RRosternomics
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Pirates PIT

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GM: Neal Huntington

Overview

REBUILD ↘ cooling
cheap & losing · year 5 in this regime · payroll 0.53× league · TAB -9.5
-9.5TAB — talent above budget27th/30
-6.8WAB — realized wins (TAB + luck)23rd/30
5.0depth — 2+ WAR regulars25th/30
-9.6dead WAR — sub-replacement drag29th/30
52%dead money %24th/30
0.414win %27th/30
17.0roster fWAR29th/30
-4surplus $M (value vs cost)11th/30
$47Mpayroll $M28th/30

Roster

CFNate McLouth 149GNyjer Morgan 17GJason Michaels 8G
LFBrandon Moss 36GJason Michaels 34GNyjer Morgan 22G
RFJason Michaels 43GBrandon Moss 32GSteve Pearce 29G
SSJack Wilson 80GBrian Bixler 39GLuis Rivas 31G
2BFreddy Sanchez 131GLuis Rivas 29GChris Gomez 18G
3BAndy LaRoche 59GDoug Mientkiewicz 33GChris Gomez 20G
1BAdam LaRoche 129GDoug Mientkiewicz 37GChris Gomez 5G
STARTERSPaul Maholm 3.3WARZach Duke 2.8WARIan Snell 2.2WARJeff Karstens 0.6WARPhil Dumatrait 0.4WAR
CRyan Doumit 106GRaúl Chávez 35GRonny Paulino 32G
DHAdam LaRoche 2GRyan Doumit 1GFreddy Sanchez 1G
BULLPEN★ Matt Capps 21svJohn Grabow 16hTyler Yates 13hDenny Bautista 10hSean Burnett 8hCraig Hansen 7hFranquelis Osoria 3hT.J. Beam 2h
CRyan Doumit 106 · Raúl Chávez 35 · Ronny Paulino 32
1BAdam LaRoche 129 · Doug Mientkiewicz 37 · Chris Gomez 5
2BFreddy Sanchez 131 · Luis Rivas 29 · Chris Gomez 18
3BAndy LaRoche 59 · Doug Mientkiewicz 33 · Chris Gomez 20
SSJack Wilson 80 · Brian Bixler 39 · Luis Rivas 31
LFBrandon Moss 36 · Jason Michaels 34 · Nyjer Morgan 22
CFNate McLouth 149 · Nyjer Morgan 17 · Jason Michaels 8
RFJason Michaels 43 · Brandon Moss 32 · Steve Pearce 29
DHAdam LaRoche 2 · Ryan Doumit 1 · Freddy Sanchez 1
SPPaul Maholm 3.3 · Zach Duke 2.8 · Ian Snell 2.2 · Jeff Karstens 0.6 · Phil Dumatrait 0.4
BP★ Matt Capps 21 · John Grabow 16 · Tyler Yates 13 · Denny Bautista 10 · Sean Burnett 8 · Craig Hansen 7 · Franquelis Osoria 3 · T.J. Beam 2

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
Nate McLouth 26 arb 1523.8 0.4 +8.2
Paul Maholm 26 arb 313.3 0.4 +7.0
Zach Duke 25 arb 322.8 0.4 +6.0
Xavier Nady↔ NYY 29 FA-elig 892.3 2.0 +3.1
Ian Snell 26 arb 322.2 0.4 +4.6
Jason Bay↔ BOS 29 arb 1061.8 4.1 +0.0
Adam LaRoche 28 arb 1361.3 5.0 -2.0
Matt Capps 24 arb 491.3 0.4 +2.6
Jack Wilson 30 FA-elig 871.1 6.7 -4.3
Damaso Marte↔ NYY 33 FA-elig 471.0 1.4 +0.9
Nyjer Morgan 27 pre-arb 580.9 0.4 +1.7
Doug Mientkiewicz 34 FA-elig 1250.8 0.8 +1.0
Jeff Karstens 25 – 90.6 0.4 +0.9
Freddy Sanchez 30 FA-elig 1450.5 4.2 -3.0
Tyler Yates 30 arb 720.5 0.8 +0.3
Raul Chavez 35 – 420.4 – –
Phil Dumatrait 26 pre-arb 210.4 0.4 +0.6
John Grabow 29 arb 740.4 1.1 -0.3
Ty Taubenheim 25 – 10.3 – –
Yoslan Herrera 27 – 50.2 – –
Robinzon Diaz↔ TOR 24 – 20.2 – –
Ronny Paulino 27 arb 400.2 0.4 -0.1
Brandon Moss↔ BOS 24 – 450.1 0.2 +0.1
José Bautista↔ TOR 27 arb 1070.1 1.5 -1.3
Ross Ohlendorf↔ NYY 25 pre-arb 50.1 0.1 +0.1
Jesse Chavez 24 – 150.1 – –
Jason Davis 28 – 140.1 – –
Romulo Sanchez 24 – 100.0 – –
Denny Bautista↔ DET 27 arb 350.0 0.3 -0.2
Franquelis Osoria 26 arb 43-0.1 0.4 -0.6
T.J. Beam 27 – 32-0.1 – –
Steve Pearce 25 – 37-0.1 – –
Luis Alfonso Cruz 24 – 22-0.2 – –
Chris Gomez 37 FA-elig 90-0.2 1.0 -1.5
Jason Michaels↔ CLE 32 FA-elig 102-0.3 1.8 -2.4
Jimmy Barthmaier 24 – 3-0.3 – –
Matt Morris 33 FA-elig 5-0.3 10.0 -10.7
Sean Burnett 25 – 58-0.3 – –
Craig Hansen↔ BOS 24 – 16-0.3 – –
Evan Meek 25 pre-arb 9-0.3 0.4 -1.2
Marino Salas 26 – 13-0.4 – –
John Van Benschoten 28 – 9-0.6 – –
Tom Gorzelanny 25 arb 21-0.7 0.4 -2.0
Brian Bixler 25 – 50-0.8 – –
Luis Rivas 28 FA-elig 79-0.8 0.5 -2.3
Andy LaRoche↔ LAD 24 pre-arb 49-0.8 0.3 -2.2
Ryan Doumit 27 arb 116-3.1 0.4 -7.4

Key additions (new vs 2007)

PlayerfWAR
Doug Mientkiewicz0.8
Jeff Karstens0.6
Tyler Yates0.5
Raul Chavez0.4
Phil Dumatrait0.4
Ty Taubenheim0.3

Key subtractions (gone from 2007)

Player2007 fWAR
Josh Phelps1.4
Shawn Chacon0.6
Shane Youman0.3
Salomon Torres0.1
John Wasdin0.1
Carlos Maldonado0.1

Current & Historical Payroll

2008 payroll
$47.0M

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 (11)

PlayerAgeSvc2008200920102011201220132014
Matt Morris3311.000$10.0MFREE AGENT
Jack Wilson307.000$6.7M$5.2MFREE AGENT
Freddy Sanchez306.000$4.2M$4.8MFREE AGENT
Xavier Nady298.000$2.0MFREE AGENT
Jason Michaels327.000$1.8MFREE AGENT
Damaso Marte339.000$1.4MFREE AGENT
Chris Gomez3715.000$1.0MFREE AGENT
Doug Mientkiewicz3410.000$750kFREE AGENT
Luis Rivas288.000$525kFREE AGENT
Raul Chavez3512.000—FREE AGENT
Jason Davis286.000—FREE AGENT

Arbitration-eligible (17)

PlayerAgeSvc2008200920102011201220132014
Adam LaRoche284.000$5.0MARB 3FREE AGENT
Jason Bay295.000$4.1MFREE AGENT
José Bautista274.000$1.5MARB 3FREE AGENT
John Grabow295.000$1.1MFREE AGENT
Tyler Yates304.000$800kARB 3FREE AGENT
Matt Capps243.000$436kARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Ian Snell264.000$435kARB 3FREE AGENT
Nate McLouth263.000$425kARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Paul Maholm263.000$424kARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Ronny Paulino273.000$424kARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Tom Gorzelanny253.000$419kARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Ryan Doumit273.000$412kARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Zach Duke253.000$400kARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Franquelis Osoria263.000$393kARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Denny Bautista274.000$271kARB 3FREE AGENT
Sean Burnett254.000—ARB 3FREE AGENT
Craig Hansen243.000—ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT

Pre-arbitration (19)

PlayerAgeSvc2008200920102011201220132014
Jeff Karstens252.000$393kARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Nyjer Morgan271.000$391kPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Phil Dumatrait261.000$390kPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Evan Meek250.000$390kPre-ArbPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Andy LaRoche241.000$253kPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Brandon Moss241.000$222kPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Ross Ohlendorf251.000$65kPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
John Van Benschoten28–—
Robinzon Diaz24–—
Marino Salas26–—
Brian Bixler250.000—Pre-ArbPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Jimmy Barthmaier24–—
Jesse Chavez240.000—Pre-ArbPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
T.J. Beam27–—
Romulo Sanchez24–—
Steve Pearce251.000—Pre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Ty Taubenheim25–—
Luis Alfonso Cruz240.000—Pre-ArbPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Yoslan Herrera27–—

Graphs

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