RRosternomics
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Pirates PIT

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GM: Dave Littlefield

Overview

WINDOW ↗ rising
cheap & winning · year 1 in this regime · payroll 0.66× league · TAB +0.9
+0.9TAB — talent above budget16th/30
-1.5WAB — realized wins (TAB + luck)18th/30
6.0depth — 2+ WAR regulars18th/30
-5.6dead WAR — sub-replacement drag18th/30
39%dead money %21st/30
0.463win %20th/30
30.1roster fWAR18th/30
+4surplus $M (value vs cost)7th/30
$45Mpayroll $M27th/30

Roster

CFTike Redman 54GAdam Hyzdu 20GBrian Giles 16G
LFReggie Sanders 39GJason Bay 24GMatt Stairs 8G
RFReggie Sanders 91GMatt Stairs 47GCraig Wilson 40G
SSJack Wilson 149GAbraham O. Nunez 23G
2BJeff Reboulet 76GAbraham O. Nunez 71GPokey Reese 33G
3BJosé Hernández 75GRob Mackowiak 19GJeff Reboulet 7G
1BCarlos Rivera 60GKevin Young 44GCraig Wilson 36G
STARTERSKip Wells 2.4WARJeff D'Amico 2.3WARBrian Meadows 0.7WARKris Benson 0.7WARJosh Fogg 0.7WAR
CJason Kendall 146GCraig Wilson 21GHumberto Cota 4G
DHReggie Sanders 2GMatt Stairs 2GCraig Wilson 2G
BULLPEN★ Julian Tavarez 11svBrian Boehringer 15hJoe Beimel 12hMike Lincoln 5hMark Corey 3hMichael Gonzalez 3hNelson Figueroa 0hPat Mahomes 0h
CJason Kendall 146 · Craig Wilson 21 · Humberto Cota 4
1BCarlos Rivera 60 · Kevin Young 44 · Craig Wilson 36
2BJeff Reboulet 76 · Abraham O. Nunez 71 · Pokey Reese 33
3BJosé Hernández 75 · Rob Mackowiak 19 · Jeff Reboulet 7
SSJack Wilson 149 · Abraham O. Nunez 23
LFReggie Sanders 39 · Jason Bay 24 · Matt Stairs 8
CFTike Redman 54 · Adam Hyzdu 20 · Brian Giles 16
RFReggie Sanders 91 · Matt Stairs 47 · Craig Wilson 40
DHReggie Sanders 2 · Matt Stairs 2 · Craig Wilson 2
SPKip Wells 2.4 · Jeff D'Amico 2.3 · Brian Meadows 0.7 · Kris Benson 0.7 · Josh Fogg 0.7
BP★ Julian Tavarez 11 · Brian Boehringer 15 · Joe Beimel 12 · Mike Lincoln 5 · Mark Corey 3 · Michael Gonzalez 3 · Nelson Figueroa 0 · Pat Mahomes 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.

2003 roster — value & surplus

PlayerAgeServiceGfWARSalary $MSurplus $M
Jason Kendall 29 FA-elig 1504.2 8.6 -1.1
Brian Giles↔ SDP 32 FA-elig 1053.4 6.9 -0.9
Jeff Suppan↔ BOS 28 FA-elig 213.2 0.3 +5.3
Reggie Sanders 35 FA-elig 1303.0 1.0 +4.3
Kip Wells 26 arb 342.4 0.4 +3.9
Jeff D'Amico 27 FA-elig 292.3 0.8 +3.4
Craig Wilson 26 pre-arb 1161.8 0.3 +2.9
Matt Stairs 35 FA-elig 1211.8 0.9 +2.4
Kenny Lofton↔ CHC 36 FA-elig 841.8 0.6 +2.6
Tike Redman 26 – 561.7 – –
Aramis Ramirez↔ CHC 25 arb 961.4 1.8 +0.7
Jack Wilson 25 pre-arb 1501.1 0.3 +1.6
Julian Tavarez 30 FA-elig 641.0 0.8 +1.1
Jason Bay↔ SDP 24 – 270.9 – –
Rob Mackowiak 27 pre-arb 770.9 0.3 +1.3
Josh Fogg 26 pre-arb 260.7 0.3 +1.0
Kris Benson 28 arb 180.7 4.3 -3.0
Brian Meadows 27 – 340.7 – –
Jeff Reboulet 39 – 930.4 – –
Mark Corey 28 – 220.4 – –
Ryan Vogelsong 25 – 60.4 0.3 +0.4
Oliver Pérez↔ SDP 21 pre-arb 50.3 0.1 +0.5
Randall Simon↔ CHC 28 FA-elig 910.3 1.1 -0.6
John Grabow 24 – 50.2 – –
Salomon Torres 31 FA-elig 430.1 0.3 -0.1
Adam Hyzdu 31 – 510.1 – –
Pat Mahomes 32 – 90.1 – –
J.R. House 23 – 10.0 – –
Abraham O. Nunez 27 FA-elig 1180.0 0.7 -0.6
Bobby Hill↔ CHC 25 – 10.0 – –
Humberto Cota 24 – 100.0 – –
Dennys Reyes↔ ARI 26 FA-elig 12-0.0 0.5 -0.5
Mike Lincoln 28 arb 36-0.0 0.3 -0.4
Jim Mann 28 – 2-0.1 – –
José Hernández↔ CHC 33 FA-elig 58-0.1 0.4 -0.6
Duaner Sanchez 23 – 6-0.1 – –
J.J. Davis 24 – 19-0.1 – –
Scott Sauerbeck↔ BOS 31 arb 53-0.3 1.1 -1.6
Nelson Figueroa 29 – 12-0.4 – –
Kevin Young 34 FA-elig 52-0.5 6.6 -7.5
Joe Beimel 26 pre-arb 70-0.5 0.3 -1.2
Michael Gonzalez 25 – 16-0.5 – –
Mike Williams↔ PHI 34 FA-elig 40-0.6 2.1 -3.2
Brian Boehringer 34 FA-elig 62-0.7 1.5 -2.7
Carlos Rivera 25 – 78-0.7 – –
Pokey Reese 30 FA-elig 37-0.8 2.5 -3.9

Key additions (new vs 2002)

PlayerfWAR
Jeff Suppan3.2
Reggie Sanders3.0
Jeff D'Amico2.3
Matt Stairs1.8
Kenny Lofton1.8
Tike Redman1.7

Key subtractions (gone from 2002)

Player2002 fWAR
Ron Villone0.6
Chad Hermansen0.5
Bronson Arroyo0.3
Al Reyes0.3
Tony Alvarez0.2
Armando Rios0.0

Current & Historical Payroll

2003 payroll
$45.3M

What the front office was committed to as of 2003, 2003–2009. 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 (19)

PlayerAgeSvc2003200420052006200720082009
Jason Kendall297.000$8.6M$8.6MFREE AGENT
Brian Giles328.000$6.9MFREE AGENT
Kevin Young3411.000$6.6MFREE AGENT
Pokey Reese306.000$2.5MFREE AGENT
Mike Williams3411.000$2.1MFREE AGENT
Brian Boehringer348.000$1.5M$2.0MFREE AGENT
Randall Simon286.000$1.1M$707kFREE AGENT
Reggie Sanders3512.000$1.0MFREE AGENT
Matt Stairs3511.000$900kFREE AGENT
Jeff D'Amico277.000$750kFREE AGENT
Julian Tavarez3010.000$750kFREE AGENT
Abraham O. Nunez276.000$675k$625kFREE AGENT
Kenny Lofton3612.000$615kFREE AGENT
Dennys Reyes266.000$480kFREE AGENT
José Hernández3312.000$387kFREE AGENT$670k
Jeff Suppan288.000$328kFREE AGENT
Salomon Torres3110.000$325k$775k$1.1M$1.5M$2.7MFREE AGENT
Pat Mahomes3211.000—FREE AGENT
Jeff Reboulet3911.000—FREE AGENT

Arbitration-eligible (10)

PlayerAgeSvc2003200420052006200720082009
Kris Benson284.000$4.3MARB 3FREE AGENT
Aramis Ramirez255.000$1.8MFREE AGENT
Scott Sauerbeck314.000$1.1MARB 3FREE AGENT
Kip Wells264.000$370kARB 3FREE AGENT
Mike Lincoln284.000$316kARB 3FREE AGENT
Ryan Vogelsong253.000$300kARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Brian Meadows275.000—FREE AGENT
Nelson Figueroa293.000—ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Tike Redman263.000—ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Adam Hyzdu313.000—ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT

Pre-arbitration (17)

PlayerAgeSvc2003200420052006200720082009
Jack Wilson252.000$335kARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Craig Wilson262.000$327kARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Rob Mackowiak272.000$322kARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Josh Fogg262.000$322kARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Joe Beimel262.000$322kARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Oliver Pérez211.000$64kPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Jim Mann28–—
Humberto Cota242.000—ARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Michael Gonzalez250.000—Pre-ArbPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
John Grabow240.000—Pre-ArbPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
J.J. Davis241.000—Pre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Duaner Sanchez231.000—Pre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
J.R. House23–—
Mark Corey28–—
Bobby Hill251.000—Pre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Jason Bay240.000—Pre-ArbPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Carlos Rivera25–—

Graphs

Every roster slot ranked best→worst by WAR. Bars = Pirates 2003; 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.