Royals Face Payroll Dilemma With 3 Stars Projected For Major Salary Bumps

For the Kansas City Royals, budgetary restrictions are always an unfortunate part of the equation.

This season, the Royals carried a $136.2 million payroll, per Spotrac, which was the 18th-largest in Major League Baseball. That's not a bad ranking by Royals standards, and unfortunately, if they want to keep competing for playoff berths, they'll likely have to keep climbing the list.

Even without acquiring key free agents, there are three Royals projected for serious pay increases who will add significant dollars to the payroll next season, assuming Kansas City keeps them as part of its core.

Projected salaries for three Royals stars

On Monday, MLB Trade Rumors released projected arbitration salaries for players on all 30 MLB teams. The Royals' section included several notable pay jumps, featuring three of the team's best players from this past season.

Starting pitcher Kris Bubic, who made $3 million this year, was projected for $6 million next year. First baseman Vinnie Pasquantino, who made $793,250, was projected for $5.4 million. And third baseman Maikel Garcia, who made $774,750, was projected for $4.8 million.

Doing some rough math, that's $11.5 million in added payroll for next season shared between just three players. That doesn't account for other arbitration candidates, like Jonathan India (a non-tender candidate?), John Schreiber, Sam Long, or MJ Melendez.

Every team faces a little bit of payroll attrition from year to year, but that's a significant jump for such a small percentage of the roster. Garcia and Pasquantino are becoming essential members of the Royals' core, and whether they get extensions or not, they're also only going to keep getting more expensive.

It hurts to say, because he was so good this season when healthy, but the Royals are going to have to consider trade offers for Bubic this winter. That's not just because of his projected salary, but more so due to his impending free agency in a year, and aided by the Royals' impressive rotation depth behind him.

If Bubic, Pasquantino, and Garcia are all still on the roster by opening day, don't be surprised if it's a quiet free agency for the Royals, or if someone like India is gone from the equation simply to level out the payroll.

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