RRosternomics
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Pirates PIT

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GM: Neal Huntington

Overview

WINDOW ↗ rising
cheap & winning · year 1 in this regime · payroll 0.77× league · TAB +8.3
+8.3TAB — talent above budget9th/30
+15.5WAB — realized wins (TAB + luck)4th/30
9.0depth — 2+ WAR regulars6th/30
-5.9dead WAR — sub-replacement drag18th/30
46%dead money %25th/30
0.580win %5th/30
39.3roster fWAR11th/30
+27surplus $M (value vs cost)4th/30
$80Mpayroll $M20th/30

2013: made playoffs · 94–68. Ranks are vs the 30 teams that season.

Roster

CFAndrew McCutchen 155GStarling Marte 13GFelix Pie 5G
LFStarling Marte 124GJose Tabata 40GFelix Pie 13G
RFMarlon Byrd 138GTravis Snider 79GJose Tabata 50G
SSClint Barmes 106GJordy Mercer 78GJosh Harrison 4G
2BNeil Walker 132GJordy Mercer 26GBrandon Inge 13G
3BPedro Álvarez 150GBrandon Inge 10GJosh Harrison 7G
1BJustin Morneau 137GGaby Sanchez 113GGarrett Jones 83G
STARTERSA.J. Burnett 3.6WARFrancisco Liriano 2.9WARGerrit Cole 2.5WARCharlie Morton 1.3WARJeff Locke 1.0WAR
CRussell Martin 120GJohn Buck 104GMichael McKenry 31G
DHGarrett Jones 6GTony Sanchez 2GJosh Harrison 1G
BULLPEN★ Jason Grilli 33svMark Melancon 26hTony Watson 22hJustin Wilson 15hBryan Morris 7hVin Mazzaro 6hJared Hughes 3hKyle Farnsworth 2h
CRussell Martin 120 · John Buck 104 · Michael McKenry 31
1BJustin Morneau 137 · Gaby Sanchez 113 · Garrett Jones 83
2BNeil Walker 132 · Jordy Mercer 26 · Brandon Inge 13
3BPedro Álvarez 150 · Brandon Inge 10 · Josh Harrison 7
SSClint Barmes 106 · Jordy Mercer 78 · Josh Harrison 4
LFStarling Marte 124 · Jose Tabata 40 · Felix Pie 13
CFAndrew McCutchen 155 · Starling Marte 13 · Felix Pie 5
RFMarlon Byrd 138 · Travis Snider 79 · Jose Tabata 50
DHGarrett Jones 6 · Tony Sanchez 2 · Josh Harrison 1
SPA.J. Burnett 3.6 · Francisco Liriano 2.9 · Gerrit Cole 2.5 · Charlie Morton 1.3 · Jeff Locke 1.0
BP★ Jason Grilli 33 · Mark Melancon 26 · Tony Watson 22 · Justin Wilson 15 · Bryan Morris 7 · Vin Mazzaro 6 · Jared Hughes 3 · Kyle Farnsworth 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.

2013 roster — value & surplus

PlayerAgeServiceGfWARSalary $MSurplus $M
Andrew McCutchen 26 arb 1578.1 4.5 +17.2
Russell Martin 30 FA-elig 1275.0 6.5 +6.8
Starling Marte 24 pre-arb 1354.3 0.5 +11.0
A.J. Burnett 36 FA-elig 303.6 16.5 -6.9
Francisco Liriano 29 FA-elig 262.9 1.0 +6.8
Pedro Álvarez 26 arb 1522.8 0.7 +6.7
Gerrit Cole 22 – 192.5 0.3 +6.4
Mark Melancon 28 arb 722.5 0.5 +6.2
Neil Walker 27 arb 1332.4 3.3 +3.0
Jason Grilli 36 FA-elig 541.5 2.5 +1.6
Charlie Morton 29 arb 201.3 2.0 +1.6
Jordy Mercer 26 pre-arb 1031.2 0.4 +2.9
Gaby Sanchez 29 arb 1361.0 1.8 +1.1
Jose Tabata 24 arb 1061.0 1.0 +1.8
Jeff Locke 25 pre-arb 301.0 0.5 +2.1
Marlon Byrd↔ NYM 35 FA-elig 300.7 0.1 +1.8
Brandon Cumpton 24 pre-arb 60.6 0.1 +1.5
Tony Watson 28 pre-arb 670.5 0.5 +0.9
Vin Mazzaro 26 pre-arb 570.4 0.4 +0.7
Justin Wilson 25 pre-arb 580.4 0.5 +0.6
James McDonald 28 arb 80.3 3.0 -2.2
Tony Sanchez 25 pre-arb 220.3 0.2 +0.5
Josh Harrison 25 pre-arb 600.2 0.5 -0.0
Stolmy Pimentel 23 pre-arb 50.2 0.1 +0.3
Wandy Rodriguez 34 FA-elig 130.1 13.0 -12.7
Jeanmar Gómez 25 arb 340.1 0.5 -0.2
Kris Johnson 28 – 40.1 – –
Alex Presley↔ MIN 27 – 290.1 0.1 +0.2
Kyle Farnsworth↔ TBR 37 FA-elig 90.1 0.2 -0.1
Phil Irwin 26 – 10.1 0.0 +0.1
Duke Welker 27 – 20.0 – –
Andrew Lambo 24 pre-arb 180.0 0.1 -0.1
Vic Black↔ NYM 25 – 3-0.0 0.0 -0.0
Ryan Reid 28 pre-arb 7-0.0 0.1 -0.2
John Buck↔ NYM 32 FA-elig 9-0.1 0.5 -0.8
Garrett Jones 32 FA-elig 144-0.1 4.5 -4.8
Justin Morneau↔ MIN 32 FA-elig 25-0.1 2.3 -2.7
Jared Hughes 27 pre-arb 29-0.1 0.5 -0.9
Chris Leroux 29 arb 2-0.2 0.5 -1.0
Jose Contreras 41 – 7-0.2 0.1 -0.6
Mike Zagurski↔ NYY 30 – 6-0.2 – –
Travis Snider 25 arb 111-0.3 0.5 -1.3
Clint Barmes 34 FA-elig 108-0.4 5.5 -6.5
Felix Pie 28 – 27-0.4 – –
John McDonald↔ BOS 38 – 16-0.4 0.2 -1.4
Jonathan Sánchez 30 FA-elig 6-0.7 1.4 -3.2
Brandon Inge 36 FA-elig 50-0.7 1.2 -3.1
Michael McKenry 28 arb 41-0.9 0.5 -2.9
Bryan Morris 26 pre-arb 55-1.0 0.5 -3.2

Key additions (new vs 2012)

PlayerfWAR
Russell Martin5.0
Francisco Liriano2.9
Gerrit Cole2.5
Mark Melancon2.5
Marlon Byrd0.7
Brandon Cumpton0.6

Key subtractions (gone from 2012)

Player2012 fWAR
Erik Bedard1.3
Brad Lincoln0.8
Kevin Correia0.6
Casey McGehee0.5
Chris Resop0.3
Kyle McPherson0.2

Current & Historical Payroll

2013 payroll
$79.6M

What the front office was committed to as of 2013, 2013–2019. 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 (14)

PlayerAgeSvc2013201420152016201720182019
A.J. Burnett3613.038$16.5MFREE AGENT$8.5M
Wandy Rodriguez347.105$13.0M$13.0MFREE AGENT
Russell Martin306.150$6.5M$8.5MFREE AGENT
Clint Barmes347.112$5.5M$2.0MFREE AGENT
Jason Grilli366.016$2.5M$2.7MFREE AGENT
Justin Morneau328.168$2.3MFREE AGENT
Jonathan Sánchez306.071$1.4MFREE AGENT
Brandon Inge3611.095$1.2MFREE AGENT
Francisco Liriano296.104$1.0M$6.0M$11.7M$9.5MFREE AGENT$100k
John Buck3210.064$491kFREE AGENT
Kyle Farnsworth3713.100$234kFREE AGENT
John McDonald3811.118$185kFREE AGENT
Marlon Byrd358.115$143kFREE AGENT
Jose Contreras419.134$110kFREE AGENT

Arbitration-eligible (8)

PlayerAgeSvc2013201420152016201720182019
Garrett Jones323.158$4.5MARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Andrew McCutchen263.123$4.5MARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
James McDonald283.080$3.0MARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Charlie Morton294.009$2.0MARB 3FREE AGENT
Gaby Sanchez293.025$1.8MARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Chris Leroux294.000$502kARB 3FREE AGENT
Felix Pie284.160—ARB 3FREE AGENT
Mike Zagurski303.021—ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT

Pre-arbitration (27)

PlayerAgeSvc2013201420152016201720182019
Neil Walker272.166$3.3MARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Jose Tabata242.081$1.0MARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Pedro Álvarez262.085$700kARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Mark Melancon282.098$521kARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Tony Watson281.101$505kPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Michael McKenry281.136$505kPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Travis Snider252.091$505kARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Jared Hughes271.023$504kPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Josh Harrison251.095$503kPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Starling Marte240.070$500kPre-ArbPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Jeanmar Gómez251.063$500kPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Jeff Locke250.068$498kPre-ArbPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Justin Wilson250.035$494kPre-ArbPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Bryan Morris260.026$458kPre-ArbPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Vin Mazzaro262.026$447kARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Jordy Mercer260.118$396kPre-ArbPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Gerrit Cole220.000$297kPre-ArbPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Tony Sanchez250.155$177kPre-ArbPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Andrew Lambo241.079$107kPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Ryan Reid280.037$96kPre-ArbPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Brandon Cumpton240.127$86kPre-ArbPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Stolmy Pimentel231.030$83kPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Alex Presley271.091$54kPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Vic Black250.000$13kPre-ArbPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Phil Irwin26–$3k
Duke Welker27–—
Kris Johnson28–—

Graphs

Every roster slot ranked best→worst by WAR. Bars = Pirates 2013; 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.