How much it all costs
ByWe know the new Yankee Stadium has a gaudy price tag, but what about the new-look Yankees? The team had a total payroll of $209,081,577 in 2008 (source) and spent a lot of money to land CC Sabathia. A.J. Burnett and Mark Teixeira this winter.
Joel Sherman ran the Opening Day numbers yesterday, and they may be a bit surprising. The Yanks’ total payroll clocks in at $207,461,739, a good $1.6 million less than last year. The team still has to decide between Angel Berroa or Ramiro Peña to that list, but either one of them will get just a prorated amount for the time they spend on the big league roster.
Basically, the Yankees managed to break even on the payroll while filling holes and making the team better than it was last year. Salary cap proponents like to bemoan the Yankees’ spending ways, but they are spending wisely. They replaced players they lost dollar for dollar and did so without sacrificing the minor league depth they have. That’s moneyball for you.
After the jump, the full breakdown of salary figures. This will change before the end of the year.
Alex Rodriguez: $33,000,000
Derek Jeter: $21,600,000
Mark Teixeira: $20,600,000
A.J. Burnett: $16,500,000
CC Sabathia: $15,285,714
Mariano Rivera: $15,000,000
Jorge Posada: $13,100,000
Johnny Damon: $13,000,000
Hideki Matsui: $13,000,000
Xavier Nady: $6,550,000
Robinson Cano: $6,000,000
Andy Pettitte: $5,500,000
Nick Swisher: $5,400,000
Chien-Ming Wang: $5,000,000
Kei Igawa: $4,000,000
Damaso Marte: $3,750,000
Jose Molina: $2,125,000
Melky Cabrera: $1,400,000
Brian Bruney: $1,250,000
Andrew Brackman: $1,137,500
Angel Berroa: $800,000
Juan Miranda: $500,000
Cody Ransom: $455,100
Jose Veras: $432,975
Joba Chamberlain: $432,575
Edwar Ramirez: $422,500
Brett Gardner: $414,000
Phil Coke: $403,300
Jonathan Albaladejo: $403,075
34 Comments»
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The Mason Williams Watch
Isn’t 200 mill a high starting point to begin with?
Not if you bring in more than $200 million every year
If they didnt easily have it they wouldnt spend it.
people will still manage to complain about the money that went into the offseason signings without comparing the payrolls from the last two years.
How much of Jeter in the leadoff hole, could also signal a move to put him in LF and let Damon walk next offseason?
I don’t think him leading off as opposed to hitting 2nd makes him any better of a left fielder.
No, but it makes Damon more obsolete, gives you somewhere to put Jeter’s bat, and moves him off short. of course, breaking up the lefties, and Damon hitting more balls to RF allowing Jeter to take third are great reasons too. I’m just saying now I think I see it panning out that way.
no, but it DOES say a little something about Girardi’s willingness to move an icon out of his comfort zone…
might mean something, might mean nothing.
but Torre wouldn’t have done it.
true, but before I expected Damon to be back after this year, now I feel much less certain of that.
no, but it DOES say a little something about Girardi’s willingness to move an icon out of his comfort zone…
might mean something, might mean nothing.
but Torre wouldn’t have done it.
Except the ALDS in ’06 when he batted Rodriguez 6th and 8th…Ugh.
At least Girardi is doing it for the betterment of the team.
I seem to recall Torre being the manager when Jeter batted leadoff a few years ago for the whole season.
but Torre wouldn’t have done it
Except of course, he would have and did, in 2005 when Jeter was the leadoff hitter in 154 games. In fact, he’s batted leadoff about 450 games ( compared to 1200 games batting second, and 150 games batting third).
sure, but in 2005, Torre was only displacing Tony Womack.
you’re right, and i knew someone would bring that up, BUT, this is not just about Jeter.
Girardi also displaced “proven leadoff hitter” Johnny Damon.
Damon has hit leadoff almost his entire career.
i think it’s a significant difference.
do you honestly think Torre would have flipped Jeter and Damon?
Nope.
The Yankees have Damon, Matsui, Nady, Pettitte, and Molina coming off the books after this year, which frees up about $40 million. That’s enough to acquire a corner OFer who can SLG (or a SS if they sober up about Jeter, who is showing small but encouraging signs that he may be able to hit enough to play the OF), and reduce the payroll if they so choose.
Right now Damon is the LF and Jeter is a better hitter than Damon.
I don’t get why so many people think Jeter can’t be a LF when Damon’s been the LF for the past couple of years and it’s not like Damon has a Manny Ramirez type bat.
I just meant hit enough to play the OF. His OPS+ was 102 last season, probably because of getting HBP by Cabrera in May, but he still has to prove that he can get back to being a 120ish OPS+ hitter, which would justify putting him in the OF.
MLB draft system is retarded, how is brackman making twice as much as joba?
He wasn’t as big a prospect coming out of college. Besides, Joba already got 1.1 million as a bonus
Because Joba’s an eight inning guy.
**Eighth**
If the giants need to corner guys why not try to move matsui and Nady b4 their deals are up. Although Matsui’s running isn’t very telling of a fielder, maybe he’ll improve. But if Nady and Matsui were in Sanfran they’d actually have a good offense.
Due to Elias screwed up system there is a chance Nady with a good season could end up as a Type A, at the very least a type B, and there value in a trade (unless a fringe playoff team like SF is desperate) the compensation might be more if we let him walk.
*his value
this is cross posted from the Nady/SF thread:
i’ve noticed in the game threads that every time Nady comes up and doesn’t hit a HR, someone mentions Swisher.
look, Spring Training is now officially over.
Nady hit .311/.354/.508
which looks EXACTLY like his “fluke” 2008 line of .305/.357/.510
Swisher hit .231/.365/.371
which looks disturbingly similar to his “fluke” 2008 line of .219/.332/.410
for the 100th time, i believe Swisher will be the long term option, but MAYBE, just MAYBE we should just give Nady a month??
my point was, shouldn’t we require Swisher to ACTUALLY DO SOMETHING before we trade/bench Nady? Spring Training numbers mean nothing, but for both players they are an extension of the 2008 season. what does that mean? i don’t know. possibly nothing.
i know we all love Swisher and want him to do well, but right now, i am really glad we kept both of those guys.
Well you can now add Ramiro Pena to that as he just got put on the 40 man
Geise DFA’d. Whether or not it works out, I like the thinking behind it.
I don’t. If Ramiro is the guy they think he can be, shouldn’t he be getting regular AB’s? Also, I think Berroa has earned a spot, but that is just my thinking behind it.
I think Ramiro is being the guy they think he can be. He’s a no-hit, all-field short stop. That’s perfect for your backup backup infielder. He has never been a hitter, and no one in the Yanks organization really thinks he can.
Putting him in this role takes that development away though. Doesn’t even give him a chance, but I know that he doesn’t have a great future with the bat. Maybe his ceiling in a Bartlett type player but this just takes his way to improve away. I did think all the props he got from scouts was a little crazy, but he could have a slight chance of improvement with the bat.
Not to mention the implications it has to the 40 man.
And even in the unlikely event that his offense has begun to come around, as they, at least publicly, have stated, a month in New York won’t really halt his development.
Hey this may be a stupid question, but if Kei Igawa isn’t on the 40-man roster
http://newyork.yankees.mlb.com.....p?c_id=nyy
http://www.nj.com/yankees/inde.....man_r.html
why does his $4,000,000 count towards the opening day payroll figures?
Because he signed a Major League contract. That’s just the way baseball accounting works. Not a stupid question though.