How the Mariners’ $107M payroll adds up and what to expect next

A few hours before our live Mariners chat on Thursday, club president Kevin Mather dropped by 710 ESPN Seattle’s “Brock and Salk” and talked about a number of subjects, including the payroll. He confirmed what general manager Jack Zduriencik said at his end-of-the-year press conference, that the payroll will go up.

He also said something that was a surprise to many: He went over budget to the tune of $16 million this year. The final figure for player payroll, according to Mather, was $107 million, a good amount more than the $92-97 million that many believed they had spent.

Just how do those numbers break down?

The Mariners’ 40-man roster earnings came to a total of $95.7 million. Another $5.1 million was spent on performance bonuses or awards. Another $4 million was paid out in prorated signing bonuses and $1.9 million went to buyouts for three players. The grand total was $106.7 million.

So, if you have been playing along at home this season and been under the impression that they spent around $95 million, you’re probably wondering what you missed.

The Cot’s Baseball Contracts website is widely used for payroll figures, but you have to be careful when navigating it as it has both opening-day and current rosters listed. It also still has Chuck Armstrong listed as the Mariners’ president for some reason. That website doesn’t always have the best breakdown of club-control players or bonuses and those numbers can add up quickly. All in all, it has been a great resource but it always important to do a double check and make sure everyone is included.

A number that might look different from what you were expecting is the signing-bonus figure. You may have known that Dustin Ackley and Danny Hultzen were getting $1.2 million per year apiece in signing bonuses. Where did the other $1.6 million go? To Felix Hernandez’s signing bonus. He got a $6 million bonus when he signed his current contract.

I don’t have the exact breakdown of the performance or award bonuses, but I do have an interesting note on the awards. Felix, Robinson Cano and Fernando Rodney all had it in their contracts to receive a $50,000 award should they make the All-Star team. Kyle Seager, being under club control, didn’t have this in his contract, but the Mariners gave him the All-Star bonus anyway. Not a bad thing to do for a player you are hoping to sign to a long-term deal in the offseason.

The next question is this: If they are upping the budget next year, what will Zduriencik have available to spend this offseason? It’s tough to estimate with a number of players up for various levels of arbitration and not nearly the number of big salaries coming off the books as a year ago. What appears certain, however, is the budget will be raised with a specific purpose in mind. Mather told “Brock and Salk” that it was no secret that the Mariners had two big needs, alluding to the lineup.

“I have to get resources for Jack Zduriencik to put a product on the field,” he said. “Clearly, our payroll has to go up. We have holes that need to be filled.”

Easier to say when the needs are fewer and more defined. In years past, the needs were so many it may have been, Here is your budget – do with it what you can, pick your spots, we can’t fill them all or we need this young player to play and develop. It sounds like this winter should be a different story.

I want to thank everyone who stopped by the chat. If you missed it, the full thread is up in an earlier post. I couldn’t get to all of the questions. If I missed yours, you are always free to shoot me an email via the link on this page.

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