Yadier Molina was all smiles when he signed a three-year extension making him the highest paid Cardinals player according to baseballprospectus.com. (photo/Bill Greenblatt, UPI)
Spotrac.com released estimated team salaries for the 2018 season and the St. Louis Cardinals are ranked in the top half, while the Kansas City Royals are ranked near the bottom third.
The Cardinals are 12th with a total payroll of just over $145,850,000.00, which is down from last year’s rank which just topped over $150 million and slightly higher than 2016. Yadier Molina tops the Cardinals payroll at $20 million per year and one could expect St. Louis to have some extra money next season when Adam Wainwright’s $19+ million is expected to come off the books.
The Cardinals are the second highest spending team in the NL Central Division behind the Cubs, while the Reds, Brewers and Pirates all rank in the bottom third of the league.
The Royals payroll took a big drop as they fall from 14th to 20th this season. As the club finished up their big run which included a 2015 World Series, the club lost a couple of big free agent payouts as the Royals drop from just under $146 million in 2017 to $127,579,817 this season. That’s about nine million below the league average. The Royals owe Alex Gordon $20 million for his Gold Glove and low .200 batting average and $16 million for Ian Kennedy who went 5-16 and didn’t win his first game last year until June 16.
Cleveland is the only AL Central team above the league average and only the White Sox trail the Royals in salary spent, with Detroit and Minnesota ranked 18th and 19th respectively ranked just ahead of Kansas City.
* Note: the 25-man and DL numbers do not add up to the total. Some teams have retained salary that is not reflected in the chart below.
|
RANK
|
TEAM
|
ROSTER
|
25-MAN
|
DISABLED LIST
|
TOTALÂ PAYROLL
|
|||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Boston Red Sox | 25 | $172,670,000 | $29,604,000 | $234,600,428 | |||
| 2 | San Francisco Giants | 25 | $165,109,777 | $34,300,000 | $206,909,777 | |||
| 3 | Los Angeles Dodgers | 25 | $140,914,045 | $14,550,000 | $186,135,711 | |||
| 4 | Chicago Cubs | 25 | $179,418,881 | $3,000,000 | $182,951,139 | |||
| 5 | Washington Nationals | 25 | $161,229,458 | $19,619,600 | $181,349,058 | |||
| 6 | Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim | 25 | $165,301,999 | $1,351,500 | $174,018,499 | |||
| 7 | New York Yankees | 24 | $137,518,975 | $22,284,057 | $165,803,032 | |||
| 8 | Seattle Mariners | 25 | $147,489,842 | $10,308,100 | $160,797,942 | |||
| 9 | Houston Astros | 25 | $144,324,800 | $13,501,400 | $159,507,370 | |||
| 10 | Toronto Blue Jays | 25 | $137,302,200 | $20,000,000 | $158,653,652 | |||
| 11 | New York Mets | 25 | $122,832,654 | $27,719,190 | $155,143,844 | |||
| 12 | St. Louis Cardinals | 25 | $114,805,066 | $25,045,600 | $145,850,666 | |||
| 13 | Colorado Rockies | 25 | $137,756,500 | $1,095,000 | $143,001,500 | |||
| 14 | Baltimore Orioles | 25 | $109,525,615 | $23,000,000 | $142,525,615 | |||
| 15 | Texas Rangers | 25 | $114,803,916 | $10,136,000 | $141,464,916 | |||
| 16 | Cleveland Indians | 25 | $116,713,065 | $18,635,800 | $137,348,865 | |||
| 17 | Arizona Diamondbacks | 25 | $107,437,600 | $10,700,000 | $131,952,116 | |||
| 18 | Detroit Tigers | 25 | $105,271,000 | $6,545,000 | $131,611,000 | |||
| 19 | Minnesota Twins | 25 | $110,990,000 | $16,150,000 | $131,318,226 | |||
| 20 | Kansas City Royals | 25 | $109,660,817 | $1,119,000 | $127,579,817 | |||
| 21 | Atlanta Braves | 25 | $80,971,041 | $1,900,000 | $117,492,707 | |||
| 22 | Cincinnati Reds | 25 | $95,552,499 | $3,840,000 | $99,392,499 | |||
| 23 | Philadelphia Phillies | 26 | $80,157,833 | $10,117,500 | $96,821,301 | |||
| 24 | Miami Marlins | 25 | $50,720,142 | $31,956,500 | $95,676,642 | |||
| 25 | San Diego Padres | 25 | $69,400,933 | $3,261,300 | $93,812,233 | |||
| 26 | Milwaukee Brewers | 25 | $81,140,700 | $11,140,000 | $92,780,700 | |||
| 27 | Pittsburgh Pirates | 25 | $78,170,499 | $1,112,000 | $87,332,499 | |||
| 28 | Tampa Bay Rays | 25 | $68,709,132 | $1,090,600 | $77,674,329 | |||
| 29 | Chicago White Sox | 25 | $66,891,000 | $2,300,000 | $70,191,000 | |||
| 30 | Oakland Athletics | 25 | $58,878,333 | $3,102,500 | $67,480,833 |
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