RRosternomics
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Pirates PIT

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GM: Neal Huntington

Overview

REBUILD → steady
cheap & losing · year 1 in this regime · payroll 0.5× league · TAB -3.6
-3.6TAB — talent above budget19th/30
-4.0WAB — realized wins (TAB + luck)15th/30
7.0depth — 2+ WAR regulars14th/30
-9.0dead WAR — sub-replacement drag23rd/30
48%dead money %21st/30
0.426win %24th/30
22.1roster fWAR22nd/30
+8surplus $M (value vs cost)10th/30
$65Mpayroll $M28th/30

Roster

CFStarling Marte 130GBryan Reynolds 25GPablo Reyes 11G
LFBryan Reynolds 79GMelky Cabrera 24GPablo Reyes 19G
RFMelky Cabrera 74GGregory Polanco 36GBryan Reynolds 31G
SSKevin Newman 104GCole Tucker 45GErik González 26G
2BAdam Frazier 142GKevin Newman 23GCorban Joseph 13G
3BColin Moran 121GJung Ho Kang 44GJosé Osuna 19G
1BJosh Bell 134GJosé Osuna 31GColin Moran 8G
STARTERSJoe Musgrove 3.5WARSteven Brault 1.9WARMitch Keller 1.1WARTrevor Williams 1.0WARJameson Taillon 0.8WAR
CElias Díaz 96GJacob Stallings 61GSteven Baron 5G
DHJosh Bell 7GMelky Cabrera 2GGregory Polanco 1G
BULLPEN★ Felipe Vázquez 28svRichard Rodríguez 16hKyle Crick 13hFrancisco Liriano 12hKeone Kela 6hMichael Feliz 3hGeoff Hartlieb 2hClay Holmes 1h
CElias Díaz 96 · Jacob Stallings 61 · Steven Baron 5
1BJosh Bell 134 · José Osuna 31 · Colin Moran 8
2BAdam Frazier 142 · Kevin Newman 23 · Corban Joseph 13
3BColin Moran 121 · Jung Ho Kang 44 · José Osuna 19
SSKevin Newman 104 · Cole Tucker 45 · Erik González 26
LFBryan Reynolds 79 · Melky Cabrera 24 · Pablo Reyes 19
CFStarling Marte 130 · Bryan Reynolds 25 · Pablo Reyes 11
RFMelky Cabrera 74 · Gregory Polanco 36 · Bryan Reynolds 31
DHJosh Bell 7 · Melky Cabrera 2 · Gregory Polanco 1
SPJoe Musgrove 3.5 · Steven Brault 1.9 · Mitch Keller 1.1 · Trevor Williams 1.0 · Jameson Taillon 0.8
BP★ Felipe Vázquez 28 · Richard Rodríguez 16 · Kyle Crick 13 · Francisco Liriano 12 · Keone Kela 6 · Michael Feliz 3 · Geoff Hartlieb 2 · Clay Holmes 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.

2019 roster — value & surplus

PlayerAgeServiceGfWARSalary $MSurplus $M
Bryan Reynolds 24 – 1343.7 0.5 +11.6
Starling Marte 30 FA-elig 1323.7 10.3 +1.7
Joe Musgrove 26 arb 463.5 0.6 +10.9
Josh Bell 26 arb 1433.0 0.6 +9.4
Adam Frazier 27 arb 1522.6 0.6 +7.9
Kevin Newman 25 pre-arb 1302.2 0.6 +6.6
Felipe Vázquez 27 arb 562.1 4.5 +2.3
Steven Brault 27 arb 341.9 0.6 +5.5
Jacob Stallings 29 arb 711.5 0.6 +4.2
Mitch Keller 23 – 111.1 0.2 +3.5
Trevor Williams 27 arb 261.0 0.6 +2.9
Corey Dickerson↔ PHI 30 FA-elig 440.9 4.8 -1.9
Jameson Taillon 27 arb 70.8 0.6 +2.0
Jordan Lyles↔ MIL 28 FA-elig 170.7 1.2 +1.1
Chris Archer 30 FA-elig 230.7 7.7 -5.5
Keone Kela 26 arb 320.4 3.2 -1.7
Colin Moran 26 arb 1490.4 0.6 +0.8
Francisco Liriano 35 FA-elig 690.4 0.1 +1.1
Nick Burdi 26 pre-arb 110.3 0.6 +0.5
Chris Stratton↔ ANA 28 arb 280.3 0.5 +0.4
Michael Feliz 26 arb 580.0 0.8 -0.7
Wei-Chung Wang↔ OAK 27 pre-arb 50.0 0.1 -0.0
Yefry Ramírez↔ BAL 25 pre-arb 9-0.0 0.1 -0.2
Steven Baron 28 – 7-0.1 – –
Montana DuRapau 27 – 14-0.1 0.1 -0.3
Williams Jerez↔ SFG 27 pre-arb 6-0.1 0.0 -0.2
Corban Joseph↔ OAK 30 pre-arb 9-0.1 0.0 -0.3
Jason Martin 23 – 20-0.1 0.2 -0.5
Nick Kingham↔ TOR 27 pre-arb 14-0.1 0.3 -0.7
Gregory Polanco 27 arb 42-0.1 6.1 -6.5
Luis Escobar 23 – 4-0.1 0.1 -0.4
Tyler Lyons↔ NYY 31 – 3-0.1 0.0 -0.4
Yacksel Ríos↔ PHI 26 pre-arb 10-0.1 0.1 -0.5
JB Shuck 32 FA-elig 27-0.1 0.7 -1.1
Dovydas Neverauskas 26 pre-arb 10-0.2 0.2 -0.7
Cole Tucker 22 – 56-0.2 0.2 -0.8
Clay Holmes 26 pre-arb 35-0.2 0.4 -1.0
Erik González 27 arb 53-0.2 0.6 -1.2
Parker Markel↔ SEA 28 – 15-0.2 0.1 -0.7
James Marvel 25 – 4-0.2 0.1 -0.8
José Osuna 26 pre-arb 95-0.2 0.5 -1.2
Rookie Davis 26 pre-arb 5-0.2 0.2 -1.0
Dario Agrazal 24 – 15-0.2 0.2 -1.0
Geoff Hartlieb 25 – 29-0.2 0.3 -1.1
Francisco Cervelli↔ ATL 33 FA-elig 34-0.2 8.1 -8.9
Richard Rodríguez 29 pre-arb 72-0.3 0.7 -1.7
Melky Cabrera 34 FA-elig 133-0.3 1.1 -2.2
Jake Elmore 32 pre-arb 20-0.5 0.1 -1.6
Pablo Reyes 25 pre-arb 71-0.5 0.6 -2.1
Kevin Kramer 25 pre-arb 22-0.5 0.1 -1.7
Alex McRae 26 pre-arb 11-0.7 0.1 -2.5
Kyle Crick 26 pre-arb 52-0.7 0.6 -3.0
Jung Ho Kang 32 arb 65-0.8 3.0 -5.6
Elias Díaz 28 arb 101-1.4 0.6 -5.1

Key additions (new vs 2018)

PlayerfWAR
Bryan Reynolds3.7
Mitch Keller1.1
Jordan Lyles0.7
Francisco Liriano0.4
Chris Stratton0.3
Wei-Chung Wang0.0

Key subtractions (gone from 2018)

Player2018 fWAR
Jordy Mercer1.9
David Freese0.9
Iván Nova0.7
Austin Meadows0.5
Jordan Luplow0.3
Tyler Glasnow0.2

Current & Historical Payroll

2019 payroll
$65.0M
2020 guaranteed
$0M

What the front office was committed to as of 2019, 2019–2025. Guaranteed $ are contract commitments signed by 2019; arbitration & free-agent years are projected from service time. Hover a figure for its luxury-tax (CBT) & actual-cash values.

current $ guaranteed $ arbitration (proj) pre-arb (proj) free agent club option player option mutual option vesting option

Guaranteed / signed (4)

PlayerAgeSvc2019202020212022202320242025
Francisco Cervelli338.146$8.1MFREE AGENT
Jordan Lyles287.001$1.2MFREE AGENT
Melky Cabrera3412.077$1.1MFREE AGENT
Francisco Liriano3512.104$100kFREE AGENT

Arbitration-eligible (10)

PlayerAgeSvc2019202020212022202320242025
Starling Marte305.162$10.3MFREE AGENT
Chris Archer305.156$7.7MFREE AGENT
Gregory Polanco274.103$6.1MARB 3FREE AGENT
Corey Dickerson305.101$4.8MFREE AGENT
Felipe Vázquez273.162$4.5MARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Keone Kela264.000$3.2MARB 3FREE AGENT
Jung Ho Kang324.000$3.0MARB 3FREE AGENT
Michael Feliz263.026$850kARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
JB Shuck323.166$700kARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Tyler Lyons314.026$19kARB 3FREE AGENT

Pre-arbitration (40)

PlayerAgeSvc2019202020212022202320242025
Richard Rodríguez291.016$650kPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Jameson Taillon272.110$588kARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Josh Bell262.053$587kARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Adam Frazier272.075$584kARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Trevor Williams272.027$584kARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Joe Musgrove262.063$582kARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Kyle Crick261.104$582kPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Colin Moran261.107$580kPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Elias Díaz282.088$578kARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Erik González272.007$577kARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Steven Brault271.083$574kPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Pablo Reyes250.030$566kPre-ArbPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Jacob Stallings290.149$564kPre-ArbPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Nick Burdi261.000$559kPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Kevin Newman250.046$558kPre-ArbPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
José Osuna261.077$503kPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Bryan Reynolds240.000$486kPre-ArbPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Chris Stratton281.100$454kPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Clay Holmes260.060$424kPre-ArbPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Nick Kingham271.000$319kPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Geoff Hartlieb250.000$275kPre-ArbPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Rookie Davis260.065$239kPre-ArbPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Cole Tucker220.000$236kPre-ArbPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Dario Agrazal240.000$218kPre-ArbPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Dovydas Neverauskas260.123$205kPre-ArbPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Jason Martin230.000$167kPre-ArbPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Mitch Keller230.000$167kPre-ArbPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Alex McRae260.014$134kPre-ArbPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Yacksel Ríos260.160$97kPre-ArbPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Kevin Kramer250.060$95kPre-ArbPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Yefry Ramírez250.097$82kPre-ArbPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Jake Elmore322.095$78kARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Montana DuRapau27–$75k
James Marvel25–$66k
Parker Markel28–$60k
Luis Escobar23–$57k
Wei-Chung Wang271.035$51kPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Williams Jerez270.046$25kPre-ArbPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Corban Joseph300.066$17kPre-ArbPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Steven Baron28–—

Graphs

Every roster slot ranked best→worst by WAR. Bars = Pirates 2019; 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.