What is left to spend?
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What is left to spend?
Matt Gelb, Inquirer Staff Writer
After a busy Saturday, the Phillies have filled two holes, a setup man (Mike Adams) and fifth starter (John Lannan). The biggest need, a corner outfielder, remains.
The top available players are Nick Swisher and Cody Ross. Both are reportedly seeking at least three-year contracts, with Swisher probably looking for four years. A part-time player like Scott Hairston is said to be demanding two guaranteed years.
There is still money for Ruben Amaro Jr. to spend on an outfield upgrade. Amaro said at the winter meetings he expects a payroll similar to that of 2012, which at opening day was near or above $178 million.
Here is a (rough) budget worksheet that accounts for 24 players, leaving one spot for a corner outfielder obtained through free agency:
| 2013 PAYROLL (IN MILLIONS) | |
| PLAYER | AAV |
| HOWARD, Ryan | $25.00 |
| LEE, Cliff | $24.00 |
| HAMELS, Cole | $24.00 |
| HALLADAY, Roy | $20.00 |
| PAPELBON, Jonathan | $12.50 |
| UTLEY, Chase | $12.14 |
| ROLLINS, Jimmy | $9.50 |
| YOUNG, Michael | $6.00 |
| ADAMS, Mike | $6.00 |
| RUIZ, Carlos | $4.50 |
| KENDRICK, Kyle | $3.75 |
| LANNAN, John | $2.50 |
| NIX, Laynce | $1.25 |
| FRANDSEN, Kevin | $0.85 |
| BASTARDO, Antonio | ARB 1 ($1.00) |
| PRE-ARB (9) | $4.50 |
| BENEFITS | $10.80 |
| 40-MAN ROSTER | $1.50 |
| BONUSES | $2.00 |
| TOTAL | $171.80 |
Remember, this does not account for possible in-season moves, like any recalls should a player go on the disabled list. Payroll, for luxury tax purposes, include average annual values of contracts for players on 40-man rosters, benefits and bonuses.
Time spent on the major-league disabled list counts toward payroll. Phillies players while on the disabled list in 2012 earned $34.96 million.
The Associated Press reported Friday the Phillies finished the season with a $174.5 million payroll, as computed for luxury tax purposes. Payroll is not computed until the end of the season, and the Phillies sneaked under the luxury tax limit by saving money through trades of Hunter Pence, Shane Victorino and Joe Blanton.
The luxury tax limit is again $178 million in 2013, and the Phillies have previously prioritized being under that. They could surpass that number in 2013 because the limit increases to $189 million in 2014, and it would be easier to stay below that figure.
If the Phillies do hold at $178 million, as Amaro said earlier this month, they could sign an outfielder with an average annual salary of approximately $7 million and be right up against the tax threshold.
Whether they view any of the available options as that valuable remains to be seen.
Have a question? Send it to Matt Gelb's Mailbag.
- very good list. Maybe Asante and Kearse can slot in at 4 and 5, or maybe Bynum if he never sees the court
— advantasux - Sounds like they're going after Cody Ross. Ross at two years wouldn't be awful. Three and over starts to be less appealing to me. Ross generally hits LH pitchers pretty well -- very well this year but he hasn't been consistent there. He had that one great post-season. That's a small sample set but it looks better than Swisher's .169 average over 11 post-season series. Swisher just disappears in October.— s
- Acquiring Ross will most likely keep Ruf off the field and maybe even down on the farm. I'd hate to see that but knowing this GM's interest in promoting and playing his own, you can book it, Ruf will not start for this team.— advantasux
- I'm starting to think that could happen. Particularly since Ruf has never played in AAA. That's one of the knocks against him: That he's been a few years older than the other players at single A and AA. But he also showed he can hit big league pitching. Small sample set but why not continue until he shows he can't do it?
If it were me, I'd find a way to move Nix before I'd send Ruf down. I think it's also fine going into spring training with too many bench players and sorting it out then. Someone gets hurt or has a horrible spring and the whole picture can change.— s - agree with all you wrote but I'm not sure there's ever open competition in the Phils' camp. I think most, if not all, decisions are made well ahead of time. — advantasux
- We need to sign a veteran corner outfielder and keep our young guys while they develop. Two unproven outfielders is too much to gamble considering the quality of the team and the money invested to win now. I prefer Swisher because he is a switch hitter but any solid bat would fill the hole. I think Ruben has done a very good job correcting the voids we had and feel we will be in the playoffs again with a good shot at winning it all.— JamesSeitz
- Just a hunch, but we'll end up with a double platoon of Hairston/Brown in right and Mayberry/Nix in left. Ruf will start at AAA -- and that's not a bad thing. He hasn't seen much LF time at the Major League level and he will be the first guy up if a RH-hitting outfielder gets hurt or Howard does. And someone will go down at some point.
Why Hairston? He's a better defensive player than Ross, he won't cost a first-round draft pick (Swisher) and he's probably gettable on a one-year deal; we'll know by then if Ruf can play LF and how well Gillies is coming along.
Signing Hairston to one year, $4 million keeps some luxury tax breathing room and maybe a little to spare if we need to make an acquisition at the trading deadline.
Final thought: With this many pieces, if Brown proves himself to be an everday guy or (outside shot) Mayberry does, it's not a problem to sit Nix or Hairston more often than planned. That'd be a bonus, actually.
— eman - I'm not a big Hairston fan but he'd keep them below the luxury tax and he is above average defensively in LF. He's also played some center field.
The years/dollars and going over the luxury tax don't seem worth it to me for Swisher or Ross (also giving up the draft pick for Swisher).— s - i would like to see the Phils trade for Vernon Wells, because if the Angels eat 24 of the 42 million owed to wells over 2 years the phils would roughly pay 9 mil a year for a decent righthanded bat and above average fielder,.....offer Cloyd and Valle and stick wells in right and bat him 5th behind the big guy— SyddBarrett
- To all you guys who want Swisher, he will cost big bucks for too long, and the first round pick, that makes it a very dumb move. I think if they sign anyone it should be Hairston, as a platoon option. He can also play 2B if Utley's knees get balky again. They can get him for what they have left to spend and have a few extra mil just in case they need it at the deadline.— Paul SoTX
- If the Phillies have $7 million left, they should spend $4 million of that on another veteran reliever, because Mike Adams can't pitch every night, and the Phillies lost an incredible 16 games last season that they led in the 7th inning or later.— Freedom Fries
- In an ideal world I'd like another reliever and another starter. If they're going over the luxury tax for Ross, might as well go over in a big way, right? — s
- NBC's John Clark reported the phils are interested in acquiring Cody Ross.
- Several reports say the Phillies are "aggressively" pursuing Ross. If so, I think they end up over the luxury tax, which may not be a big deal for one year. I also think Ross isn't signing for anything less than three years. Too many years in my opinion but that's the way it goes with free agents. He has some right handed power against left handed pitchers, which is something we need. He's played all outfield positions which is a plus. Someone eventually loses out here. Unless they trade Nix (or even more unlikely, Brown) Ruf is probably going to start in AAA. Way to early to tell so it may sort itself out by April. — s
- Heading into this off-season, the number one sign that your GM doesn't know what he's doing was if he signed Cody Ross to a long-term deal. Cody Ross was a waiver wire pickup in 2010. Cody Ross flopped in 2011 and couldn't find anyone to give him more than a one year/$3 M deal heading into 2012. Do you know who has a higher career BA, OBA, and SLG vs. righties than Cody Ross? Domonic Brown. And he hasn't been any good against them. Ross is a nice guy to use on the short-end of a platoon if you get him for a cheap price - he should be nobody's idea of a long-term signing or an everyday player. For all the talk of the Phillies needing a right-handed bat, how about getting somebody who can hit right-handed pitchers? Because right now all they have are Utley and Howard. If they add Ross, they'd be adding three hitters who swing at almost every pitch they see, making an already impatient lineup comically impatient. If they can't afford Swisher, fine. Cody Ross is simply a more expensive, older, slower version of John Mayberry Jr. And any GM who thinks otherwise doesn't have a clue.— doubleoschu
