We have 16 players getting about $30 mm in raises this year

[Frobby]

You want to know where we're spending our money? A lot of it's going to our own players. By my count, excluding the small raises that the pre-arb players get, we've already paid 14 players about $25.14 mm more than last year, with big raises to Gonzalez and Britton yet to come that will push the number to about $30 mm for 16 players. (I'm not counting De Aza since he wasn't with us all last year).

So far:

Hardy +$4.5 mm

Tillman +$3.77 mm

Norris +$3.5 mm

Pearce + $3 mm

Davis + $1.65 mm

Hunter +1.65 mm

O'Day +$1.05 mm

Jimenez +$1 mm

Webb +$1 mm

Matusz +$800 k

Chen +$680 k

Flaherty +$640 k

Wieters +$600 k

Jones +$300 k

Britton will get $1.68-3.68 mm more than last year, while Gonzalez will get $1.97-3.42 mm more than last year.

I think when folks question why the O's didn't pursue top end free agents, or why they didn't retain Cruz, Markakis or Miller, these raises have to be kept in mind.

[Can_of_corn]

Of course it is fair game to question whether retaining the players at that cost was a good use of resources.

[Elbren]

Of course it is fair game to question whether retaining the players at that cost was a good use of resources.

This, also:

- every team has to deal w/ this

- $30 Mil. sounds like a lot, but it's not factoring in the losses of Cruz, Markakis or Miller. Just for Cruz and Markakis, that's $23 Mil. off of our payroll, so that $30 Mil. is really around $7 Mil.

The only guy on that list that I would seriously question retaining would be Matusz. The guy gets nuked by RHer's and can't consistently get out LHer's. While I'm not expecting some huge upgrade here, could we seriously not find someone to do the same exact thing for less than $3 Mil.?

[weams]

This, also:

- every team has to deal w/ this

- $30 Mil. sounds like a lot, but it's not factoring in the losses of Cruz, Markakis or Miller. Just for Cruz and Markakis, that's $23 Mil. off of our payroll, so that $30 Mil. is really around $7 Mil.

The only guy on that list that I would seriously question retaining would be Matusz. The guy gets nuked by RHer's and can't consistently get out LHer's. While I'm not expecting some huge upgrade here, could we seriously not find someone to do the same exact thing for less than $3 Mil.?

Did the average payroll increase this year? I assume not.

[Can_of_corn]

This, also:

- every team has to deal w/ this

- $30 Mil. sounds like a lot, but it's not factoring in the losses of Cruz, Markakis or Miller. Just for Cruz and Markakis, that's $23 Mil. off of our payroll, so that $30 Mil. is really around $7 Mil.

The only guy on that list that I would seriously question retaining would be Matusz. The guy gets nuked by RHer's and can't consistently get out LHer's. While I'm not expecting some huge upgrade here, could we seriously not find someone to do the same exact thing for less than $3 Mil.?

Not to this extent. The O's have a lot of guys entering their final year of arbitration. That was a choice the FO made.

I question Matusz, Hunter and picking up De Aza last season.

[weams]

Did the average payroll increase this year? I assume not.

I mean, in MLB. Not counting that AROD needs to be paid for again.

[TonySoprano]

I've maintained for a while that the perceived inactivity this offseason is financially driven.

[weams]

I've maintained for a while that the perceived inactivity this offseason is financially driven.

I agree. I believe that the Orioles never intended to spend more than 125 million. Dan indicated that one of his motives going forward is to attempt to spend money mid season. Yesterday.

[Enjoy Terror]

Matusz might follow the same timeline as Troy Patton for us. Since Matusz is a lefty and former first round pick, his value is still pretty high. I'd imagine he'd net us a right handed reliever or bench infielder at some point during the season if we needed one.

[Frobby]

Did the average payroll increase this year? I assume not.

I assume yes. But you have to wait for the last few weeks of signings to have a usable number. Shields by himself will raise the average by more than 500k per team.

[weams]

I assume yes. But you have to wait for the last few weeks of signings to have a usable number. Shields by himself will raise the average by more than 500k per team.

Even if you remove AROD? Hmm, I guessed wrong.

[AlbionHero]

I agree. I believe that the Orioles never intended to spend more than 125 million. Dan indicated that one of his motives going forward is to attempt to spend money mid season. Yesterday.

Even if we were to resign Markakis or Cruz, we likely would have had to let go one of our high priced arbitration guys like Davis or Norris, so people wouldn't have been happy either way. Arbitration raises just isn't a sexy way to spend your money.

[atomic]

The good new is we will have a lot of money next season when Wieters, Davis, Norris, and Chen etc. etc. leave.

[Frobby]

Did the average payroll increase this year? I assume not.

I checked into this a bit this morning. In 2014, payroll was about $1.710 bb in the AL and $1.686 bb in the NL. Currently, BB-ref estimates 2015 payrolls at $1.876 bb in the AL and $1.814 bb in the NL. The 2015 number will go up a bit as the last free agents are signed. A things currently stand, the AL is up about 9.7% and the NL is up by about 7.6%.

The Orioles' payroll, FWIW, is projected to increase by 11.5%, per BB-ref's numbers.

[Scrat1]

I checked into this a bit this morning. In 2014, payroll was about $1.710 bb in the AL and $1.686 bb in the NL. Currently, BB-ref estimates 2015 payrolls at $1.876 bb in the AL and $1.814 bb in the NL. The 2015 number will go up a bit as the last free agents are signed. A things currently stand, the AL is up about 9.7% and the NL is up by about 7.6%.

The Orioles' payroll, FWIW, is projected to increase by 11.5%, per BB-ref's numbers.

Yeah I don't understand the people complaining about Angelos being stingy, MASN money, etc. etc. Considering the Orioles have, over the past three or four years, significantly ratcheted up their payroll. For a midmarket team, 125 million is no joke. If we were still around 90 million, I would understand the frustration, but this just isn't an area that can support a ~150 million dollar payroll.