The Royals Shake Their Moneymaker

It's been awhile, so why not revisit the Royals contract situation for 2013. All players are under contract, so here's how the 40-man roster looks when each of their wallets are stuffed full of greenery.

I didn't put a total on the bottom as in previous listings because that would be misleading. (Although if you are interested, the total above comes out to $87,821,475.) That's because most of the players making under a million are on split contracts where they will earn considerably less if they play in the minors.

Already Noel Arguelles and John Lamb have been optioned to Double-A. Chris Dwyer and Justin Marks were optioned to Triple-A. Arguelles' contract is guaranteed, so he makes his coin. The others will make less than listed above.

It's worth noting that of the above list, Luke Hochevar, Luis Mendoza, Felipe Paulino, JC Gutierrez, Guillermo Moscoso, Brett Hayes, George Kottaras, Jarrod Dyson and Elliot Johnson are all out of options according to MLB Trade Rumors. They all have less than five years of major league service time so they must clear waivers before being sent to the minors.

Of this group, I think Hochevar, Mendoza, Dyson and Johnson are locks to open with the Royals. Paulino isn't a factor as he's already on the 60-day disabled list and isn't on the 40-man roster. There's no room for Moscoso who is here to provide deep backup. Like if Kim Jong Un lobbed a missile in the Royals bullpen, he would maybe be a factor. It makes sense to hold onto him as long as they can in the hopes some pitching starved team will flip a D-grade prospect for him. Whatever. The return might be better when the Royals are forced to part company with the loser in the backup catcher sweepstakes. I'm leaning Kottaras stays.

That leaves Guttierez. Dutton seems to think he's going to get a shot because of the option situation. Man, I don't know. What do the Royals see that makes him worth keeping? For his career, he has a 8.2 SO/9 which is good, a 3.7 BB/9 which isn't and a 1.1 HR/9 which is meh. He is a fly ball pitcher and has a career 4.28 xFIP in 167 innings. I just don't see it. Options, be damned, he's not worth the $750,000.

There's also the elephant in the room known as Miguel Tejada. He's not on the 40-man roster, but Dutton is among those who believe he's going to be making this team as a utility man. If that happens, he will make $1.1 million. I have no words. (Oh, there's also $400,000 in bonus money in his deal. Again, no words.)

The Dutton Roster (with Tejada and Guttierez) will come in at $80,366,600. That has to be the absolute high end for this team. Subtract those two and replace them with any other combination saves only around a million. The salary floor for this team looks to be around $79,300,000.

All this is assuming no other drastic roster moves are made. And by drastic, I mean like the outright release of Hochevar ahead of the March 15 deadline where they would only pay one-sixth of his 2013 salary. Or the trade of Jeff Francoeur.

At any rate, this will be the highest payroll in club history, surpassing the almost $75 million Opening Day payroll the team posted in 2010. While you may be enthused that the Royals are prying open their pocketbook, keep in mind payroll should be closer to $90 million.

*Information for the contract numbers comes from various sources, including Bob Dutton tweets and Cot's Contracts.