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Dayton dropped some knowledge on us yesterday with the third biggest free agent contract in franchise history, committing $32 million on left-handed starting pitcher Jason Vargas. We knew the Royals had said they wanted to keep payroll around $85 million, but might be willing to go higher for the right player. Was Vargas the right player? Apparently so. Jerry Crasnick has tweeted that while the deal may not be backloaded, its not even either.
Here is where the Royals payroll situation currently stands.
|
Royals Payroll |
2014 |
2015 |
2016 |
Comments |
|
James Shields |
$13,500,000 |
Free Agent |
$1 million buyout |
|
|
Jeremy Guthrie |
$11,000,000 |
$9,000,000 |
Free Agent |
|
|
Alex Gordon |
$10,750,000 |
$13,250,000 |
$12,500,000 |
|
|
Billy Butler |
$8,000,000 |
$12,500,000 |
Free Agent |
$1 million buyout |
|
Jason Vargas |
$7,000,000 |
$8,500,000 |
$8,500,000 |
|
|
Luke Hochevar |
$5,000,000 |
Free Agent |
||
|
Greg Holland |
$4,900,000 |
Arbitration |
Arbitration |
|
|
Wade Davis |
$4,800,000 |
$7,000,000 |
$8,000,000 |
|
|
Eric Hosmer |
$4,100,000 |
Arbitration |
Arbitration |
|
|
Emilio Bonifacio |
$3,300,000 |
Free Agent |
$500,000 buyout |
|
|
Alcides Escobar |
$3,000,000 |
$3,000,000 |
$5,250,000 |
|
|
Aaron Crow |
$1,900,000 |
Arbitration |
Arbitration |
|
|
Salvador Perez |
$1,500,000 |
$1,750,000 |
$2,000,000 |
|
|
Noel Arguelles |
$1,380,000 |
|||
|
Chris Getz |
$1,300,000 |
Free Agent |
||
|
Justin Maxwell |
$1,250,000 |
Arbitration |
Arbitration |
|
|
Tim Collins |
$1,000,000 |
Arbitration |
Arbitration |
|
|
Lorenzo Cain |
$800,000 |
Arbitration |
Arbitration |
|
|
Mike Moustakas |
$725,000 |
Arbitration |
Arbitration |
|
|
Kelvin Herrera |
$600,000 |
Arbitration |
Arbitration |
|
|
Jarrod Dyson |
$600,000 |
Arbitration |
Arbitration |
|
|
Danny Duffy |
$600,000 |
Arbitration |
||
|
David Lough |
$510,000 |
|||
|
23rd Man |
$500,000 |
|||
|
24th Man |
$500,000 |
|||
|
25th Man |
$500,000 |
|||
|
Payroll Total |
$89,017,014 |
$55,002,015 |
$36,252,016 |
|
|
Club option |
||||
|
Player option |
||||
|
Free Agent |
||||
|
Arbitration Estimate |
The Royals let George Kottaras, Luis Mendoza, Felipe Paulino and Jamey Carroll go, saving them about $6 million in potential commitments. They can get that number down even more by letting Chris Getz go, which despite his grit factor, I really do think its just a matter of time before they outright him or non-tender him.
That still leaves the Royals close to $90 million, depending on what they do with Luke Hochevar and Emilio Bonifacio. I think both are a both are likely to get tendered contracts and be on the 2014 team. Hochevar may get shopped around, but the odds of the Royals saving too much money from a trade are slim. Not too many teams want $5 million low-leverage relievers with a one-year track record of success. Bob Dutton says there is not much room left in the payroll to pursue another free agent, so if this team is to do anything more to improve, it will likely have to be through a trade that doesn't add to the current payroll.
The Royals will spend over $31 million in 2014 alone on Jeremy Guthrie, Jason Vargas, Luke Hochevar, Wade Davis, and Emilio Bonifacio. How does that make you feel?