As I was working through our Offseason Free Agent predictor, which we should publish in the next few days, I found myself pondering which teams had money to spend. Teams are not exactly forthcoming with this information, as keeping their payroll and budget private is important in contract negotiations. Aside from the obvious competitive advantage that teams gain from guarding their budget, many team owners are highly competitive individuals. It is fully within their right to ignore a budget in order to add that one free agent who is likely to make the difference. The complexity of the arbitration system merely adds to the shifting, closely guarded salary and budgetary figures. All of which is to say that this is a guessing game.
Thanks to the amazing contracts resource maintained by Baseball Prospectus, Cot’s Contracts, we can guess with more authority. I assumed that most payrolls would stay relatively in line with their last three year trend. I also assumed minimal arbitration raises for bad players, moderate arbitration raises for average players, and big raises for good players. Still, this is a bit like throwing a dart at a target in the dark held up by a guy who might move. To the list!
| Team | Payroll Room (Millions) |
| Toronto | $31 |
| Baltimore | $65 |
| Boston | $44 |
| New York Yankees | $5 |
| Tampa Bay | $20 |
| Chicago White Sox | $25 |
| Cleveland | $20 |
| Detroit | $40 |
| Kansas City | $5 |
| Minesotta | $12 |
| Houston | $13 |
| Los Angeles Angels | $7 |
| Oakland | $5 |
| Seattle | $19 |
| Texas | $19 |
| Atlanta | $22 |
| Miami | $5 |
| New York Mets | $15 |
| Philadelphia | $50 |
| Washington | $33 |
| Chicago Cubs | $33 |
| Cincinatti | $10 |
| Milwaukee | $40 |
| Pittsburgh | $20 |
| St Louis | $10 |
| Arizona | $40 |
| Colorado | $10 |
| Los Angeles Dodgers | $100 |
| San Diego | $15 |
| San Francisco | $25 |
I listed the Dodgers with $100 Million since their spending habits are likely the most complex in the game. If they want a free agent, or two, they’ll go get him. This is a team that spent a combined $87 Million on Hector Olivera ($30 Million), Matt Kemp ($18), Brett Anderson ($10), Dan Haren ($10), Brian Wilson ($10), Brandon League ($8.5) in 2015.
There’s also this great piece from Blue Bird Banter that outlines how much the Blue Jays can spend this offseason. The author gets into USD and Canadian dollar conversion rates, so you know it’s worth a read.
-Sean Morash
Stat of the Day: Combined Jose Bautista and Edwin Encarnacion will make less in 2016 than Cliff Lee did in 2015 or Ryan Howard will in 2016.
