Diamondbacks Payroll Snapshot
In this story:
The Diamondbacks currently have approximately a $96 Million dollar commitment for 2023 Payroll and roughly $120M in Competitive Balance Tax payroll.
When looking at a team's MLB payroll it can be difficult to compare apples to apples. There are different categorizations based on the complicated MLB accounting and Competitive Balance Tax system, or CBT for short. This is often called the Luxury Tax. But that CBT number is not the number that most people are generally looking at.
The numbers most people are familiar with are the one that simply add up all the publicly known information on player salary and stating that's the payroll. There are a number of websites that give you detailed breakdowns such as Roster Resource, Cots Baseball Contracts and Baseball Reference. Each are valuable resources but they all present the information somewhat differently. What follows is an effort to explain and simplify that.
Diamondbacks 2023 Payroll Snapshot as of 9/29/2022
Jack Sommers
The total of $96 Million is the number that most people should be looking at when comparing payroll numbers from previous seasons. Here is how that compares to Pre Pandemic:
2019-2020* Opening Day = $120-$125 Million
2021-2022 Opening Day = $90-$95 Million
2023 Opening Day = $96 Million current commitment
*Note: 2020 "Opening Day" is the number they were at in March of 2020 before the season was shut down due to Covid-19 Pandemic and not the actual number they paid out once the season actually started in July.
The bottom section of that table are items that the team must budget for and go towards the CBT but all teams have similar obligations in this area. Another important distinction is that for CBT purposes, a players' average annual salary for the entire contract is the number used, not the amount actually being paid to that player in that year. So for example Madison Bumgarner's contract is for 5 years, $85 Million, or $17M per year. But in 2023 he will earn $23M. That is the number most people will use when looking at D-backs "payroll". (And further complicating matters, $5M of that is deferred). But for CBT purposes, the league will use $17M in their calculations.
Further confusing this issue is sometimes team officials will vary which number they refer to when speaking to the media. To simplify it, I suggest ignoring the CBT number, as the Diamondbacks are no threat to go over the Luxury Tax. I would also ignore deferrals. Even though money is often deferred, that must still be funded into a separate account.
What can the team spend in 2023 ?
This is the big question then. It's not knowable of course as we are not privy to the team's internal budget and the organization has not indicated just how much, if any, they will be increasing payroll for 2023. We recently reviewed the team's attendance and how that fell short of publicly stated projections by 400,000 tickets sold. But that doesn't necessarily mean they still won't increase over 2022 spending levels. Obviously if they are not willing to increase over those levels and do not offer an increased payroll budget for Mike Hazen to work with, then he'll need to look at areas to cut payroll from the existing lists below before he can add any other free agents or absorb salary in a trade.
On the other hand it's not difficult to imagine the team adding $10 or even $20 Million to the payroll budget. With a developing young core of players and tremendous need in the bullpen and other areas, they will be pressed to spend more than last year to keep the ball moving forward. Based on track record, and years of observing this organization closely a $20 million jump would seem to be the upper limits. Therefore we here at Inside the Diamondbacks project the payroll to be approximately $105 to $115M in 2023 once the dust settles on the 2022-23 off season.
Player Breakouts:
Jack Sommers
These are the players who have guaranteed contracts. Ketel Marte was signed to an extension prior to 2022 season. Nick Ahmed is in the last year of his contract. Mark Melancon is guaranteed through the end of 2023, with a 2024 option buyout.
Jack Sommers
These are the estimates for players eligible for salary arbitration, which are players with three or more years of service time. Christian Walker and Zac Gallen figure to get the largest raises in 2023 based on 2022 performance. The diamondbacks can choose to not offer a contract to anyone on this list, or "Non Tender" that player. There are one or two players that the team may consider to non tender on this list to save a little money for other purposes.
Jack Sommers
MLB minimum salary for 2023 is $720,000. At the moment, Guaranteed and Arb eligible players total 11. So at the very least they must fill the remaining 15 slots with a pre arbitration player. I use $735,000 as the average. Some players will make a little more or a little less than that. If the team signs a free agent, or trades for a player that is arbitration eligible or on a guaranteed contract, then the new player salary would replace one of the pre arb salaries above. Think of the above list as salary "place holders" then. The specific player name is not important for determining 2023 minimum payroll commitment of $96 Million stated at the top.
Other items in the breakout at the top of the article include:
Option Buyouts: Ian Kennedy and Zach Davies each have $250,000 buyouts of their 2023 options
Injury replacements and 40 man roster: When a player is on the 40 man roster but not in MLB he is paid approximately $60,000. When that player is promoted to MLB he is paid the pro rated MLB minimum salary.
Pre Arb Bonus Pool: Each team contributes about $1.7 Million to a bonus pool to be paid out to the top pre arbitration eligible players, based on a WAR calculation.
Player Benefits: Just that, medical and health insurance benefits, pension fund payments, etc.
