RRosternomics
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Rangers TEX

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GM: John Hart

Overview

FORCED-SPEND ↗ rising
expensive & losing · year 4 in this regime · payroll 1.22× league · TAB -7.6
-7.6TAB — talent above budget25th/30
-13.5WAB — realized wins (TAB + luck)28th/30
6.0depth — 2+ WAR regulars18th/30
-7.0dead WAR — sub-replacement drag23rd/30
37%dead money %19th/30
0.438win %22nd/30
29.1roster fWAR19th/30
-32surplus $M (value vs cost)24th/30
$84Mpayroll $M8th/30

Roster

CFRyan Christenson 59GRamon Nivar 26GDonnie Sadler 22G
LFShane Spencer 66GKevin Mench 34GDonnie Sadler 19G
RFJuan Gonzalez 57GShane Spencer 42GLaynce Nix 37G
SSAlex Rodriguez 158GDonnie Sadler 19GMichael Young 7G
2BMichael Young 159GJermaine Clark 7GHank Blalock 4G
3BHank Blalock 141GDonnie Sadler 23GMark Teixeira 15G
1BMark Teixeira 116GRafael Palmeiro 55GHerbert Perry Jr. 5G
STARTERSJohn Thomson 3.9WARR.A. Dickey 1.4WARMickey Callaway 0.6WARIsmael Valdez 0.2WARTony Mounce -0.0WAR
CEinar Díaz 101GTodd Greene 51GGerald Laird 16G
DHRafael Palmeiro 95GJuan Gonzalez 24GShane Spencer 7G
BULLPEN★ Francisco Cordero 15svAaron Fultz 19hBrian Shouse 10hRon Mahay 9hRosman Garcia 7hJay Powell 2hErasmo Ramirez 2hReynaldo Garcia 1h
CEinar Díaz 101 · Todd Greene 51 · Gerald Laird 16
1BMark Teixeira 116 · Rafael Palmeiro 55 · Herbert Perry Jr. 5
2BMichael Young 159 · Jermaine Clark 7 · Hank Blalock 4
3BHank Blalock 141 · Donnie Sadler 23 · Mark Teixeira 15
SSAlex Rodriguez 158 · Donnie Sadler 19 · Michael Young 7
LFShane Spencer 66 · Kevin Mench 34 · Donnie Sadler 19
CFRyan Christenson 59 · Ramon Nivar 26 · Donnie Sadler 22
RFJuan Gonzalez 57 · Shane Spencer 42 · Laynce Nix 37
DHRafael Palmeiro 95 · Juan Gonzalez 24 · Shane Spencer 7
SPJohn Thomson 3.9 · R.A. Dickey 1.4 · Mickey Callaway 0.6 · Ismael Valdez 0.2 · Tony Mounce -0.0
BP★ Francisco Cordero 15 · Aaron Fultz 19 · Brian Shouse 10 · Ron Mahay 9 · Rosman Garcia 7 · Jay Powell 2 · Erasmo Ramirez 2 · Reynaldo Garcia 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.

2003 roster — value & surplus

PlayerAgeServiceGfWARSalary $MSurplus $M
Alex Rodriguez 27 FA-elig 1619.2 22.0 -5.7
Hank Blalock 22 pre-arb 1434.8 0.3 +8.1
John Thomson 29 FA-elig 353.9 1.3 +5.6
Rafael Palmeiro 38 FA-elig 1542.7 9.0 -4.2
Michael Young 26 arb 1602.7 0.4 +4.3
Francisco Cordero 28 arb 732.1 0.9 +2.8
Mark Teixeira 23 pre-arb 1461.7 0.8 +2.3
R.A. Dickey 28 – 381.4 – –
Carl Everett↔ CHW 32 FA-elig 741.3 4.6 -2.2
Brian Shouse 34 – 621.2 – –
Juan Gonzalez 33 FA-elig 821.0 13.0 -11.2
Ron Mahay 32 – 350.9 – –
Mickey Callaway↔ ANA 28 arb 60.6 0.1 +1.0
Kevin Mench 25 pre-arb 380.5 0.3 +0.6
Erasmo Ramirez 27 – 340.5 – –
Todd Greene 32 FA-elig 620.4 0.8 -0.0
Ugueth Urbina↔ MIA 29 FA-elig 390.3 2.4 -1.9
Gerald Laird 23 – 190.3 – –
Aaron Fultz 29 arb 640.2 0.6 -0.2
Ismael Valdez 29 FA-elig 220.2 2.5 -2.2
Alan Benes↔ CHC 31 – 40.1 – –
Einar Díaz 30 FA-elig 1010.1 1.8 -1.7
Rosman Garcia 24 – 460.1 – –
Laynce Nix 22 – 530.0 – –
Todd Van Poppel↔ CIN 31 FA-elig 70.0 1.1 -1.0
Colby Lewis 23 pre-arb 260.0 0.3 -0.2
Esteban Yan↔ STL 28 FA-elig 150.0 0.4 -0.4
Doug Glanville↔ CHC 32 FA-elig 520.0 0.7 -0.6
C.J. Nitkowski 30 FA-elig 60.0 0.6 -0.5
Donnie Sadler 28 – 77-0.0 – –
Tony Mounce 28 – 11-0.0 – –
Marcus Thames 26 – 30-0.0 – –
Ryan Drese 27 – 11-0.1 – –
Ryan Ludwick↔ CLE 24 – 8-0.1 – –
Jay Powell 31 FA-elig 51-0.1 3.2 -3.5
Herbert Perry Jr. 33 FA-elig 11-0.2 1.3 -1.6
Ruben Sierra↔ NYY 37 FA-elig 43-0.2 0.2 -0.5
Joaquín Benoit 25 – 25-0.2 – –
Chad Kreuter 38 FA-elig 7-0.2 0.8 -1.1
Doug Davis↔ MIL 27 – 1-0.2 – –
Jermaine Clark↔ SDP 26 pre-arb 24-0.2 0.3 -0.7
Victor Santos 26 – 8-0.3 – –
Mario Ramos 25 – 3-0.3 – –
Juan Dominguez 23 – 6-0.3 – –
Chan Ho Park 30 FA-elig 7-0.3 13.0 -13.6
Shane Spencer↔ CLE 31 arb 55-0.4 0.3 -1.0
Jason Jones 26 – 40-0.4 – –
Reynaldo Garcia 29 pre-arb 17-0.5 0.3 -1.1
Mike Lamb 27 arb 28-0.5 0.4 -1.3
Robert Ellis 32 – 4-0.5 – –
Ryan Christenson 29 – 60-0.8 – –
Ramon Nivar 23 – 28-1.2 – –

Key additions (new vs 2002)

PlayerfWAR
John Thomson3.9
Mark Teixeira1.7
R.A. Dickey1.4
Brian Shouse1.2
Ron Mahay0.9
Mickey Callaway0.6

Key subtractions (gone from 2002)

Player2002 fWAR
Ivan Rodriguez3.1
Kenny Rogers2.9
Dave Burba1.4
Frank Catalanotto0.8
Rob Bell0.8
Ruben Rivera0.2

Current & Historical Payroll

2003 payroll
$83.7M

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 (21)

PlayerAgeSvc2003200420052006200720082009
Alex Rodriguez279.000$22.0MFREE AGENT
Juan Gonzalez3314.000$13.0MFREE AGENT
Chan Ho Park309.000$13.0M$14.0M$10.0MFREE AGENT
Rafael Palmeiro3817.000$9.0MFREE AGENT
Carl Everett3210.000$4.6MFREE AGENT
Jay Powell318.000$3.2M$3.5MFREE AGENT
Ismael Valdez299.000$2.5MFREE AGENT
Ugueth Urbina298.000$2.4MFREE AGENT
Einar Díaz307.000$1.8MFREE AGENT
John Thomson296.000$1.3MFREE AGENT
Herbert Perry Jr.339.000$1.3M$1.7MFREE AGENT
Todd Van Poppel3112.000$1.1MFREE AGENT
Todd Greene327.000$750kFREE AGENT
Chad Kreuter3815.000$750kFREE AGENT
Doug Glanville327.000$650kFREE AGENT
C.J. Nitkowski308.000$550kFREE AGENT
Esteban Yan287.000$417kFREE AGENT
Ruben Sierra3717.000$243kFREE AGENT
Alan Benes318.000—FREE AGENT
Ron Mahay328.000—$500k$775kFREE AGENT$647k
Brian Shouse3410.000—$360k$395k$658kFREE AGENT

Arbitration-eligible (9)

PlayerAgeSvc2003200420052006200720082009
Francisco Cordero284.000$900kARB 3FREE AGENT
Aaron Fultz293.000$600kARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Mike Lamb273.000$440kARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Michael Young263.000$415kARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Shane Spencer315.000$277kFREE AGENT
Mickey Callaway284.000$79kARB 3FREE AGENT
Donnie Sadler285.000—FREE AGENT
Ryan Christenson295.000—FREE AGENT
Doug Davis274.000—ARB 3FREE AGENT

Pre-arbitration (22)

PlayerAgeSvc2003200420052006200720082009
Mark Teixeira230.000$750kPre-ArbPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Kevin Mench251.000$328kPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Hank Blalock221.000$302kPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Colby Lewis231.000$302kPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Reynaldo Garcia291.000$300kPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Jermaine Clark262.000$288kARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Robert Ellis32–—
Victor Santos262.000—ARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Joaquín Benoit252.000—ARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Erasmo Ramirez270.000—Pre-ArbPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
R.A. Dickey282.000—ARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Ryan Drese272.000—ARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Mario Ramos25–—
Marcus Thames261.000—Pre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Ryan Ludwick241.000—Pre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Gerald Laird230.000—Pre-ArbPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Rosman Garcia24–—
Laynce Nix220.000—Pre-ArbPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Tony Mounce28–—
Ramon Nivar230.000—Pre-ArbPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Jason Jones26–—
Juan Dominguez23–—

Graphs

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