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
TOTAL 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