Payroll 2008 (who's off the books?)

[Redsnake]

Castellini says the payroll will increase and wants to win now. Where does the payroll sit as of now?

Who's off the books?
Milton's $9mil
Hatty $1.8 - even though I like the idea of picking up a very cheap option and then trading him.
Guardado $?
LaRue $? - Didn't the Reds pay some of his salary for this year.

Anyone I'm forgetting?

And since everone is throwing out there wish list I thought I would throw out one of mine.
Matt Clement
I hear he is progressing well. He's throwing in the low 90's and word is getting out. The Reds won't get into a bidding war but maybe Dusty can help get him in here. More than likely it would be a 1 year contract for $6mil. I would much rather have him than Silva.

[GoReds33]

I don't think I would rather have him than Silva, because Silva is a young pitcher. I would have no problem taking a chance on both though. Clement could be a diamond in the rough. The only thing I would do is make sure it is incentive laiden, and have there be a team option if he turns out to be the old Clement.

[stevekun]

I am all for getting Silva as well....I don't know who else is on the market that we can afford, so we might need to get pitching through a trade

[Degenerate39]

Cormier is off the books too I believe

[stevekun]

Sarloos off the books?

[Degenerate39]

Sarloos off the books?

Yes he is Ellison and Bellhorn are off the books also.

[ChatterRed]

Kearns and Lopez are off the books too. ;)

[GoReds33]

Just wondering, but when we try to outright somebody and they refuse the assignment, does that terminate their contract, or do we have to keep paying them?

[ChatterRed]

A player can refuse to be outrighted until the age of 65 and then they collect social security. ;)

[howyoufreelin]

No to Carlos Silva, please.

He will be Eric Milton-esque in this ballpark. Wouldn't mind taking a chance on Matt Clement, though.

[Shaknb8k]

Around this time of year I enjoy looking into next years Roster even though it ends up changing a whole lot but here is what I’ve come up with. All of this could change with trades so keep that in mind.

Here is a list of players who I believe are on the team no matter what. If there is not a dollar amount or Arb (arbitration eligible) then that means they are under complete control of the Reds and their contract should be relatively cheap.

On the Team:
Harang- 6.75
Arroyo- 3.9
Bailey-
Weathers- 2.75
Stanton- 3.0
Burton-
Ross-2.525
Gonzalez- 4.652
Encarnacion-
Phillips- Arb
Griffey Jr- 12.5
Dunn- 13.0 (option will be picked up)
Hamilton-
Hopper-
Freel- 3.0
Keppinger-
Cantu- Arb
Votto-

That is around $55-60 Million depending on how much Phillips and Cantu ends up making. That is 18 of the 25 players. I understand Stanton or maybe Bailey won’t be there on opening day but lets debate that in another thread. With all those positions filled the needs are: 2-SP, 4-RP, and 1-C. These needs may be filled by these players who I call the front runners for the open positions plus a couple others that have a shot to make the roster somewhere.

Front Runners:
Belisle- Arb
Bray-
Coffey-.925
Coutlangus-
Majewski- Arb
Salmon-
Castro- .975
Guardado- 3.0 (Team Option)
Valentin- 1.3 (Team Option)
Hatteberg- 1.85 (Team Option)

Now here are a few players who have an outside chance to make the club with an outstanding spring or injuries to other players. I will also add that none of these players will probably make below league minimum so I won’t include their salary because it for the most part will have a minimal effect on the total payroll. But don’t look for any of these players to show up right out of spring training.

Outside Chance:
McBeth, Shearn, Gosling, Pelland, Hannigan, Cueto, Maloney, Lopez, Gil, Bruce, Janish, Coats, and Dickerson.

Summary:
The Reds have roughly $55-60 million already accounted for between 18 (6 Pitchers; 12 Position) players. They will have to fill 2 Starting Pitching spots, 3-4 Relief Pitching spots, 1 Catcher and maybe another Bench spot depending on how many pitchers they carry. Some of these spots will be filled with players already in the organization (Front Runners) but not 100% locks on the team right now.

With all that said I believe only one thing is certain for the 2008 Reds team… a lot of aren’t happy with Dusty Baker as manager.

PS: these are the kind of things I spend my spare time on during the offseason…man I can’t wait for April.

[Red Soup]

Nice job sh8k.

How good does that deal for Harang look now? Can you imagine him on the open market this offseason.

[GoReds33]

Nice job sh8k.

How good does that deal for Harang look now? Can you imagine him on the open market this offseason.Signing Harang to an extension was the best move yet of this regime. Hopefully they will take the next step and do the same with Phillips.:)

[ChatterRed]

$55-$60 million, huh?

More proof that trading Griffey for youth and bringing up Bruce will give us some really good payroll flexibility for some acquisitions.

[GoReds33]

$55-$60 million, huh?

More proof that trading Griffey for youth and bringing up Bruce will give us some really good payroll flexibility for some acquisitions.Yeah. I would love the flexibility with about 45 million dollars taken up. Then we could get a great player, that could be a cornerstone for this club's future.:)

[Degenerate39]

Rheal Cormier is gone - 2,250,000
Jeff Conine - 2,000,000
Chris Denorfia - 382,500
Scott Hatteberg - 1,500,000
Kyle Lohse - 4,200,000
Eric Milton - 10,333,333
Chad Moeller - 700,000
Kirk Saarloos - 1,200,000

[Redsnake]

Yeah. I would love the flexibility with about 45 million dollars taken up. Then we could get a great player, that could be a cornerstone for this club's future.:)

I agree with trading Griffey. However, if they do trade him this year then the money saved should go right back into free agents this year. The problem is there isn't much in free agency that would warrant $13 to be spent on. It sounds if Silva could be possibly be added to the current payroll without trading Griffey. And Silva is teh cream of the SP crop?
I guess what I'm afraid of is the Reds just pocketing the money in a 2008 lack luster free agency pool. 2009 free agents look much more appealing (Sabathia, J.Santana, etc.)

[AmarilloRed]

How much longer will we be paying Jason LaRue? I would have thought he would be off the books after this year.

[GoReds33]

I agree with trading Griffey. However, if they do trade him this year then the money saved should go right back into free agents this year. The problem is there isn't much in free agency that would warrant $13 to be spent on. It sounds if Silva could be possibly be added to the current payroll without trading Griffey. And Silva is teh cream of the SP crop?
I guess what I'm afraid of is the Reds just pocketing the money in a 2008 lack luster free agency pool. 2009 free agents look much more appealing (Sabathia, J.Santana, etc.)That's a good point. There certainly aren't many starting pitchers out there this year. You mentioned Silva, who would be at best this team's third starter. I would like to have him, but not at the money he is probably going to get. I think that 2009 is way too far away for us to be saving our money to get those players. There should never be a crop as bad as this year's. I think that 2008 should have some good options as far as impact players are concerned.

For those intrested, here are some of the notable free agents after next year:
Ben Sheets
Jake Peavy team option
Johan Santana
Carl Crawford team option
Kyle Farnsworth
Rafeal Furcal
Tom Gordon
Carl Pavano
Manny Ramirez team option
Francisco Rodriguez "K-Rod"
C.C. Sabathia

The list goes on. Forgive me if some of those have new deals.:)