2015 National League Payroll Breakdown
Yesterday, we broke down the payrolls in the American League. This post repeats that exercise for the National League. The average Major League Baseball payroll in 2015 is roughly $122 million. With top-heavy payrolls, the median comes in lower at around $112 million. In 2014, the average payroll in the AL East on Opening Day was $135.1 million, narrowly edging the NL West’s $135 million. With sizable increases for both the Los Angeles Dodgers and the San Francisco Giants, the NL West is now the highest-salaried division in the majors.
Figures from Cots with minimum salaries added to create a 25-man roster.
The NL West has a healthy monetary advantage over the NL East and the NL Central due principally to the Dodgers and Giants. Eleven of 15 NL teams have payrolls below the MLB average. Only the Dodgers, Giants, Washington Nationals, and Philadelphia Phillies have payrolls above $120 million.
National League West
In addition to having the highest average payroll, the NL West is also the least competitive financially. The Los Angeles Dodgers Opening Day payroll triples that of NL West foe Arizona Diamondbacks.
The Dodgers and San Francisco Giants tower over the rest of the division as none of the three remaining teams have payrolls above $100 million. The Giants have the fourth highest payroll in all of baseball and they have to look way up to see the Dodgers. The San Diego Padres made major moves this offseason, but with the Dodgers paying $18 million of Matt Kemp’s salary this year, they kept the payroll well below average.
| Team | Most Expensive Player (Amount) | 2015 Payroll ($M) | Money Committed to 2016 ($M) | Money Committed to 2017 ($M) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Los Angeles Dodgers | Clayton Kershaw | 268.8 | 166.3 | 166.3 |
| San Francisco Giants | Matt Cain | 171.0 | 116.3 | 73.6 |
| San Diego Padres | Justin Upton | 96.7 | 56.2 | 46.3 |
| Colorado Rockies | Troy Tulowitzki | 94.0 | 63.2 | 40.4 |
| Arizona Diamondbacks | Trevor Cahill | 88.0 | 32.2 | 18.4 |
Future payroll numbers do not include arbitration estimates or minimum salaries necessary to reach a 25-man roster. Only guaranteed future salaries are included.
The Dodgers guaranteed money for 2017 would rank sixth in Opening Day payroll for this season. The Giants have a lot of money coming off the books in the next few years leaving Matt Cain, Madison Bumgarner, Buster Posey, and Hunter Pence. Outside of those four, it is not clear where the Giants future production will come from. The highest salaried player on the Padres is technically Matt Kemp, but the Padres are paying the most money to Justin Upton as a result of the Dodgers paying most of Kemp’s salary in 2015. Colorado remains tied to Troy Tulowitzki and Carlos Gonzalez. The team is rebuilding regardless of whether they hold on to those two, but the process could be hastened by trading away its two cornerstones.
National League East
The NL East has one major power, one team that will not be able to compete with a bloated payroll and three teams spending well below their means.
The Mets averaged over $125 million annually in payroll from 2002-11, but have not topped $100 million since. The Washington Nationals flexed their financial muscle and are big favorites heading into 2015. Miami could compete with greater resources, but this could be Washington’s division to lose for the next few years.
| Team | Most Expensive Player (Amount) | 2015 Payroll ($M) | Money Committed to 2016 ($M) | Money Committed to 2017 ($M) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Washington Nationals | Jayson Werth | 158.5 | 84.1 | 59.2 |
| Philadelphia Phillies | Ryan Howard/Cliff Lee | 137.5 | 76.2 | 34.0 |
| New York Mets | David Wright | 96.3 | 57.6 | 35.5 |
| Atlanta Braves | Melvin Upton, Jr. | 97.1 | 72.6 | 87.6 |
| Miami Marlins | Mat Latos | 65.5 | 37.0 | 14.5 |
The Nationals could lose Jordan Zimmerman, Doug Fister, and Ian Desmond at the end of the year and still be favored to win the NL East in 2016. They will also have to deal with another raise for Stephen Strasburg, but they appear to have the money to take advantage of the frugality shown by the rest of the division. Martin Prado and Dan Haren will actually make more money than Mat Latos, but the Marlins are not paying full freight for Prado and Haren, making Latos’ $9.4 million the Marlins highest outlay this season. The Mets have very little money guaranteed in future years so if ownership wanted to shift its spending philosophy, they could move up the pecking order quickly. The Braves are in the rare position of having guaranteed money go up in future years as Freddie Freeman earns a hefty raise in 2016. The Phillies should have the opportunity to start over quickly with more money coming off the books after this season and half of the remaining guarantees owed to sought-after pitchers Cliff Lee and Cole Hamels.
National League Central
The NL Central has the biggest cluster of similar payrolls with every team under the MLB average. The Cubs loom as a potential big spender, but they have not reached those heights yet, despite the signing of Jon Lester.
The Pittsburgh Pirates pose the biggest threat to the St. Louis Cardinals’ defense of the division, but they lag behind their rivals monetarily. The resumption of spending by the Chicago Cubs along with fairly static payrolls from the Cardinals, Milwaukee Brewers, and Cincinnati Reds has pushed the division together.
| Team | Most Expensive Player (Amount) | 2015 Payroll ($M) | Money Committed to 2016 ($M) | Money Committed to 2017 ($M) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| St. Louis Cardinals | Adam Wainwright | 119.4 | 90.7 | 65.0 |
| Chicago Cubs | Jon Lester | 116.5 | 82.0 | 61.8 |
| Cincinnati Reds | Joey Votto | 111.0 | 82.0 | 66.5 |
| Milwaukee Brewers | Aramis Ramirez | 103.1 | 49.5 | 32.8 |
| Pittsburgh Pirates | Francisco Liriano | 87.4 | 45.4 | 37.2 |
The Cardinals still have quite a bit of money guaranteed to players in 2016 as they hold on to the core players that have made them so successful. Keeping Jason Heyward and the development of young pitchers could be the keys to keeping their run alive. The Cubs are in a similar position to the Cardinals monetarily in terms of guarantees, but with a ton of young, cost-controlled hitters and the ability to outspend the division, their rivals should be concerned. The Reds owe Joey Votto $203 million before his contract runs in 2023. They also have Homer Bailey and Devin Mesoraco for multiple years, but without a significant youth infusion the Reds will need a lot of things to go right for them to keep in contention the next few years, especially as Johnny Cueto departs after the season. The Brewers are in excellent shape financially as Aramis Ramirez, Kyle Lohse, and Jonathan Broxton become free agents. Unfortunately, they also need to replace the production of the former two and hope that Ryan Braun can continue to hit like he has in the past. The Pirates are in a great position financially and have a lot of young talent on the roster. They should be able to compete for the division despite a lower payroll behind Andrew McCutchen and company.
The projected standings in the National League are not as tight as in the AL. The team with the highest payroll in each division is projected to win the division with the Nationals and Dodgers with a nine and eight game advantage over second place, respectively. The NL Central is very bunched up with the Cardinals, Pirates, and Cubs all within two games of each other. The National League appears to be a very top-heavy league with the contenders known before the season even begins.
Craig Edwards can be found on twitter @craigjedwards.
The Braves have more money committed to 2017 than any NL team than the Dodgers?! That new stadium better bring in a lot of revenue.
Credit Frank Wren.
Well, only half of it is bad money, and part of that was Hart’s ridiculous Markakis signing. Unless things change, the Braves will be happy paying Freeman, Simmons, Teheren and Kimbrel in 2017.
It’s too early to say definitively what is and isn’t “bad money,” yet I would argue that significantly more than half of it looks bad right now. The Wren deals were so far above other recent extensions for players of comparable production and service time that Dave used them as a basis for articles suggesting that a new market had been established. Simmons took a large step backwards instead of the breakout some projected for him, while Freeman declined very slightly instead of continuing to improve as those who favored the extension argued that he would. Teheran and Kimbrel are the two that look good, yet Julio’s 2014 is perceived to be “lucky” with regression on the horizon (Steamer projects a 1.4 WAR) while a dominant closer is largely wasted on a team that won’t compete in the immediate future. Granted, all of those look better than the Chris Johnson or Dan Uggla extensions along with the B.J. Upton signing, but the point of locking up young players with years left of team control is to secure them at lower costs.
Every team in baseball would take any of those four contracts and give the Braves something for it.
Also, honestly the B.J. Upton signing wasn’t that bad if you look at the years it covered and the player he was at the time. A lot of people thought it was an overpay, but people think almost every free agent is an overpay. Nobody thought he’d immediately become perhaps the worst player in baseball. The Johnson deal was awful at the time and worse now. The Uggla deal was pretty bad, but at least it was made when the Braves were competing.
But my main point is whether or not the Braves paid more than other teams for extensions has nothing to do with a binary look at the money owed. Kimbrel’s 2017 salary is a bit dicey, but barring injury I can’t imagine any of the other three won’t be a positive trade asset in 2017. And those 4 are more than half. Melvin is 17 million, Johnson is 9 million, and Markakis is 11 million. That is 37 million that’s bad. The other 50 million is either good (those 4) or neutral (the 2 million owed the Cuban import)
Also, Zips has Teheren at 4.3 WAR. There was a good article written I forgot by whom that said the middle was the best bet (2.5-3.0 WAR)
That’s certainly not true, but beside the point even if it was. If I have a baseball autographed by Babe Ruth, then draw a smiley face on the other side, many people being willing to offer something for it doesn’t change the fact that I diminished its value from what I previously had.
I’d argue that a good closer is one thing that a rebuilding team does want to keep, as it helps to keep up the team and fan morale to close out and win the games where they do have a late lead. Besides, they’ll probably still have him as their lockdown closer in 2017 when they do plan to contend.
Dude, three of the four were in the fangraphs top 50 trade assets. Then you have Kimbrel. Really? Are you stupid?
Maybe they overpaid on the extensions. Maybe they didn’t. Your point does not contradict mine. You’re talking in circles.
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What surprised me the most is that Liriano is the highest paid Pirate. Sad way to spend some money.
Brings me back to the days as a Cub fan (1-2 years ago) when we still owed money to Zambrano and Soriano
You apparently haven’t watched him pitch in the last two years then. He got cy young votes in 2013 and led the league in swinging strike percentage last year. He is a bargain at the price the pirates are paying him…
Yeah, it’s pretty much all the result of the Pirates’ payroll being screwed by going strongly with players who’ve not yet reached free agency. There’ll be a reckoning, especially if Pittsburgh were to win the WS.
And that’s far from fanciful, given not only the fact that a WC team won it last season, but that, in the context of the current MLB playoffs scheme, where a third of all MLB teams makes the playoffs, FORTY PERCENT start in the WC games.
Yeah, it’s pretty much all the result of the Pirates’ payroll being skewed by going strongly with players who’ve not yet reached free agency. There’ll be a reckoning, especially if Pittsburgh were to win the WS.
And that’s far from fanciful, given not only the fact that a WC team won it last season, but that, in the context of the current MLB playoffs scheme, where a third of all MLB teams makes the playoffs, FORTY PERCENT start in the WC games.
Can you elaborate on what you mean by “there will be a reckoning”?
That Dodger spending is going to look sick if they don’t win it all. As a Dodger hater, I hope that happens. (again)
Not really. They can easily afford it with their TV deal and overall revenue, so it’s not like they’re spending above their means and thinking short term in a way that could actually hurt them. They can spend lots of money and have it not be that big of a deal, and they are.
Is that the deal where no one in LA or surroundings actually gets to watch their home games on TV?
Over $100 million coming off the books for Philly in 2 years? I’m very ok with this.
“The Phillies should have the opportunity to start over quickly”
However, every professional baseball writer knows this to be FALSE.
We have just lived through the core beliefs of the Phillies owners in the past
year.
RUSNEY CASTILLO
YASMANY TOMAS
YOAN MONCADA
Before them there was Jose Abreu, Yoneis Cespedes, Jorge Soler, and
Yasiel Puig.
The Phillies never made an offer to any of them. This has been confirmed by
the Philly dot com writers.
The Red Sox have all this much discussed young position talent yet they
signed Hanley Ramirez and Pablo Sandoval both of whom the
Phillies with their new $6 Billion TV deal desperately needed.
Oh! But the Phillies have announced that they are rebuilding!!!!!
That’s what all MLB teams do after signing one of the biggest TV deals in
professional sports history.
Right?
Do you still think the Phillies are going to sign Matt Wieters and
Jason Heyward next winter? They’re going to need them, but
hey we just watched the Phillies passed on five hitting talents in the past
year that they desperately needed.
The Phillies BOYCOTT the open markets.
It doesn’t matter how much money the Phillies have to spend. If their TV deal
were $6 TRILLION they would have passed on all of the above and would not
sign Wieters and Heyward next winter.
The Phillies slashed over $43 million from their payroll this winter, more than
any other MLB team and their just getting started. The John Middleton
Phillies are going to sit in last place year after year, after year, after year, after year,
after year,after year
after year
after year
after year
until they can produce a new core The Phillies Way”
For FREE
FREE PLAYERS through the MLB Plantation Slave Auction held every June
on live television and simulcast over the Internet.
Slavery in the cyber age.
I can guarantee you the Phillies will make ZERO playoff appearancesin the next ten years.
After the Phillies raise this core – if they succeed – they will exploit them under
the system that Bill Giles continues to live to defend.
Bill Giles failed to achieve his dream of becoming the Commissioner of MLB, but this son of the once President of the National League has fought like no other the battle for monopoly control of MLB players for the length of their baseball careers,
just like dad would have wanted him to.
The Phillies have never signed a Scott Boras client and as long as Bill Giles
lives they never will.
Bill Giles has a clause in his will that he is to be kept alive via artificial
means until Scott Boras kicks off. Bill Giles is to be brought by
ambulance to the funeral of Scott Boras and following the funeral Giles is
to be returned to the hospital and unplugged and his funeral announced.
THIS is “The Phillies Way”
Do you really think anyone, I mean anyone, is going to read this?
I did, if for nothing else then for the authenticity of the primal screaming.
Go away.
“FREE PLAYERS through the MLB Plantation Slave Auction”
“Slavery in the cyber age.”
“Bill Giles has a clause in his will that he is to be kept alive via artificial means until Scott Boras kicks off. Bill Giles is to be brought by ambulance to the funeral of Scott Boras”
While many of your statements on this website over the course of the past year are undoubtedly defensible as jokes and “parody” statements, you should be aware that you may be violating the FanGraphs Terms of Service. The following is a quotation, with emphasis added by myself
6a:
You agree to not use the Service to:
upload, post, email, transmit or otherwise make available any Content that is unlawful, harmful, threatening, abusive, harassing, tortious, defamatory, vulgar, obscene, libelous, invasive of another’s privacy, hateful, or racially, ethnically or otherwise objectionable
Everything I wrote is true.
Published here using my ISP which leads right to my house.
It is not a joke. This is who owns the Phillies and there is nothing
whatsoever that is funny about it.
Man, c’mon, don’t make me defend this guy…
But seriously, he certainly seems to know where the lines are, and is in my opinion avoiding stepping over them. I assume the bolded ‘vulgar’ is in reference to the slavery comments, and while it is a bit over the top there’s a very strong case to be made for comparing the ammy draft to indentured servitude, which was/is just slavery-light (slavery would be the pre-free agency reserve clause days). As far as libelous, the Giles/Boras comments are so outrageously over the top that no one could ever take them seriously, which pushes them into the realm of parody (intended or not).
He’s dancing in the direction of the lines, but I just don’t think he’s crossing them.
you do realize that the phillies committing tons of money to oldish players is how they got into this mess in the first place?
NO
You are wrong.
Cliff Lee was excellent in 2012 and 2013.
Jonathan Papelbon has been excellent for the Phillies, one of the
best closers in MLB, and Kenny Giles looks up to him as a big
brother and mentor.
What you should have wrote is:
“You realize that the Phillies exploitation of the players they selected
in the MLB Plantation Slave auction every June and their boycott of
the open markets and pathological war against Scott Boras is what
destroyed the Phillies”
Look at the Red Sox closely.
Compartmentalize the Red Sox. Big league roster, farm system,
agents who they work with on friendly terms, international market.
exploiting loopholes or honoring Commissioners Office intentions.
The Phillies and Red Sox are at 180 degree opposition to one another.
Phillies: Two World series titles in 126 years
Red Sox: Three World Series titles in eleven years.
Is it just my browser cutting them off, or do the Most Expensive Player (Amount) entries not actually list the amount, in this article or the AL one?
My mistake. Left those off.