Mets Payroll Spreadsheet!

by Sokojoe on Jan 10, 2009 6:26 PM EST

Hey guys, using the incredible resource of Cot's Baseball Contracts, I've created a spreadsheet breaking down the Mets payroll.

The payroll can be seen by clicking here.

(Personal Aside: When it comes to playing GM in my head, I have always kept the payroll in mind. The reason for the latter is two fold. One, it always annoys me when someone suggests signing this guy or trading for this guy without actually thinking about other variables involved such as how much would this actually increase payroll or, in the case of trades, what you would have to give up. Two, I always think payroll because I like the idea of not just winning but doing it smartly. When a group of friends of mine used to play the multi-player franchise modes of Madden, MLB 2K, NBA 2K, etc, I didn't want to just win more games than them or win the championship, I want to win with a lower payroll as well that way there is no excuse for my dominance. In Baseball Mogul 2008, I created a team that for 10+years won over 100 games with a payroll that had every player at the minimum. End aside.)

Some observations about the payroll: 117.5 just about matches the payroll of 2007. Signing Lowe for 14 would increase the payroll to 131.5, putting the payroll about 6 million short of the 2008 payroll. Now, this might cause some fans to say, "see we have room for Manny, especially with Wagner and Delgado off the books next year," but looking long term we see that the Mets have a number of players due for big raises in the coming years mainly (no pun intended) Maine, Pelfrey, and half our bullpen. Signing Manny would increase the Mets payroll to $156 million, that's a pretty big jump (19 million) from last year.

Another observation, Francisco's option is pretty ridiculous, 17.5 million if he finishes 55 games in 11, 100 games in 10-11, and determined healthy for the 2012 season. Here's hoping Putz pitches so well this year, we're justifed in putting Frankie in the setup role in 2010.

Overall, the Mets are in great financial shape. In order to be in great financial shape, a baseball team wants to have three tiers of players, Big money players [who earn it] (Beltran, Santana,) Mid-Money highly talented players [who signed below market for security] (Wright, Reyes,) and low cost players (Maine, Pelfrey.) With these three tiers, a team can remain competitive while keeping a steady payroll by rotating the tiers; for example, Wright, Reyes replaces Big Money, Maine, Pelfrey replace Mid-Money, Murphy, Niese replaces Maine, Pelfrey. Now, obviously there will be overlap during the transition and every player doesn't fit neatly into a tier, but I still believe the Mets are in great shape.

This FanPost was contributed by a member of the community and was not subject to any vetting or approval process. It does not necessarily reflect the opinions, reasoning skills, or attention to grammar and usage rules held by the editors of this site.

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Comments

Great post

I completely agree. I don’t think most Mets fans quite grasp how this team is built. Over the next three years, they have an excellent window of success with a HOF caliber core, but their payroll is also going to be spiking like crazy. They did a decent job trying not to backload their big veteran contracts, but they have plenty of youngsers due raises and plenty of arb elligibles. Going into next offseason, the payroll is going to be about the same as it is going into this year (assuming any more signings this offseason are multi-year), and that’s after Delgado and Wagner come off the books. They also won’t have a legitimate LF or 1B, and will be desperately seeking a slugger. Some have suggested signing Dunn now to fill that void, but I don’t think the Mets lineup is built in a way where a Three True Outcome hitter really benefits their overall offense. They have too much speed and rely on a balanced attack that should be able to either beat you with big innings or manufactured runs. With Dunn, the former might be enhanced a bit, but no more than the latter would be reduced, and while we might see a more powerful lineup, it might also be a more inconsistent one. A lineup that is going to produce some monster blowouts, but also one that has difficulty in closer games and lower scoring games.

by Mark Himmelstein on Jan 13, 2009 3:24 PM EST reply actions

“When a group of friends of mine used to play the multi-player franchise modes of Madden, MLB 2K, NBA 2K, etc, I didn’t want to just win more games than them or win the championship, I want to win with a lower payroll as well that way there is no excuse for my dominance”

While I usually operate that way, I’ve gotta admit that I used to get a ton of enjoyment with my old football game for PS1 (I forget which game it was, Terrell Davis was on the cover), trading for John Elway, Barry Sanders, Terrell Davis, Randy Moss, Cris Carter, Jerry Rice, and Tim Brown, and going 16-0. Good times…

by cjmulrain on Jan 13, 2009 9:25 PM EST reply actions

Spending hours that turned into days playing NCAA Football on PS2

I used to dominate. I had 6 national championships in a row w/the U. of Arkansas. I had an option QB who came in the middle of his freshman year as a backup to an injured QB. He won 2 Heisman’s in a row and after his Jr. year, he bolted. (Couldn’t talk him into staying for his Sr. year and coming back for a 3rd Heisman attempt).

Currently I can’t go undefeated to save my life. I don’t know what the hell is going on.

"The two most important things in life: good friends and a strong bullpen." - Bob Gibson

by LOUtheMETandNATSfan on Jan 13, 2009 11:11 PM EST up reply actions

my college roommates and I

used to play NCAA and Madden ‘04, we’d run a season of NCAA, then import the draft classes and do Madden, and so on and so on. I was Miami and one of my roommates was Ohio St., and this was the game from the year after they played in the title game…we pretty much dominated every season. I had a QB/WR combo that was absolutely sick, both 99s overall by the time they were red-shirt sophomores, one left after that year, the other stayed an extra year, and my damn roommate drafted both of them with his top pick in the Madden draft. I wanted to punch him when he traded up to take the receiver…Those were the days.

by cjmulrain on Jan 14, 2009 1:46 AM EST up reply actions

...I believe it was Madden 96

I moved Barry Sanders to my starting QB on the depth chart because Madden somehow gave him 70 arm accuracy with a 99 arm strength, for years I claimed I “invented” Michael Vick. Those really were the days.

by Sokojoe on Jan 14, 2009 1:18 PM EST up reply actions

I thought I was the only one who changed his/her avatar.

Where did you find that pic?

"The two most important things in life: good friends and a strong bullpen." - Bob Gibson

by LOUtheMETandNATSfan on Jan 14, 2009 6:47 PM EST up reply actions

I figured

football season is over (and it ended badly), so it was time for a Mets related image – I went to logoshack, and they had a bunch of specialty Mets logos, apparently this one was from the 60’s.

by cjmulrain on Jan 15, 2009 8:55 AM EST up reply actions

Logoshack!

Sweet! I’m there!

" Where I'm from, throwing up in your mouth is affectionately known as a mustard burp. "

by LOUtheMETandNATSfan on Jan 15, 2009 3:34 PM EST up reply actions

The spreadsheet is awesome

I like the colors. What do you say to updating it as the offseason goes on? Like, to reflect the finalized contracts of Sanchez, Pagan etc. Maybe a once a week update?

by James Kannengieser on Jan 21, 2009 3:52 PM EST reply actions

Thanks.

I updated the spreadsheet; however, this FanPost will disappear off the homepage in a couple of days and there seems to be a lack of interest in this, so I don’t plan on taking up FanPost space with more of the same.

By the bye, it appears the Mets have roughly 12 million to spend… just enough for Perez, ugh.

by Sokojoe on Jan 22, 2009 9:58 AM EST up reply actions