What is left to spend?
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What is left to spend?
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.
Either make a trade for Stanton, Upton or Trumbo or stick with what you have. Phils need to put one of those three in their outfield in the upcoming years.- Trumbo and Ruf in the same outfield, that is cringe worthy. They don't have the pieces to get Stanton or Upton, the Phillies system has a bunch of guys that would be nice extra pieces to add to a trade but no centerpieces. Our best offer would be Brown,Quinn, Biddles, and Joseph. If Texas decides they want one of those guys they could offer Porfar, Olt, and Perez which blows our ofer out of the water. — Ed Gein
- You have to have something to trade! Why would the Marlins trade Stanton for anything less than the BEST prospect in all of baseball? The guy is only what, 21 years old? He still makes no money, and the Phils do not have anything to trade for him or Upton for that matter. Trumbo? In my opinion Darrin Ruf could be our very own Trumbo....so why not let him have LF and prove it? I think we should go with Ruf and Dom Brown in LF and RF. — cdedrick05
- @cdedrick05 - because Stanton is an atrocious outfielder. He makes Dom Brown look like a gold glover but I sure love that bat. — mannoman
- How about signing Marcum, then trading Kendrick, Galvis & Valle to the Twins for Willingham & Jamey Carroll?— The Pack Leader
- Because the Twins dont want those guys. The problem with all these stupid trade proposals is that the other GM's are not idiots. They do not want our fringe prospects for quality MLB players. These tools crying for RAJ to trade for Stanton or Upton are ignorant to the way MLB works. — cdedrick05
- Thanks for clearing things up for me, because Willingham is obviously on the same level as Stanton and Upton. Also, you shouldn't assume that young, controllable fringe prospects, especially at SS, C & SP, wouldn't be attractive to a team in total rebuild mode, like the Twins. — The Pack Leader
- I'll clear some of this up... The Phillies did try to trade for Willingham, they wanted to do a deal for both him and Revere, but couldn't make it work. They also tried separate deals to acquire both, still couldn't get the Twins to bite. So they eventually settled on just Revere. So the answer is they did try, and the Twins didn't want our crappy fringe prospects. I still think Ruben will bring in an everyday right fielder, then platoon Ruff/Brown in left. I would like Swisher if it didn't mean losing the best draft pick we've had in literally a decade. For that reason alone Ross would be a better option imo, especially if we can get him to accept a shorter deal with a higher aav. So far Ruben has to smart not to hand out long term deals to over the hill 30 yr olds. — Stephen45
- Put 8 baseballs in a bag, some rosin, $50 and Kyle Kenrick and trade for Albert Pujols, Mike Trout or Ryan Braun.— UncleStosh
- If you ask me it would appear as though Ruf may hit just as well as Swisher or Ross and probably better. Sign Hairston for two years while you farm out Ruf...?...nah. In right you go with Brown and hope for the best. Give the young home grown guys a real shot. If it works out what an economical outfield!— CallisonTaylorRojas
- I think we need two of Ruff, Brown and Mayberry to have good years for us to compete for division title. Maybe sign a veteran corner OF for insurance. I enjoyed watching Ruff last year here in Reading and I wish him the best. We all need to remember he was a little old for AA ball and until the end of the season he only played IB. We need to be patient with him, but the guy has serious power.— gtnestro
- I like both signings of Lannan and Adams. The phillies will sign an outfielder. There is no question they will....First of all even if you did hold hope for brown, how about depth and injuries? The phillies will sign a quality outfielder...maybe not a star but an outfielder that is an every day player...they must...— feudal_nobility09
- You got LAA putting Trumbo(who is making $.5 this year) on the table you have to do everything you can to get that, including sending Lee and a boatload of his salary.— JoeinSouthPhilly
- First of all, Anaheim is NOT moving Trumbo. He is under team control for another 4 seasons very reasonably. Second, as Albert ages (which he is or has), Trumbo is a natural 1B. He is a RH power bat with 30 HR potential. Be real already, and stop with the pie in the sky trades that won't happen. Unless Miami receives the King's ransom, Stanton isn't going anywhere either. If a team has tons of young, sure-thing players (like Texas), Miami has no reason to move him either. If the Phillies were smart, they would treat Darin Ruf with the same mindset. They guy has 25-35 HR potential and bats right handed. He should be in LF next season. He is more affordable and will hit better than either Ross/Swisher. Keep the payroll a bit lower in case of a trade deadline move for the stretch run. Think with your heads, not your hearts.— drhoffman
- I like drhoffman's thinking....unless Stanton becomes available.— lgeagles
