Updated 2014 Payroll Outlook

Money, money, money... MO-NEY!

About a month ago I wrote an article going over the Yankees' payroll for 2014, while making some guesses about the make-up of the roster. Well, I wanted to let you know that I made a mistake. While researching the article I read that Derek Jeter's player option for next year would be treated as a one year deal, instead of it being added to his current three-year contract.

Well, that was wrong. In reading the Collective Bargaining Agreement, I came across the following part...

Option years shall be included as a year of the contract if the option had been fully exercised at the time of the tender, signing or renewal.

Therefore I shouldn't have listed Jeter's possible 2014 salary as $9.5 million. But what should it have been?

That brings us to this part of the CBA...

A Player Option Year shall be considered a “Guaranteed Year”

Up to this point, Derek's contract has been looked at as a four-year deal... not a three-year deal. And his 2014 salary has been defined by his buyout of $3 million. But if he were to exercise that player option, his salary for 2014 would be $9.5 million. Keep in mind that while it was $8 million, DJ earned another $1.5 million thanks to his Silver Slugger Award in 2012.

Again, let's assume Jeter exercises his 2014 option. Then, broken down, his salary by year would be $15 million for 2011, $16 million for 2012, $17 million for 2013, and $9.5 million in 2014. For a total of $57.5 million over four years, for an Average Annual Value of $14.375 million.

Now for my updated guess at the 2014 roster, along with player salaries. I'll start with some notes about certain players.

• Alex Rodriguez's appeal fails, and he is indeed suspended for the entire 2014 season. Meaning his salary is off of the books.
• The Yankees re-sign Robinson Cano to a contract with an average annual value of $25 million.
• Derek Jeter exercises his player option.
• Curtis Granderson decides to take the qualifying offer, in order to improve his stock for another free agency run after next season.
• Hiroki Kuroda agrees to one more year with the Yankees, but after a great season the team needs to raise his salary by $2 million.
• Michael Pineda is 100% recovered and ready to join the starting rotation.
• Three of the bullpen spots are taken by pre-arbitration players, who will make the league minimum.

Catcher - Austin Romine $500,000
First Base - Mark Teixeira $22.5 million
Second Base - Robinson Cano $25 million
Third Base -
Shortstop - Derek Jeter $14.375 million
Left Field - Curtis Granderson $15 million
Center Field - Brett Gardner $6 million (arbitration 3)
Right Field - Ichiro Suzuki $6.5 million
Designated Hitter - Alfonso Soriano $4 million *lower thanks to trade details

Bench - Jayson Nix $1.5 million (arbitration 1)
Bench - Francisco Cervelli $1.5 million (arbitration 1)
Bench - Vernon Wells $0 *lower thanks to trade details
Bench - Eduardo Nunez $600,000 (pre-arbitration)

Starting Pitcher - CC Sabathia $24.4 million
Starting Pitcher - Hiroki Kuroda $17 million
Starting Pitcher - Ivan Nova $2.5 million (arbitration 1)

Starting Pitcher - Michael Pineda $750,000 (arbitration 1)
Starting Pitcher - David Phelps $500,000 (pre-arbitration)

Closer - David Robertson $5 million (arbitration 3)
Relief Pitcher - Shawn Kelley $1.5 million (arbitration 2)
Relief Pitcher - Adam Warren $500,000 (pre-arbitration)
Relief Pitcher - Preston Claiborne $500,000 (pre-arbitration)
Relief Pitcher - ??? $500,000 (pre-arbitration)
Relief Pitcher - ??? $500,000 (pre-arbitration)
Relief Pitcher - ??? $500,000 (pre-arbitration)

But the payroll doesn't stop there, as we must look at the 40-man roster... not the 25-man roster. That leaves us with 15 more players, normally minor leaguers, that should cost around $5 million.

We also have to take into account the team's portion of the league's player bonuses, which will cost in the neighborhood of $12 million.

That gives us with a total of $168.125 million, leaving the team with $20.875 million to work with in order to find a third baseman. But keep in mind that the team doesn't want to spend all of that remaining money, as they want to give themselves some breathing room in case they need to add a player at some point during the season (like they did with Soriano this year). Not to mention the possible need for another starter, seeing as how Sabathia hasn't looked like a top-of-the-rotation starter at all.

Either way, it looks like the team may be able to reach their goal of getting under the Luxury Tax threshold, while also fielding a competitive team.