When we talk a team’s payroll, we usually start with just the 25 man roster. We have that listed on the ‘Contracts’ page and including players on the DL, it’s about $75.3M give or take a few million depending on who you count. Of course, we should also count guarantees no longer on the roster, so add in about $7M for Chris Johnson and another undisclosed amount that could be as much $10M for Nick Swisher and Michael Bourn that was given to Atlanta as part of the deal.
That brings the number up to the more generally accepted amount of $92M, but just because that’s what the Indians payroll seems on the surface, doesn’t mean it stops there. Still considering guaranteed money, the Indians promised a total of $8.3M to 2015 draft picks, the majority of which went to first round picks Brady Aiken ($2.5M) and Triston McKenzie ($2.3M). Since we’re only looking at money owed in 2016, we won’t count earlier bonuses, but we will count those that went to players who didn’t come through the US high school and college system. Add to the previous $8.3M then another $2.8M that was spent on international free agents, the largest chunk of which went to Henry Pujols. Since they have a bonus pool of $2.456M for 2016, that number will likely be near that again this year. After bonus, the Indians are at about $103.4M for 2016.
Now, all that money was guaranteed before the season started, but the Indians have many other players who are currently unaccounted for, besides the fact that a minor leaguers bonus money doesn’t enter into their yearly salary. Speaking of minor leaguers, we don’t have confirmed numbers for most players, but we do know that the minimum for a player on the 40 man roster, but in AAA is $41,400 and if that player has MLB experience, that jumps to $82,700. Tyler Naquin, Collin Cowgill and Kyle Crockett were included in the Major League bunch in the first group, but the rest of the 40 man roster you can add another $537,700.
The rest of those in AAA make $12,900 if they stay around all year and while the current roster may not stick around the whole season, the Indians will have to pay those who play there regardless. That number will come out to about $219,000, although this is just the minimum and since many in AAA are Major League vets who aren’t on the 25 man, like Michael Choice and Tom Gorzelanny, they will be making considerably more. Even players who aren’t on the 40 man get raises to $14,400 in year two in AAA and $16,200 in year three.
The numbers get infinitesimally smaller after this and it’s easy to see why there has been talk of making higher pay in the minors a necessity. For the Indians 25 man in Akron (AA) it will cost about $255K for a season, $225K for Lynchburg (A+), $195K for Lake County and $518K for Mahoning Valley, the Dominican Summer League and the various incarnations of baseball in Goodyear including the Rookie League, extended Spring Training and Instructional League. This doesn’t include the players’ per diem or the coaching staff, but it brings the total up to about $105.3M.
It’s safe to say, the Indians are getting a bargain. For one of the best minor league systems in baseball, particularly at the mid and lower levels, the Indians are paying about the same salary as the Twins are for their 25 man roster. In fact, only 11 teams began the year with a 25 man roster cheaper than the Indians 200+ man roster including every player under team control for the 2016 season.
It’s an unfair comparison for multiple reasons, but the top four teams in spending in 2016, the Dodgers, Yankees, Tigers and Red Sox, average $218M for just the 25 man roster, equating to more than $8M per player. For the Indians that number is just about $2.9M for the 25 man, but when you break it down to the 200+ players in the minors and majors, that number drops to just $527K, a bargain especially when you consider that the minor leaguers average just $172K including their various bonuses.
What is interesting about this is that, because of MLB rules, all teams are going to pay their minor leaguers about the same amount. Even bonuses are now fairly strictly administered with punishments for going over, keeping teams from avoiding picking the best player available because they can’t afford him. Since this is the case, the Indians have went cheap at the Major League level, the only place they really could.
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