RRosternomics
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Pirates PIT

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GM: Cam Bonifay

Overview

REBUILD ↘ cooling
cheap & losing · year 1 in this regime · payroll 0.52× league · TAB -2.5
-2.5TAB — talent above budget19th/30
-4.5WAB — realized wins (TAB + luck)22nd/30
5.0depth — 2+ WAR regulars20th/30
-8.2dead WAR — sub-replacement drag27th/30
64%dead money %30th/30
0.426win %26th/30
23.8roster fWAR23rd/30
+8surplus $M (value vs cost)7th/30
$29Mpayroll $M27th/30

Roster

CFBrian Giles 72GAdrian Brown 71GChad Hermansen 27G
LFBrian Giles 46GEmil Brown 14GJohn Vander Wal 13G
RFJohn Vander Wal 65GAlex Ramirez 47GBrian Giles 39G
SSPat Meares 126GMike Benjamin 30GAbraham O. Nunez 21G
2BWarren Morris 134GMike Benjamin 27GEnrique Wilson 18G
3BAramis Ramirez 72GMike Benjamin 34GEnrique Wilson 28G
1BKevin Young 129GJohn Vander Wal 33GAlex Hernandez 12G
STARTERSKris Benson 3.6WARTodd Ritchie 3.0WARJose Silva 1.8WARJimmy Anderson 1.6WARFrancisco Cordova 1.1WAR
CJason Kendall 147GKeith Osik 26G
DHJohn Vander Wal 3GWil Cordero 1GKeith Osik 1G
BULLPEN★ Mike Williams 24svScott Sauerbeck 13hMarc Wilkins 8hRich Loiselle 7hJosias Manzanillo 4hJeff Wallace 3hChris Peters 1hMatt Skrmetta 1h
CJason Kendall 147 · Keith Osik 26
1BKevin Young 129 · John Vander Wal 33 · Alex Hernandez 12
2BWarren Morris 134 · Mike Benjamin 27 · Enrique Wilson 18
3BAramis Ramirez 72 · Mike Benjamin 34 · Enrique Wilson 28
SSPat Meares 126 · Mike Benjamin 30 · Abraham O. Nunez 21
LFBrian Giles 46 · Emil Brown 14 · John Vander Wal 13
CFBrian Giles 72 · Adrian Brown 71 · Chad Hermansen 27
RFJohn Vander Wal 65 · Alex Ramirez 47 · Brian Giles 39
DHJohn Vander Wal 3 · Wil Cordero 1 · Keith Osik 1
SPKris Benson 3.6 · Todd Ritchie 3.0 · Jose Silva 1.8 · Jimmy Anderson 1.6 · Francisco Cordova 1.1
BP★ Mike Williams 24 · Scott Sauerbeck 13 · Marc Wilkins 8 · Rich Loiselle 7 · Josias Manzanillo 4 · Jeff Wallace 3 · Chris Peters 1 · Matt Skrmetta 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.

2000 roster — value & surplus

PlayerAgeServiceGfWARSalary $MSurplus $M
Brian Giles 29 arb 1566.3 1.8 +7.2
Jason Kendall 26 arb 1524.8 2.2 +4.5
Kris Benson 25 pre-arb 323.6 0.3 +4.8
John Vander Wal 34 FA-elig 1343.2 0.9 +3.7
Todd Ritchie 28 arb 313.0 0.4 +3.8
Jose Silva 26 arb 511.8 0.3 +2.2
Jimmy Anderson 24 pre-arb 271.6 0.2 +2.1
Adrian Brown 26 arb 1041.2 0.3 +1.5
Francisco Cordova 28 arb 181.1 2.0 -0.5
Mike Benjamin 34 FA-elig 931.0 0.7 +0.7
Scott Sauerbeck 28 pre-arb 750.7 0.3 +0.8
Jason Christiansen↔ STL 30 arb 440.7 0.7 +0.3
Jason Schmidt 27 arb 110.5 2.8 -2.0
Bronson Arroyo 23 – 210.5 – –
Keith Osik 31 arb 460.5 0.4 +0.3
Luis Sojo↔ NYY 35 FA-elig 610.4 0.3 +0.3
Mike Williams 31 FA-elig 720.4 1.0 -0.4
Adam Hyzdu 28 – 120.2 – –
Tike Redman 23 – 90.1 – –
Chris Peters 28 arb 180.1 0.6 -0.4
Dan Serafini↔ SDP 26 arb 110.1 0.2 -0.1
Mike Garcia 32 – 130.1 – –
John Wehner 33 – 210.1 – –
Josias Manzanillo 32 – 430.0 – –
Jose Parra 27 – 60.0 – –
Warren Morris 26 pre-arb 144-0.0 0.3 -0.3
Steve Sparks 25 pre-arb 3-0.0 0.4 -0.4
Brian Smith 27 – 3-0.0 – –
Matt Skrmetta↔ WSN 27 – 8-0.1 – –
Brad Clontz 29 – 5-0.1 – –
Bruce Aven↔ LAD 28 arb 72-0.2 0.3 -0.5
Pat Meares 31 FA-elig 132-0.2 3.3 -3.6
Brian O'Connor 23 – 6-0.2 – –
Marc Wilkins 29 arb 52-0.2 0.8 -1.0
Ivan Cruz 32 – 8-0.2 – –
Enrique Wilson↔ CLE 26 arb 40-0.2 0.1 -0.5
Wil Cordero↔ CLE 28 FA-elig 89-0.3 1.5 -1.9
Rich Loiselle 28 arb 40-0.3 0.4 -0.8
Emil Brown 25 – 50-0.3 – –
Abraham O. Nunez 24 – 40-0.4 – –
Jeff Wallace 24 – 38-0.5 – –
Alex Ramirez↔ CLE 25 pre-arb 43-0.7 0.1 -1.1
Aramis Ramirez 22 pre-arb 73-0.8 0.2 -1.3
Alex Hernandez 23 – 20-0.8 – –
Kevin Young 31 FA-elig 132-1.2 5.6 -7.4
Chad Hermansen 22 pre-arb 33-1.4 0.2 -2.2

Key additions (new vs 1999)

PlayerfWAR
John Vander Wal3.2
Bronson Arroyo0.5
Luis Sojo0.4
Adam Hyzdu0.2
Tike Redman0.1
Dan Serafini0.1

Key subtractions (gone from 1999)

Player1999 fWAR
Al Martin1.9
Ed Sprague Jr.0.4
Greg Hansell0.3
Pete Schourek0.1
Jason Boyd0.1
Dale Sveum0.0

Current & Historical Payroll

2000 payroll
$28.6M

What the front office was committed to as of 2000, 2000–2006. 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 (9)

PlayerAgeSvc2000200120022003200420052006
Kevin Young318.000$5.6M$6.1M$5.6M$6.6MFREE AGENT
Pat Meares317.000$3.3M$3.8MFREE AGENT
Wil Cordero288.000$1.5MFREE AGENT
Mike Williams318.000$1.0M$738k$2.0M$2.1MFREE AGENT
John Vander Wal349.000$875k$1.2MFREE AGENT
Mike Benjamin3411.000$700kFREE AGENT$925k
Luis Sojo3510.000$289kFREE AGENT
Josias Manzanillo329.000—$550kFREE AGENT
John Wehner339.000—$375kFREE AGENT

Arbitration-eligible (21)

PlayerAgeSvc2000200120022003200420052006
Jason Schmidt275.000$2.8MFREE AGENT
Jason Kendall264.000$2.2MARB 3FREE AGENT
Francisco Cordova284.000$2.0MARB 3FREE AGENT
Brian Giles295.000$1.8MFREE AGENT
Marc Wilkins294.000$750kARB 3FREE AGENT
Jason Christiansen305.000$677kFREE AGENT
Chris Peters284.000$550kARB 3FREE AGENT
Rich Loiselle284.000$400kARB 3FREE AGENT
Keith Osik314.000$400kARB 3FREE AGENT
Todd Ritchie283.000$380kARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Jose Silva264.000$335kARB 3FREE AGENT
Adrian Brown263.000$285kARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Bruce Aven283.000$284kARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Dan Serafini264.000$181kARB 3FREE AGENT
Enrique Wilson263.000$116kARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Emil Brown253.000—ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Brad Clontz295.000—FREE AGENT
Ivan Cruz323.000—ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Abraham O. Nunez243.000—ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Jose Parra275.000—FREE AGENT
Jeff Wallace243.000—ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT

Pre-arbitration (16)

PlayerAgeSvc2000200120022003200420052006
Steve Sparks250.000$400kPre-ArbPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Kris Benson251.000$300kPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Warren Morris261.000$300kPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Scott Sauerbeck281.000$285kPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Aramis Ramirez222.000$230kARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Jimmy Anderson241.000$215kPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Chad Hermansen221.000$205kPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Alex Ramirez252.000$111kARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Alex Hernandez230.000—Pre-ArbPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Brian O'Connor23–—
Mike Garcia32–—
Bronson Arroyo230.000—Pre-ArbPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Tike Redman230.000—Pre-ArbPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Matt Skrmetta27–—
Adam Hyzdu280.000—Pre-ArbPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Brian Smith27–—

Graphs

Every roster slot ranked best→worst by WAR. Bars = Pirates 2000; 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.