Adam Rubin of ESPN New York estimates the Mets payroll is currently at around $99.3 million dollars barring any further changes to the roster.
With the new league minimum set at $507,500, Rubin assigned that figure to 14 pre-arbitration players while adding in the $62.5 million in guaranteed contracts to David Wright, Curtis Granderson, Bartolo Colon, Michael Cuddyer and Jon Niese. He projects Mets arbitration eligible players to total $25.24 million.
However Sandy Alderson warned that payroll is more likely to go down than up before Opening Day. For instance it could drop to $94 million if they do in fact move Dillon Gee, and even more if Niese or Colon get dealt instead.
In 2014, the Mets began the season with a third straight year of a reduced payroll, coming in at $87.3 million dollars and ranking 24th. They will likely top that mark in 2015, but not by much even though Jeff Wilpon promised greater payroll flexibility for this offseason back in September.
Meanwhile, MLB reported a record shattering $9 billion dollars in gross revenue in 2014 as reported by Forbes Magazine. All teams received an estimated $40 million dollars each this year from new National TV baseball contracts.
The Mets had their sixth-consecutive season below .500 in 2014 and have not made the postseason since 2006.
