USA Today has released their 2015 salary database, giving us a look at the league minimum salaries for the rest of the players on the active roster. That is always the final thing needed for the 2015 40-man payroll page. I’ve updated the payroll page with the new numbers, and the Pirates will be entering the season with an estimated payroll of $91.6 M. Click the 40-man link to view the details. A few notes:
**The payroll doesn’t account for in-season moves. The Pirates have averaged about $8 M in additional payroll during the season, whether that comes from calling up new guys throughout the year, claiming players off waivers, or adding players via trade. So you can expect the Pirates to end up with a payroll much higher than this, probably close to $100 M.
**Jung-ho Kang’s $5,002,015 posting fee isn’t included in this projection. I wasn’t sure how that was handled with other teams. The Pirates did spend this money, and they did spend it to get a player. In the overall budget, it’s $5 M that they no longer have to spend. But for accounting purposes, I don’t think that’s the type of thing which factors into payroll. If you want to factor it in separately, just add $5 M to whatever amount the Pirates have spent throughout the year.
**The Opening Day payroll doesn’t include projected bonuses. I add those throughout the year when they’re reached.
**I use the 40-man payroll, rather than the 25-man. MLB teams use 40-man numbers, and when you see the official numbers come out at the end of the year, they’re always 40-man numbers. You might think that the minor league salaries drive up the payroll (or at least that’s the common argument). The total of all the minor league guys on the 40-man is about $530,000. As the season goes on, a lot of those minor leaguers will be called up, at which point they’ll be making major league salaries. I always pro-rate the major league salaries when players don’t play a full season.
**The payroll page is updated whenever a move is made. It also keeps track of option years, service time and contract situations. Keep the page bookmarked throughout the year, or find it under the “Rosters” tab at the top of the page. If you want to see long-term contract information, check out the Future Payroll page.
