$120 Million for Seven Players in 2011
According to Adam Rubin of ESPN New York, the Mets have seven players who are likely to be on next season’s roster, which total roughly $120 million.
The Mets had an estimated $149 million payroll in 2009, which was reduced to $134 million in 2010, according to USA Today.
So, if the Mets do not reduce payroll again, plus retain a few players and give raises here and there, reading between the lines of Rubin’s report, it seems the Mets could have as little as $5 million in available money to spend on new talent this off season.
This means one of two things:
1) The team’s GM will need to be a miracle worker, freeing up salary by most likely packaging prospects with ‘headaches,’ like Oliver Perez and Luis Castillo, in return for other team’s less-expensive ‘headaches.’
2) Absorb the money due to Perez and Castillo, cut them, and replace them on the roster by increasing payroll, like Steve Phillips recommended on WFAN last week.
