OK, the Pirate payroll is starting to fall in line now - 4 arb players, Adam LaRoche, Zach Duke, John Grabow, and Tyler Yates, signed on the dotted line; Paul Maholm and Nate McLouth are playing it out a little longer, having exchanged arbitration figures with the team, according to Dejan Kovacevic of the Post Gazette. The payroll so far:
Jack Wilson, SS - $7.25M (club option $8.4M in 2010 with $600K buyout)
Adam LaRoche, 1B - $7.05M (2010 free agency year)
Freddy Sanchez, 2B - $6.1M (club option $8M in 2010 with $600K buyout)
Ian Snell, SP - $3M ($4.25M in 2010, club option in 2011 for $6.75M, club option in 2011 for $9.75M)
Nate McLouth, OF - exchanged salary figures; $2.75M team; $3.8M, player (2010 and 2011 - arbitration years)
Paul Maholm, SP - exchanged salary figures; $2.65 team; $3.8M, player (2010 and 2011 - arbitration years)
Matt Capps, RP - $2.3M (2010 and 2011 - arbitration years)
John Grabow, RP - $2.3M (2010 free agency year)
Zach Duke, SP - $2.2M (2010 and 2011 - arbitration years)
Ryan Doumit, C - $2.05M ($3.55M in 2010, $5.1M in 2011, club option for next two years must be exercised in 2012; $7.25M in 2012, $8.25M in 2013 with $500K buyout)
Ramon Vazquez, IF - $2M ($2M in 2010 - not sure of annual splits, 2-year deal for $4M)
Tyler Yates, RP - $1.3M (2010 - arbitration year)
With the gap between the Pirates and their two arb guys, the payroll for the dozen signed players will fall between $40.95M - $43.15M. Throw in thirteen near or minimum wage workers and a few bucks to pay off Matt Morris and a couple of other ex-Bucs, and you have a base payroll in the range of $49 or $50M as it now stands, without bonuses or incentives.
Last year's opening day payroll, according to Cot's Baseball Contracts, was $48.7M.
So much for rolling in the extra cash freed up by dumping Jay Bay and Matty Mo's money, hey?
Weelllll, yes and no, my friend.
ReplyDelete"No" in that the Pirates did not take any of the "Matty Mo Money"---nice ring to that, btw!---and spend it to acquire one or more impact veteran players. "Yes" in that the Pirates did take that money and spent a good chunk of it on above-slot bonus money (such as was paid to Robbie Grossman) in last year's amateur draft. Hopefully the front office will continue to do this going forward.
That said, Adam Dunn and Ben Sheets---to name just two---are still out there and have yet to sign. Either or both would sure look good in black and gold for the next year or three, eh?
Very true about the draft jackpot, Will. It's nice to see some funds dedicated to it and the Latino development.
ReplyDeleteI think I read that the budget this year is $54M - if they bump it a little, who knows? Maybe Sheets will drop to where we can get a couple of years at under $20M. Dunn could go in the same range, though they probably have enough OFs they want to look at that he's not on the radar.