Braves have Lots of Money Left
by gondeee on Dec 20, 2007 9:42 AM EST
in News
19 comments
Today we revisit the money chart. I posted the first version of this Braves salaries chart on Thanksgiving, and the Braves have made a few changes since then so it's time to run an updated version out there. They've added salary in Will Ohman and Omar Infante, as well as possible salary in Javy Lopez.
#: On the previous chart I had listed Mike Hampton's salary as $15 million, but it was pointed out that the Braves were budgeting the average salary each year of the total they owed Hampton for the entire time he would be in Atlanta. So instead of the $15 million, the average per year they are on the hook for is only $8 million - according to their accounting. Therefore, the lower number is what I will put in the chart, because they should have already budgeted for the remaining $7 million they owe him this year, in the previous years.
(Note: A ~ indicates an estimation of what a player's salary will be after arbitration. An * indicates an option year.)
| 2008 Braves Salary Overview |
| Player | Position | Status 2008 | 2008 | 2009 | 2010 |
| Brian McCann | 2 | Under Contract | $800,000 | $3,500,000 | $5,500,000 |
| Mark Teixeira | 3 | Arbitration | ~$12,000,000 | FA | FA |
| Kelly Johnson | 4 | Controlled | $400,000 | $600,000 | ~$1,200,000 |
| Chipper Jones | 5 | Under Contract | $11,000,000 | $11,000.000 | FA |
| Yunel Escobar | 6 | Controlled | $400,000 | $400,000 | $400,000 |
| Matt Diaz | 7 | Arbitration | ~$1,400,000 | ~$2,800,000 | ~$3,800,000 |
| Josh Andersonn | 8 | Controlled | $400,000 | $400,000 | $400,000 |
| Jeff Francoeur | 9 | Controlled | $600,000 | ~$2,500,000 | ~$4,500,000 |
| John Smoltz | SP-1 | Under Contract | $14,000,000 | $12,000,000* | $13,000,000* |
| Tim Hudson | SP-2 | Under Contract | $13,000,000 | $13,000,000 | $12,000,000* |
| Tom Glavine | SP-3 | Under Contract | $8,000,000 | FA | FA |
| Mike Hampton | SP-4 | Under Contract | $8,000,000# | FA | FA |
| Chuck James | SP-5 | Controlled | $600,000 | ~$1,600,000 | ~$2,800,000 |
| Willy Aybar | Bench | Controlled | $400,000 | $400,000 | $400,000 |
| Omar Infante | Bench | Arbitration | ~$1,200,000 | ~$1,800,000 | ~$2,600,000 |
| Brayan Pena | Bench | Controlled | $400,000 | $400,000 | $400,000 |
| Javy Lopez | Bench | Controlled | $750,000 | FA | FA |
| Scott Thorman | Bench | Controlled | $400,000 | $400,000 | $400,000 |
| Rafael Soriano | Bullpen | Arbitration | ~$2,250,000 | ~$4,000,000 | FA |
| Mike Gonzalez | Bullpen | Arbitration | ~$3,000,000 | ~$4,500,000 | FA |
| Peter Moylan | Bullpen | Controlled | $400,000 | $400,000 | $400,000 |
| Will Ohman | Bullpen | Under Contract | $1,600,000 | FA | FA |
| Chris Resop | Bullpen | Controlled | $400,000 | $400,000 | $400,000 |
| Royce Ring | Bullpen | Controlled | $400,000 | $400,000 | $400,000 |
| Tyler Yates | Bullpen | Arbitration | ~$750,000 | ~$1,500,000 | ~$2,500,000 |
| Linup Total | $27,000,000 | $21,000,000 | $15,000,000 | ||
| Rotation Total | $43,800,000 | $26,600,000 | $27,800,000 | ||
| Bench Total | $3,150,000 | $3,000,000 | $3,800,000 | ||
| Bullpen Total | $8,800,000 | $11,200,000 | $3,700,000 | ||
| Grand Total | $82,750,000 | $61,800,000 | $50,300,000 |
Like the title of the post says, assuming all my calculations are correct, then the Braves have a TON of money left that they can spend this year. They could even get taken in every one of their arbitration cases and still have $5 to $10 million left in payroll flexibility. No wonder they were trying to acquire Dan Haren and may be in on Eric Bedard or Rich Harden deeper than anyone really believes they are.
With this kind of money left, I have to believe that we WILL see another major move by the Braves this year. For some reason my gut tells me it will be a trade for someone who was previously thought off the market or has never been mentioned in trade talks. Or it could be someone like Brian Fuentes from the Rockies, and unlike the assertion by AJC beat writer David O'Brien, we would be willing to pick up Fuentes' salary. Of course, if that is the case then why were we not in on the Ron Mahay talks with more gusto? He just signed a two-year $8 million deal with the Royals of all teams. Fuentes would likely be pricier than that, but he is much younger and still growing into his stuff.
We may also be holding out for a more bargain price on a center fielder like Mike Cameron, or we may be shopping for another free agent starter - Odalis Perez, Kris Benson, Freddy Garcia, or some other reclamation project.
Regardless, we seem to have a lot more money left over than many people think. How will we spend it? There's still almost two months until those three magical words: pitchers and catchers; that's plenty of time to work the phones and pull off a big deal. Remember that the Mike Gonzalez trade happened in mid-to-late January; plenty of time left.
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Dude, this kinda really makes me excited....
by bravessuperbeast on Dec 20, 2007 10:06 AM EST reply actions 0 recs
Dude, this kinda really makes me excited....
by bravessuperbeast on Dec 20, 2007 10:06 AM EST reply actions 0 recs
Please god...
by Smoltzs Beard on Dec 20, 2007 10:10 AM EST up reply actions 0 recs
Great write up...
You think that if Glavine pitches well this season that he may come back again in 2009? Or you think this is his final year? If so...you think Smoltz will be up for another go after his best friend retires?
by Smoltzs Beard on Dec 20, 2007 10:08 AM EST reply actions 0 recs
how does that extra money work?
by RehabReject on Dec 20, 2007 10:09 AM EST reply actions 0 recs
Extra Money
by was385 on Dec 21, 2007 8:50 AM EST up reply actions 0 recs
Why do you think...
If you go with to the payroll total on ESPN and anywhere else, then it's wrong because it accounts for the full contract values of Hampton and Renteria.
by kc on Dec 20, 2007 10:33 AM EST reply actions 0 recs
Higher
What I'm trying to do with this chart is break out of the paragraph totaling of the Braves salary structure that some other bloggers (or beat writers) seem to keep doing. I also wanted to highlight the correct amount the Braves are on the books for with Mike Hampton.
ESPN is not going to take into account factors such as Hampton's contract or future arbitration numbers. If you take the ESPN total of $89.5 mil and subtract the $7 million we should have already budgeted and paid Hampton, then you arrive quite nicely at the number I did. Or course, they seem to be wrong on Chipper and Hudson and several others.
No chart out there, mine or ESPN's or anyone else's is going to be 100% accurate, but at least we can get a bit closer with this look. And this is by no means written in stone, I could have made an error or omission or I could be wrong on some player's salaries - I used Cot's Baseball Contracts for most of this data and they are usually pretty accurate.
One thing to consider too is the bonus payout schedule, so that's where we could be seeing the differences in ESPN's total for Chipper and other's and my total. Margins of error exist.
by gondeee on Dec 20, 2007 10:47 AM EST up reply actions 0 recs
Thanks...
by kc on Dec 20, 2007 8:31 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs
More pitching
by surge on Dec 20, 2007 10:44 AM EST reply actions 0 recs
pay it forward: Teixiera, Francoeur
And don't forget, we need to extend Francouer, too.
Let's get over this one-year-plan thinking and fortify the middle of our lineup for the next decade.
by JimK on Dec 20, 2007 11:10 AM EST reply actions 0 recs
I am glad that McCann is under contract
Great stuff... gondee...
by BC1898 on Dec 20, 2007 2:01 PM EST reply actions 0 recs
I'm all for improving the club, but
The only thing I'd like to see money spent on is pitching. Why do we need an old center fielder? I think Blanco/Anderson will be fine next year. Both can field, and will be decent with the bat. That will give JS the time he really needs to season in the minors. We have players that can rake at EVERY position, so one weak spot in the order would be fine. And I don't think anyone we could sign would be significantly better than those two (def not worth millions of dollars).
by mjm7du on Dec 20, 2007 2:21 PM EST reply actions 0 recs
Will Ohman
I also think Kelly Johnson will be arb-eligible in 2009.
by tgthree on Dec 20, 2007 3:01 PM EST reply actions 0 recs
Oh yeah...
by tgthree on Dec 20, 2007 3:02 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs
Good Points
Quite possible on KJ. I'm going to leave it as is though (for now).
Since we don't know how much was sent to Detroit with Renteria, we'll just have to assume that was the money Boston payed us in the first place when we traded for him. I say those costs cancel each other out.
by gondeee on Dec 20, 2007 3:39 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs
More notes on your salary breakdown...
I don't know how technical you're getting, but I'll mention everything I see. According to Bill Shanks of Scout.com, Mike Hampton is due $8.25 million in 2008. The link for that info: http://braves.scout.com/2/687326.html
Finally, here's my reasoning on the Renteria situation. Before he was traded, we were on the hook for $6 million of his $9 million salary, with the other $3 million coming from the Red Sox as part of the $8 million total that they agreed to include in the trade (we got $2MM in 2006 and $3MM in 2007). Then, according to ESPN, the Braves said they were saving $4 million by dealing Renteria (you can choose to trust me or not on this, as I can't currently locate the link). So that would indicate we sent $2 million to the Tigers (the difference between the $6 million we had planned to pay him and the $4 million we would save by trading him).
Hope my info is helpful to you, Mr. Gandy.
by tgthree on Dec 20, 2007 8:13 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs
Sounds good, but...
by Dale Murphy on Dec 20, 2007 6:24 PM EST reply actions 0 recs
David O'Brien
"Just a quick glance to the linked breakdown of the Braves' 2008 payroll reveals several calculation problems, all involving underestimations or signing bonuses not accounted for.
There is a complete absence of any money from prorated shares of signing bonuses for Hudson and Chipper, and those most assuredly count in the payroll, both for Braves purposes and for MLB tabulation.
Hudson got a $10 million bonus, which works to 2.5 mill per year prorated for four years.
Chipper Jones got a $4 million bonus in his reworked contract, or $1.33 million per year prorated over three years.
So there's $3.8 mill unaccounted for.
Then there's the matter of underestimating the amount that several zero-to-three guys are going to get, including Peter Moylan, who had a strong year and is not going to get $400,000 which is merely $10,000 more than the new, increased major league minimum.
Kelly Johnson is not going to get $400,000 after the year he had (he has more than 2-1/2 years' service n ow, including time from 60-day DL in 2006).
Yunel Escobar is going to get more than $400,000. And there's a few others like that, which is close to another mill underestimated.
So there's $4.5 mill or so just from the prorated signing bonuses of Chipper and Hudson and the raises for zero-to-3 guys.
Hampton's salary, for Braves payroll purposes, works out to closer to $9 mill than $8 mill annually (don't ask me how they come to that figure, but I've been told repeatedly that it's more than $8.5 mill).
So we're at over $5 mill now underestimated.
Then there's Teixeira, who will likely be at about $13 mill or slightly above, not $12 mill.
Infante should be about $1.5 mil, not 1.2.
We're at close to $7 mill understimated now, and that puts it at about $90 mill right now for the 2008 payroll.
Braves could probably take on another $5 mill or so before opening day, maybe slightly more if a deal they simply couldn't refuse came along, but that seems unlikely."
by tgthree on Dec 21, 2007 10:44 PM EST reply actions 0 recs
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