
Bobby Abreu1.6
Darrell Rasner1.1
Dan Giese0.5
Kei Igawa0.1

Current & Historical Payroll

2009 payroll
$208.4M

What the front office was committed to as of 2009, 2009–2015. 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)

PlayerAgeSvc2009201020112012201320142015
Alex Rodriguez3315.000$33.0M$33.0M$32.0M$29.0M$28.0MFREE AGENT$22.0M
Derek Jeter3514.000$21.6M$22.6M$14.7M$16.0M$17.0M$12.0MFREE AGENT
Mark Teixeira296.000$20.6M$20.6M$23.1M$22.5M$22.5M$22.5M$23.1M
A.J. Burnett3210.000$16.5M$16.5M$16.5MFREE AGENT
CC Sabathia288.000$15.3M$24.3M$24.3M$23.0M$23.0M$23.0M$23.0M
Mariano Rivera3914.000$15.0M$15.0M$14.9M$15.0M$10.0MFREE AGENT
Jorge Posada3814.000$13.1M$13.1M$13.1MFREE AGENT
Johnny Damon3514.000$13.0MFREE AGENT
Hideki Matsui356.000$13.0MFREE AGENT
Xavier Nady309.000$6.5MFREE AGENT
Andy Pettitte3714.000$5.5M$11.8MFREE AGENT$2.5M$12.0M
Damaso Marte3410.000$3.8M$4.0MFREE AGENT
José Molina3410.000$2.1MFREE AGENT
Sergio Mitre286.000$1.2M$850k$762kFREE AGENT
Chad Gaudin266.000$710k$500kFREE AGENT
Jerry Hairston Jr.3311.000$687kFREE AGENT
Eric Hinske317.000$629kFREE AGENT
Cody Ransom338.000$455kFREE AGENT
Brett Tomko3612.000—FREE AGENT
Josh Towers328.000—FREE AGENT
Angel Berroa318.000—FREE AGENT
Kevin Cash317.000—FREE AGENT

Arbitration-eligible (6)

PlayerAgeSvc2009201020112012201320142015
Robinson Canó264.000$6.0MARB 3FREE AGENT
Nick Swisher285.000$5.4MFREE AGENT
Chien-Ming Wang294.000$5.0MARB 3FREE AGENT
Melky Cabrera244.000$1.4MARB 3FREE AGENT
Brian Bruney275.000$1.2MFREE AGENT
Jose Veras283.000$230kARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT

Pre-arbitration (17)

PlayerAgeSvc2009201020112012201320142015
Joba Chamberlain232.000$433kARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Edwar Ramirez282.000$422kARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Brett Gardner251.000$414kPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Ian Kennedy242.000$409kARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Phil Hughes232.000$408kARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
David Robertson241.000$407kPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Alfredo Aceves261.000$407kPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Phil Coke261.000$403kPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Jonathan Albaladejo262.000$403kARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Francisco Cervelli231.000$401kPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Mike Dunn240.000$400kPre-ArbPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Ramiro Pena230.000$400kPre-ArbPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Mark Melancon240.000$400kPre-ArbPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Juan Miranda261.000$400kPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Shelley Duncan292.000$400kARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Anthony Claggett240.000$267kPre-ArbPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Freddy Guzman28–—

Graphs

Every roster slot ranked best→worst by WAR. Bars = Yankees 2009; 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.