RRosternomics
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Rays TBR

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GM: Andrew Friedman

Overview

WINDOW ↗ rising
cheap & winning · year 2 in this regime · payroll 0.53× league · TAB +22.1
+22.1TAB — talent above budget1st/30
+23.2WAB — realized wins (TAB + luck)1st/30
11.0depth — 2+ WAR regulars2nd/30
-3.8dead WAR — sub-replacement drag8th/30
40%dead money %16th/30
0.599win %3rd/30
48.5roster fWAR3rd/30
+63surplus $M (value vs cost)1st/30
$47Mpayroll $M29th/30

2008: won pennant · 97–65. Ranks are vs the 30 teams that season.

Roster

CFB.J. Upton 143GGabe Gross 18GFernando Perez 15G
LFCarl Crawford 108GEric Hinske 40GJustin Ruggiano 26G
RFGabe Gross 121GEric Hinske 49GJonny Gomes 21G
SSJason Bartlett 125GBen Zobrist 35GReid Brignac 4G
2BAkinori Iwamura 152GWilly Aybar 10GBen Zobrist 8G
3BEvan Longoria 119GWilly Aybar 41GEric Hinske 8G
1BCarlos Pena 132GWilly Aybar 19GEric Hinske 11G
STARTERSJames Shields 4.2WARAndy Sonnanstine 4.1WARMatt Garza 3.3WARScott Kazmir 2.3WAREdwin Jackson 1.5WAR
CDioner Navarro 117GShawn Riggans 41GMike DiFelice 7G
DHCliff Floyd 76GJonny Gomes 36GWilly Aybar 23G
BULLPEN★ Troy Percival 28svDan Wheeler 26hChad Bradford 21hJ.P. Howell 14hGrant Balfour 14hTrever Miller 11hAl Reyes 2hScott Dohmann 0h
CDioner Navarro 117 · Shawn Riggans 41 · Mike DiFelice 7
1BCarlos Pena 132 · Willy Aybar 19 · Eric Hinske 11
2BAkinori Iwamura 152 · Willy Aybar 10 · Ben Zobrist 8
3BEvan Longoria 119 · Willy Aybar 41 · Eric Hinske 8
SSJason Bartlett 125 · Ben Zobrist 35 · Reid Brignac 4
LFCarl Crawford 108 · Eric Hinske 40 · Justin Ruggiano 26
CFB.J. Upton 143 · Gabe Gross 18 · Fernando Perez 15
RFGabe Gross 121 · Eric Hinske 49 · Jonny Gomes 21
DHCliff Floyd 76 · Jonny Gomes 36 · Willy Aybar 23
SPJames Shields 4.2 · Andy Sonnanstine 4.1 · Matt Garza 3.3 · Scott Kazmir 2.3 · Edwin Jackson 1.5
BP★ Troy Percival 28 · Dan Wheeler 26 · Chad Bradford 21 · J.P. Howell 14 · Grant Balfour 14 · Trever Miller 11 · Al Reyes 2 · Scott Dohmann 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.

2008 roster — value & surplus

PlayerAgeServiceGfWARSalary $MSurplus $M
Evan Longoria 22 pre-arb 1225.6 0.5 +12.4
B.J. Upton 23 arb 1454.8 0.4 +10.5
James Shields 26 pre-arb 344.2 1.0 +8.6
Andy Sonnanstine 25 pre-arb 324.1 0.4 +9.0
Carlos Pena 30 FA-elig 1393.8 6.0 +2.6
Matt Garza 24 pre-arb 303.3 0.4 +7.2
Akinori Iwamura 29 pre-arb 1523.0 2.4 +4.5
Carl Crawford 26 FA-elig 1092.8 5.4 +0.9
Scott Kazmir 24 arb 272.3 3.8 +1.5
Grant Balfour 30 – 512.3 0.5 +4.7
Gabe Gross↔ MIL 28 arb 1272.1 0.4 +4.3
Eric Hinske 30 FA-elig 1332.0 0.8 +3.7
Jason Bartlett 28 arb 1281.9 0.4 +3.8
J.P. Howell 25 arb 641.5 0.4 +3.1
Edwin Jackson 24 arb 321.5 0.4 +3.0
Ben Zobrist 27 pre-arb 621.5 0.4 +3.0
Willy Aybar 25 arb 951.4 0.4 +2.8
Fernando Perez 25 – 231.1 – –
Trever Miller 35 FA-elig 680.6 1.6 -0.2
Cliff Floyd 35 FA-elig 800.6 2.8 -1.5
Shawn Riggans 27 pre-arb 440.3 0.4 +0.3
Rocco Baldelli 26 arb 280.3 2.2 -1.5
Dan Wheeler 30 FA-elig 700.3 2.9 -2.2
Mike DiFelice 39 – 70.3 – –
David Price 22 pre-arb 50.2 0.7 -0.1
Al Reyes 38 FA-elig 260.2 2.3 -1.9
Justin Ruggiano 26 – 450.1 0.4 -0.1
Dan Johnson↔ OAK 28 arb 100.1 0.4 -0.1
Kurt Birkins 27 pre-arb 60.1 0.4 -0.2
Juan Salas 29 – 50.1 – –
Gary Glover↔ DET 31 FA-elig 290.1 0.7 -0.5
Jae Kuk Ryu 25 – 10.0 – –
Andy Cannizaro 29 – 1-0.0 – –
Scott Dohmann 30 arb 12-0.1 0.4 -0.5
Chad Bradford↔ BAL 33 FA-elig 21-0.1 1.1 -1.3
Jeff Niemann 25 – 5-0.1 – –
John Jaso 24 – 5-0.1 – –
Michel Hernandez 29 – 5-0.1 – –
Nathan Haynes 28 pre-arb 20-0.2 0.4 -0.8
Jason Hammel 25 pre-arb 40-0.2 0.4 -0.9
Elliot Johnson 24 pre-arb 7-0.3 0.4 -1.0
Mitch Talbot 24 – 3-0.3 – –
Reid Brignac 22 – 4-0.3 – –
Dioner Navarro 24 arb 120-0.5 0.4 -1.5
Troy Percival 38 FA-elig 50-0.7 3.9 -5.4
Jonny Gomes 27 arb 77-0.9 1.3 -3.3

Key additions (new vs 2007)

PlayerfWAR
Evan Longoria5.6
Matt Garza3.3
Gabe Gross2.1
Eric Hinske2.0
Jason Bartlett1.9
Willy Aybar1.4

Key subtractions (gone from 2007)

Player2007 fWAR
Brendan Harris2.4
Jorge Velandia0.9
Ty Wigginton0.4
Raul Casanova0.3
Jon Switzer0.1
Jeff Ridgway-0.1

Current & Historical Payroll

2008 payroll
$46.9M

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 (12)

PlayerAgeSvc2008200920102011201220132014
Carlos Pena307.000$6.0M$8.0M$10.1MFREE AGENT$7.2M
Carl Crawford266.000$5.4M$8.2M$10.0MFREE AGENT
Troy Percival3813.000$3.9M$4.4MFREE AGENT
Dan Wheeler309.000$2.9M$3.2M$3.5MFREE AGENT
Cliff Floyd3515.000$2.8MFREE AGENT
Al Reyes3813.000$2.3MFREE AGENT
Trever Miller3512.000$1.6MFREE AGENT
Chad Bradford3310.000$1.1M$3.7MFREE AGENT
Eric Hinske306.000$800kFREE AGENT
Gary Glover319.000$663kFREE AGENT
Grant Balfour307.000$500k$1.4M$2.0MFREE AGENT$4.0M
Mike DiFelice3912.000—FREE AGENT

Arbitration-eligible (12)

PlayerAgeSvc2008200920102011201220132014
Scott Kazmir244.000$3.8MARB 3FREE AGENT
Rocco Baldelli265.000$2.2MFREE AGENT
Jonny Gomes275.000$1.3MFREE AGENT
Jason Bartlett284.000$417kARB 3FREE AGENT
Edwin Jackson245.000$413kFREE AGENT
Dioner Navarro244.000$412kARB 3FREE AGENT
Scott Dohmann304.000$412kARB 3FREE AGENT
B.J. Upton234.000$412kARB 3FREE AGENT
Willy Aybar253.000$401kARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
J.P. Howell253.000$397kARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Dan Johnson283.000$373kARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Gabe Gross284.000$368kARB 3FREE AGENT

Pre-arbitration (22)

PlayerAgeSvc2008200920102011201220132014
Akinori Iwamura291.000$2.4MPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
James Shields262.000$1.0MARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
David Price220.000$650kPre-ArbPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Evan Longoria220.000$500kPre-ArbPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Matt Garza242.000$405kARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Nathan Haynes281.000$400kPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Kurt Birkins272.000$398kARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Jason Hammel252.000$396kARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Andy Sonnanstine251.000$396kPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Ben Zobrist272.000$396kARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Shawn Riggans272.000$392kARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Elliot Johnson240.000$390kPre-ArbPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Justin Ruggiano260.000$390kPre-ArbPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Michel Hernandez29–—
Jeff Niemann250.000—Pre-ArbPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
John Jaso240.000—Pre-ArbPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Fernando Perez250.000—Pre-ArbPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Mitch Talbot240.000—Pre-ArbPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Reid Brignac220.000—Pre-ArbPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Andy Cannizaro29–—
Juan Salas292.000—ARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Jae Kuk Ryu252.000—ARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT

Graphs

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