Before making any new roster additions this offseason, the Mets payroll projects to be roughly $92 million for the 2016 season according to Adam Rubin of ESPN New York.
He basically added up the guaranteed payroll commitments and arbitration projections that I posted on Monday and have included here for your convenience.
During a question and answer session at Citi Field this morning, Sandy Alderson said that he expected payroll to rise above this season’s $100 million level, but wouldn’t go further than that and did not give reporters a projected figure.
The Mets Opening Day payroll was $101 million this season, but due to an insurance payout on David Wright, cashback on Jenrry Mejia suspension, and money included in several trade deadline deals, they finished the season at roughly $94 million.
Guaranteed Contracts ($60 Million)
David Wright – $20,000,000
Curtis Granderson – $16,000,000
Michael Cuddyer – $12,500,000
Jon Niese – $9,050,000
Juan Lagares – $2,500,000
Arbitration Eligible ($29 Million)
Eric Young Jr. – $1,000,000 ($750K)
Buddy Carlyle – $725,000 ($1.1M)
Ruben Tejada – $1,880,000 ($2.5M)
Lucas Duda – $4,200,000 ($6.8M)
Addison Reed – $4,875,000 ($5.7M)
Carlos Torres – $585,000 ($800K)
Anthony Recker – $520,000 ($700K)
Jenrry Mejia – $2,595,000 ($2.6M)
Matt Harvey – $650,000 ($4.7M)
Jeurys Familia – $525,000 ($3.3M)
Josh Edgin – $520,000 ($600K)
Rubin filled in the rest of the roster using an aggregate of $600K per player.
It will be interesting to see if the owners follow through on their promises that they would spend more on payroll once attendance and revenue increased. The team saw attendance increase by 35%, merchandising by 50%, and SNY viewership was reportedly up 60% this year.
