Updated Roster and Payroll Projections

The Papelbon deal takes up $11 million for the Phillies in 2012.

Here is a revised look at the Phillies 2012 roster and payroll projections. The numbers for the arbitration players and players lacking service time are subject to change. They are merely educated guesses.

According to the Associated Press, it appears the MLB Luxury Tax will not be going up as it had the previous five seasons. It will remain the same as it was in 2011; $178 million. That doesn’t necessarily mean the Phillies won’t go over it, but in the past they’ve seemingly been reluctant to do it. It had gone up $8 million per season over the last five years of the old CBA. That’s no longer the case.

Included in the new CBA is a provision that will raise the minimum salary from $414,000 to $480,000. That could change some things for the Phillies with guys like Mayberry and Martinez. In the projections below, I’ve made those changes.

Blue: money that the Phillies owe in 2012
Red: educated guess as to how much player will earn in 2012 (arbitration or otherwise)

Infield/Catchers

Ryan Howard: $20MM
Chase Utley: $15.286MM
-Jimmy Rollins: $11MM
Placido Polanco: $6.417MM
Carlos Ruiz: $3.7MM
-Ty Wigginton: $2MM
Jim Thome: $1.25MM
-Brian Schndeider: 800K
Michael Martinez: $480K

$60.933MM (9 players)

Outfield:

Hunter Pence: $10.4MM
Shane Victorino: $9.5MM
-Laynce Nix: $1.15MM
John Mayberry Jr.: $480K

$21.53MM (4 players)

Starting Pitching:

Cliff Lee: $21.5MM
Roy Halladay: $20MM
Cole Hamels: $15MM
Joe Blanton: $10.5MM
Vance Worley: $480K

$66.48MM (5 players)

Relief Pitching:

Jonathan Papelbon: $11MM
Kyle Kendrick: $3.59MM
Jose Contreras: $2.5MM
-Chad Qualls: $1.15MM
-Dontrelle Willis: $1MM
David Herndon: $575K
Antonio Bastardo: $575K
Michael Stutes: $480K

$21.05MM (8 players)

Payments:

Roy Oswalt: $2MM
Brad Lidge: $1.5MM
-Ty Wigginton: -$2 million from Colorado

Estimated Total: $171.29 million (25 players, two buyouts, Wigginton money from Rockies)

Luxury Tax: $178 million (in 2012)

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The Phillies are getting closer to the luxury tax but with the signing of Jimmy Rollins and the settling of contracts for Hamels and Pence, it appears they have a full 25-man roster ready to go at this time. Juan Pierre and Scott Podsednik will duke it out for that final outfield spot, so one of the eight relievers will likely not stay.

With this 25-man crew the Phillies look to be somewhere in the $171 million range, so there isn’t much room to maneuver with the MLB luxury tax just ahead.

UPDATE: Here is a better breakdown of the new luxury tax rules in the new MLB CBA.

NOTE: According to USA Today’s salary database, the Phillies spent a shade under $173 million in 2011, Cot’s Contracts says the Phillies spent $165 million.

*(Cot’s Contracts, USA Today, and Baseball-reference, as well as a myriad of articles, were used in this payroll rundown)


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Pat Gallen

Pat joined Phillies Nation in July 2009, coming over from Examiner.com. As a previous employee of both Comcast SportsNet and the National Basketball Association, Pat prides himself on being a well-rounded individual when it comes to sports. However, the Phillies are first on the list. You’ll usually find Pat chiming in on the Phillies Nation Facebook or Twitter account, weekdays on 97.3 ESPN radio or hosting Phillies Nation TV. He’s also a Senior Writer for the site, and in his free time is a music enthusiast and Will Ferrell movie-follower. His favorite beer: Philly’s own Yards. In 2015, Pat moved on from Phillies Nation as a sports anchor and reporter for CBS-3 in Philadelphia.

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