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Friday, January 28, 2005

Diamondbacks 2005 Payroll, Take 2 

With news that pitcher and major Eagles fan Mike Koplove signed a 2-year deal with the Diamonbacks, $825,000 in 2005 and $1.75 million in 2006 (which seems a bit high, perhaps, for that second year, but I don't know how a sixth-year player like Koplove will be in 2006 would fare in arbitration next February), I think it's time to bring back the D-Backs payroll discussion. Originally discussed a few weeks back, there are some, well, additions and subtractions, no?
The grand total? $61,470,000. (And that's not counting the $19 million in cash the team received from the Dodgers and Yankees.)

Again, consider this "open-source" -- please let me know if I've made any errors. Possible errors include: 1) there are 41 names on that list, 2) that list doesn't include Halsey, Jimenez, Peterson, or Stinnett (how should players with minor league contracts and spring training invites be counted, anyway?), 3) the $350,000 numbers are just averages.

(Pulled directly off the website; the first number is their jersey number.)

Pitchers (Total = $26,020,000)
41 Greg Aquino R/R 6-1 190 01/11/78 -- 350,000
30 Brian Bruney R/R 6-3 225 02/17/82 -- 350,000
-- Jason Bulger R/R 6-4 215 12/06/78 -- 50,000
33 Randy Choate L/L 6-2 195 09/05/75 -- 650,000
32 Lance Cormier R/R 6-1 190 08/19/80 -- 350,000
16 Casey Fossum L/L 6-1 160 01/06/78 -- 800,000 (The thought that he might make $1.35 M is too terrible to contemplate, so I'm going with the D-Backs' offer)
49 Edgar Gonzalez R/R 6-0 215 02/23/83 -- 350,000
-- Enrique Gonzalez R/R 5-10 195 08/06/82 -- 50,000
44 Mike Gosling L/L 6-2 210 09/23/80 -- 350,000
-- Shawn Estes -- $2,500,000
22 Mike Koplove R/R 5-10 180 08/30/76 -- 825,000
38 Brandon Lyon R/R 6-1 180 08/10/79 -- 330,000
57 Brandon Medders R/R 6-2 195 01/24/80 -- 50,000
-- Bill Murphy L/L 6-0 190 05/09/81 -- 50,000
-- Dustin Nippert R/R 6-7 200 05/06/81 -- 50,000
48 Russ Ortiz R/R 6-1 210 06/05/74 -- 6,500,000
-- Ramon Pena R/R 6-2 190 01/09/82 -- 50,000
34 Stephen Randolph L/L 6-3 200 05/01/74 -- 350,000
58 Phil Stockman R/R 6-6 200 01/25/80 -- 50,000
47 Jose Valverde R/R 6-4 255 07/24/79 -- 350,000
56 Oscar Villarreal L/R 6-0 205 11/22/81 -- 350,000
55 Brandon Webb R/R 6-2 230 05/09/79 -- 715,000
-- Justin Wechsler R/R 6-2 240 04/06/80 -- 50,000
-- Javier Vazquez -- 10,500,000

Catchers (Total = $700,000)
15 Koyie Hill S/R 6-0 190 03/09/79 -- 350,000
19 Chris Snyder R/R 6-3 220 02/12/81 -- 350,000

Infielders (Total = $13,450,000)
10 Alex Cintron S/R 6-2 200 12/17/78 -- 350,000
-- Royce Clayton R/R 6-0 185 01/02/70 -- 1,350,000
-- Craig Counsell L/R 6-0 185 08/21/70 -- 1,350,000
2 Jerry Gil R/R 6-3 185 10/14/82 -- 350,000
25 Troy Glaus R/R 6-5 240 08/03/76 -- 8,250,000
5 Scott Hairston R/R 6-0 190 05/25/80 -- 350,000
-- Tony Clark -- 750,000
8 Matt Kata S/R 6-1 185 03/14/78 -- 350,000
18 Chad Tracy L/R 6-2 200 05/22/80 -- 350,000

Outfielders (Total = $21,300,000)
-- Reggie Abercrombie R/R 6-3 210 07/15/80 -- 50,000
-- Shawn Green -- 10,500,000
20 Luis Gonzalez L/R 6-2 200 09/03/67 -- 10,000,000
43 Josh Kroeger L/L 6-2 200 08/31/82 -- 350,000
27 Luis Terrero R/R 6-2 205 05/18/80 -- 350,000
-- Marland Williams R/R 5-9 175 06/22/81 -- 50,000

Comments:
Hi! Stefan,

I'm still struggling to keep up with how they are counting their 40. By my count, there are still 41 guys on the ML roster. . . and I can't remember what happened to Brandon Meddars. But he ain't there.

Anyway, your data is pretty close to mine. I am using the new $316,000 ML minimum for many of these guys. But we are in agreement w/r/t the ludicrosity of Fossum's asking price. On what planet does he deserve more than Brandon Webb?

Also, I include bonuses in my numbers (which will differ from your numbers), either in the first year or spread over the life of the contract, depending on the arrangement.

My total is $62.672mm, so we're close.

Meaningful differences:
Choate - you have him down for $650,000. I believe his deal is two years at $550,000 and $750,000, respectively.

Halsey - I don't see him on your list.

Meddars - as I noted above, he is no longer on the roster.

Peterson - I don't see him on your list.

Randolph - he's a Cub.

best regards,
spb
 
First of all - I forgot about your second paragraph re: Halsey, et al. Apologies. My understanding is that Halsey is on the 40-man roster. So is Peterson. Jiminez and Stinnett were signed to minor league deals, so they only make the 40 man roster if the team decides to do so and someone else drops off. Most likely drops would be DL stints.

Also, I just looked at Rotoworld and see a list of NRIs for ST (it wasn't there earlier today when I started my reply to you). Included in the list was Phil Stockman, so apparently he is NOT on the 40-man, even though the Dback "official" website lists him on the 40-man.

How does THAT work?

Anyway, list of invitees:
Pitchers
Jon Cannon, Casey Daigle, Brandon Medders, Shane Nance and Phil Stockman
Catchers
Craig Ansman, Juan Brito, Corey Myers and Alan Zinter
(Zinter can also handle 1B and Myers can 'play' either corner)
Infielders
Andy Green and Sergio Santos
Outfielders
Carlos Quentin, Conor Jackson and Doug DeVore

Also invited is Kevin Tolar, a LHP the team signed today to a minor league deal. The guy's 34, but has pitched a grand total of only 17 MLB innings. But hey, he's a LHP!

And if a deal isn't made for Hammock. . . and if he clears waivers (admittedly two fairly big "if"s), he'll almost certainly be in camp along with Jiminez and Stinnett.

However, barring a complete explosion from one of these invitees, they'll all start the season in Tucson unless and until the injury bug bites.

Additional thought I forgot to include above. . . I think the second year of Koplove's deal is too generous. I'd rather see one year at even a smidge more than 825 and then pay him what he DESERVES after '05. Also, I am fearful of his dropoff in effectiveness last year, and I am not talking about ERA. His K rate and his K/BB both went WAY the wrong direction. I hope my fears prove unfounded because I really like the guy.

best regards,
stephen
 
Stephen -- thanks for the comments. When I get a chance I will:
a) remove Randolph (missed editing -- that's why this is open source)
b) change the Choate contract (I couldn't find anything that split it out)
c) change the 2nd year of the Koplove contract (which I know Levski was suspicious of from day 1, and he was right).

I don't know how to handle the rest of the 40-day stuff (thanks for your clarification -- was never clear on if "minor league contract" guaranteed a 40-man spot) so I'm think I'll just peg the number at 40 and leave it at that.

On bonuses, I suppose I could go back and add the pro-rated stuff, but it seems weird, especially with this team, this year, given the large amounts of prior-year salaries left to be paid, $19 M in cash, and several bonuses. As an indicator of a team's financial standing, the D-Backs' payroll may be the least useful of any of the 30 teams' payroll.
 
hey! man,

You are welcome. . . thanks for putting your thoughts out there first. I don't particularly like the way my two comments sounded when I re-read them - sorry if it came across blunt, abrupt, or arrogant. Gosh, I could probably pass for a Yankee fan!

As for the bonuses, I don't see that it matters much which way one records them - I believe you are fine handling them the way you do. Just offering up how I record them.

And with regard to the usefulness (or lack thereof) of the Dbacks' salaries - I don't believe they are any worse than any other MLB team. . . least of all the Yankees. They've got so much money going so many different directions that I can't possibly keep up.

Sadly - it is now the nature of the beast.

Back to a topic of more interest. . . what the hell are we going to do in CF?

Oh, and sorry. . . I gotta bitch once more: How come Player B's 285/343/407 earned him the 1b job but Player A's 276/365/402 earned HIM a one-way ticket out of town? Of course, you know that I refer to Tracy (B) and Overbay (A). Wouldn't you LOVE to have those two manning the corners at MLB-minimum level salaries this season and spend the Glaus money elsewhere?

Oh, I don't know, maybe CF and/or SS?

I am so close to walking away from my season tickets (nine rows behind the plate) I want to cry.

best regards,
stephen

PS - How do you see the pitching staff filling out by Opening Day?
 
BTW - one more question, since we're talking 40-man roster. Hammock's gotta be dealt soon - any thoughts on where he goes and who AZ might get in return? I figure his trade value is fairly low and I doubt Joe Jr. is looking for someone already on an MLB roster, since the whole point of DFAing Hammock was because there is no available roster spot. Sadly, that means we'll be lucky to get a decent prospect in return. I was scouting the Rockies' (since rumors are circulating that they covet Robbie) and don't see much there. You?
 
Stephen,

I didn't sense any harshness in your initial comments. (And, yes, eventually I will update as promised. Maybe it's just a subliminal "wait until the CF shoe drops" thing on my part.)

As for CF, who knows? As with all trading questions, it's not so much, would you trade for "X" (say, Preston Wilson) as it is what would you trade for "X". We all know that Wilson and no cash for Carlos Quentin would be stupid, stupid, stupid and Wilson and all but $500K of his salary for Hammock would be pretty smart. Any actual trade, of course, would be somewhere in the middle. I'm not averse to a trade as I agree Terrero is a bit shaky as a starting CF right now, but if the alternative is losing Quentin, I'll take my chances with Luis.

I'm not good at scouting our farm system, let alone other teams', so you're better positioned to give me an answer on Colorado.

And as for Overbay, ya got me. I still think they could've gone after Beltran; Glaus' salary might've made the difference there.
 
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