2020 salary terms are set to be hammered out in the coming days. But what about what’s owed to players beyond that point? The near-term economic picture remains questionable at best. That’ll make teams all the more cautious with guaranteed future salaries.
Every organization has some amount of future cash committed to players, all of it done before the coronavirus pandemic swept the globe. There are several different ways to look at salaries; for instance, for purposes of calculating the luxury tax, the average annual value is the touchstone, with up-front bonuses spread over the life of the deal. For this exercise, we’ll focus on actual cash outlays that still have yet to be paid.
We’ll run through every team, with a big assist from the Cot’s Baseball Contracts database. Next up is the Rays:
Rays Total Future Cash Obligation: $101.17MM
*Does not include vesting option for Charlie Morton (value between $3MM and $15MM based upon number of days on injured list)
*Includes remaining obligations to Evan Longoria (traded to Giants)
(click to expand/view detail list)
Rays will save some money from Snell sitting out for pouting about not getting getting his full salary in 2020.
Much like the way you’re pouting through your username?
Stevie damn!!!!!
Ok, you win there. Lol
Yeah I’m not too concerned about him sitting out. He’s not on my team so let him sit if he wants. Rays fans shouldn’t be too concerned based on his performance last season either.
My favorite part of that interview was the part about how he loses money to taxes too!
The absurdity of the gov. to tax you as a pro ball player! Lol
He signed a 5/$50mil and was due $7 million this year before CV19.
That’s effectively been cut in half by the number of games being proposed (82-80). So that’s $3.5mm
Owners have proposed a 20%-30% additional cut on top of that 50%, which would leave $2.625mm after additional reduction (25% avg)
After federal tax (around 38 percent and $1mm for Snell) that leaves $1.625mm
The Rays will be playing all east coast teams this year for 41 games (PA is 3%, but Pittsburg imposes an athletes tax of 3% as well as Philly’s tax rate for athletes being in excess of 6%. NYC Bronx and Queens is 12%, Boston is 5%, Toronto is scheduled to play in Florida for now, as well as the Marlins, so 0%. Baltimore state and local combined is 10%. I believe DC is tax free for non residents). All in all to file single, that’s a tax rate of around 5.6% for state taxes on the road in 2020 because of the alignment of the division proposed, and is a good rate compared to what players would normally pay on the road. He’d pay around $45k in tax on the road.
His agent takes between 4-6%
After agent fees, local and state taxes take another 6-8%, Snell will pocket around $1.5
He’s due to make $38 million in the three seasons after 2020, with there being escalators in 2023, but after that he becomes a free agent at age 30. If I’m Snell, do I potentially risk value due to an injury in 2020 or effects of an illness in 2020 to pocket $1.5mm when I could potentially earn another 40, 50, 100 million in free agency?
If I’m him, the dollar amount to earn in 2020 with guaranteed salaries and potential salary after 2023 might not be worth it.
Great post. Sounds like putting health before work might be a sensible economic plan.
The only risk would be an arm injury due to a shortened spring training. There is zero evidence that any coronavirus would impact anyone’s ability to throw a fastball under the age of 70 long term.
A better argument is that a pitcher can only throw so many pitches in his career before his arm gives out so why not save it for a year that pays more.
Snell is a crybaby, It doesn’t matter if your not getting payed, if he doesn’t play, he loses his spot on the roster.
It looks like someone cheated on their spelling tests to get through school.
It looks someone has no life..
which explains why you’re refreshing the page every 15 seconds.
I was thinking the same thing…
Commenters defending MLB owners because they’re worried that they may not get the entertainment package they want is telling.
Why is it that whenever some comments on misspellings or other careless errors, there’s always someone who attacks the corrector, not the guilty party.
Speaking of which…tribepride, you omitted the words “ as though” after “looks.”
OK…wait fir it….
You’re a Mets fan dude. No baseball season doesn’t make much of a difference for you.
Should have had a question mark after your first sentence bud..
Classic!
Can’t win a debate, so turn to insults…
Don’t forget commas, bud.
And the Tribe last won the World Series when?
That’s ridiculous
If a player decides not to play there will be stipulations that do not penalize a player for not playing under the circumstances of pay reduction, injury and overall health risk.
It’s remarkable that Snell wants his entire 2020 salary for a half of season of baseball. What a team player!
No, he wants the prorated pay plan that the owners agreed to just weeks ago.
No he wants his entire salary. Brush up on your facts big guy.
Nice bluff, but nymetsking is right, and you would know that if you read the entire article and understood the numbers Snell spit out.
I think you scared him off with the word “read.”
I accidentally upvoted you tribepride17. These peeps are correct.
Be more charitable, nymetsking. Not all of us are blessed with a normal attention-sp…..
Snell is a crybaby, I hope he loses his spot on the roster for the upcoming seasons too
I guess he is as ugly inside as he is out. He is one strange looking fella
Please, enlighten everyone with your description of Mr. Right.
Don’t worry, I won’t judge….
I promise you that the owners aren’t going to give you money for licking their boots, tribepride17
So, I guess Snell would rather not get paid at all instead of getting paid less, stupid effing crybaby.
Weird how this is becoming a Snell-bash, especially since he isn’t the only player ticked with the situation regarding pay-cuts. You can bet most, if not all, feel the same, as well as the union.
But yeah, get mad at a player for not agreeing to a further pay-cut after already having a deal in place. The owners are clearly the good-guys here. Forget the fact that they’ll still have incoming cash from TV rights, they’ll be deferring signing bonuses/slot money through 2022, and won’t be taking the risks that the players will/would be taking…
Most people understand that sacrifices shouldn’t just apply to low income essential workers and healthcare workers.
But yeah make the evil owners pay 100% of payroll expenses with a half season and no fans. Makes a ton of sense. Owners have more wealth so that makes them more evil I guess..
Trying to renegotiate after already agreeing to a deal doesn’t make them evil, it makes them greedy.
But keep the excuses coming…
Is baseball essential?
How would you feel if your boss ordered you to put yourself at risk for entertainment while he makes money risk-free?
For a 5 year/50 million dollar contract? I’ll go ahead and volunteer to play ball. Do you realize that the owner of the company you work for is making money too?
Everything is essential eventually if we want to return to normal. We can’t accept not trying to be creative to get our economy and lifestyles back to normal.
Yeah, well not everything is essential at the same time. I love baseball as much or more than the next guy, but it’s not a must-have right now and I certainly don’t blame the players for rejecting a renegotiated deal after having already agreed to a reduction.
You miss the point, he equated health with $$. Essentially stating he’d put his health at risk only if he made enough money. Other plays at least have the sense to shut their trap.
I didn’t miss anything. There has to be a line, and the bigger point was clearly the principle.
Snell isn’t the only one who has spoken out, either. Google Sean Doolittle’s comments regarding the situation at hand, or Trevor Bauer’s.
Read his comment. He didn’t talk about nuance, he didn’t talk about there being a line, he put a price on his health.
I read his comments in full and I understood the context.
Several of you are missing the point, and the order in which lies the priorities.
A deal was already in place, which is conditional upon safety standards being met. Snell could have used better words, but it shouldn’t be hard to understand that few–if anyone–will be cool with a renegotiated deal that limits their earnings while the owners have no limits.
A deal was not in place to play to empty stadiums.
The deal was a prorated salary when baseball resumed under normal terms.
The owners could wait and say let’s not play until stadiums are full and be well within their right to that originally deal youre speaking of
But the owners are willing to make yet another concession and play with empty stadiums.
If your next argument is that it doesn’t cost them anything to play in an empty stadium… yes it does. In that scenario they still have to play the players the prorated salary. If they don’t play at all that number is dropped significantly.
Why do some of you think only the owners should have to make concessions to play in empty stadiums?
It boils down to this:
Fewer games played
-Owners take a hit
-players take a hit
Remaining games no longer played in front of fans
-Only owners take a hit???
Where’s the logic here that owners bear the entire brunt of empty stadiums? Some of you need a reality check. The biased hatred for owners has seriously clouded some judgments on here pretty badly.
The fair thing is both sides also take a hit from empty stadiums.
You actually think the owners weren’t aware of the very real possibility–if not likeliness–that games would not be played in front of fans?
How naive are you!?
Aware of the possibility vs. outlined in the original deal.
You’re the one in here talking about the original deal.
How naive are you to think the owners agreed to pay players to play in empty stadiums in that deal?
Not to mention that deal was struck back at the end of March if I recall. No one knew what the landscape would look like at the time. So yeah, very real chance there was hope stadiums would be filled at some point. Or maybe you haven’t followed COVID well enough to know how little we understood and the expectations for locking down back in March.
You’re playing Monday morning quarterback in here to try and sound smart.
Don’t be mad you’re wrong and start calling people naive. I didn’t bring up the original deal. Remember? That was you. Go read the deal again and show me where it says they’ll pay a prorated portion to play in empty stadiums. Until then you’re just a bitter angry dude who is getting owned right now.
Peace bro
Congratulations, this went right over your head not once, but twice.
“Peace, bro”….
Totally; owners knew this could Olof happened, Union kind of dropped the ball by not making sure the “with or without “ fans was included in the deal, it gave the owners the loophole they needed.
You do not understand how contracts work, i hate my father.
So, your argument is that a group of multi-millionaire and billionaire owners signed off on an agreement prematurely without considering risk?
Yeah, you clearly understand how contracts work, MJ. Obviously you never bothered to read any of the multiple articles outlining the deal.
By the way, there was nation-wide talk about the possibility of playing in empty stadiums at the beginning of March. A deal was reached at the end of the month.
You’re 0 for 3.
Stevil, don’t wrestle with a pig; you’ll just get dirty and the pig likes it.
Probably the best post Ive seen on the matter….way to go MJ !!!!
The players/agents are smart , they get the public to do their bidding and use them as pawns
I.E -Harper and Machado thank you all for the 2018 collusion conspiracy that was built on a house of cards
I hope everyone who lost their minds sleeps better now that these 2 got paid…. except the poor fans of Philly and Sd ofc
Let me get this right… I want paid a full season for half a season work. He’s worried about corona… you will start in what… 15-20 games. Go to your local Walmart, I’m sure they’d be happy to pay people for half a years work
Go and read what Snell actually said. At no point is he saying he wants his full years salary
He clearly states that he wants “what’s mine”.
So he doesn’t want what’s his then? Are you drew rosenhaus?
The kid could definitely use a Snickers about right now.
Oh yeah Snell is at such an extreme risk by playing baseball. Whatever. How about the guy who has to go work at a meat packing plant in much more crowded environment…for about 10% of what Snell’s REDUCED salary would be. People who go to the bar at night are at a greater risk. Sorry Blake…I’ve got exactly 0 sympathy for you
Are the meatpacking plants renegotiating the salary of the workers so that they get paid less than previously agreed? Seriously, put this in perspective people. Why are you siding with the billionaires? This is exactly the reaction that they want
Meat packers are likely being paid more as hazard pay. Deservedly so imo as they are essential for all of us to keep eating, not to mention their extremely low pay to begin with. Also at a much higher risk for infection and certainly don’t have the available healthcare a professional athlete does.
Dumb response, hate to tell it to you einstein but if they don’t go to work they don’t get paid.
Is there any legitimate reason for an MLB organization to have a payroll less than nine figures?
I know not every team can break the bank, but I’d be in favor MLB implementing a payroll floor.
So, that’s kind of the opposite of the situation.
Owners basically want a cap.
Yeah, it’s be two sides of the same coin for sure. I know the NBA has a cap and a floor. Not sure if the NFL has a floor.
because the Rays have been able to make a contending team without doing so while many ars spending more while having garbage teams.
Teams like Tampa Bay and Oakland have been able to put together good-to-great teams operating with very small budgets. The problem is that hasn’t come with a ton of postseason success. Even though it’s a crapshoot, those teams are so well-managed I’d bet they’d put an extra 20-30 million to good use.
Not upset about Snell’s comments. Agree actually. As a diehard baseball fan since the 1960’s, I hope everyone realizes who the real heroes are. I’ll miss baseball but I’ll survive. Au revoir
A little heavy on AL East posts lately…
theyre probably starting in the AL East and going fron there. just an easier way to organize things
Probably, but still, 7 of the 13 posts from the last 24 hours are focused on the AL East. I get the Expansion Draft series and I like that, but mix things up a bit.
What do y mean lately?
Snell’s interview – someone has been watching too many rap videos haha…
why don’t these posts have more details in them? Like actually listing the players who are owed the ‘future $ obligations’ — every time I click on one of these articles I expect to see some details or breakdowns of who’s owed what… And then it’s literally just the #/$ owed. Seems kind of pointless… don’t get me wrong I love this site and the extra effort being put in to continue to have content even when the sports world is on hold… just would like to actually have something to read/look-through in terms of these future salary obligation posts as opposed to literally just clicking and seeing the $ with no real context.
These sports stars supposedly went to college, yet can’t comprehend basic math. If there is no revenue, there is no money to pay them. I also do not understand expecting to be paid the same for less work. Spoiled athletes. “I have to get mine bro”. He doesn’t understand that if there is no money coming in and these salaries are forced to be paid, there won’t be a league anymore, it will fold, and they will cease receiving their salary regardless.
Did you know that going to college isn’t a prerequisite for playing in the MLB?
I’d propose that between the INT market and high school picks, less than half of the players did not attend college.
Then in response to Dodger, they do want fair pay. They want it prorated. 81 games = half their salary. Its the teams that want to back out on their CONTRACTS. Teams still have their TV deals and merch sales to pay the players. The problem is the owners don’t want to 50M instead of 150M this year in order to pay the players what they agreed to.
Also, college apparently doesn’t teach about unions, because the players union has the legal right to decline any pay proposal.
Let’s get the season started already. I’m ready for a Yankees vs Dodgers World Series.
A likely scenario, but in a shortened season, anything can happen.
Where are you getting the idea that there will be no money coming in? Ballpark operations and ticket sales are the only revenues that will be cut off and both of those carry regular expenses as well. Teams (read: owners) will still make huge dollars from TV and revenue sharing.
I doubt it’ll happen, but one move that would put them over the top, IMO, is if JDM opts out after this year and they sign him. It’d be a massive upgrade at DH and for their offense as a whole. There’s really not much thunder in their lineup; pitching is great, defense is good, their offense could use a boost. Probably more than they want to spend, but I think in terms of $/additional WAR, meaning considering the person they’re replacing. With that perspective, it seems like he’d be more cost efficient than making several smaller upgrades around the diamond.
One thing I refuse to listen to or entertain is Rays ownership whining about their financial problems. If they insist on staying in a location where they have a terrible ballpark situation and refuse to strongly entertain a serious plan for relocating to a better market I could not care less what happens to the franchise. They’re extremely good at scouting and developing talent but unless they take it to the next level they will continue to be a feeder team for the rest of the Majors like the KC A’s were back in the 50s & early 60s.
I guess that $ figure doesn’t include the $300m that Wander Franco will be getting in 4 years!
Are you assuming they’ll extend him? Because to my knowledge, they’ll have him for the standard 6 (7 if they play service time games) years that other players get. So they should either sign him to an extension early or just keep waiting. Three years into his MLB career (I’m assuming he’s a year away), people will have a pretty good idea of what he’s really worth, so they’d have all of the risk (injuries, performance falling off), with a significantly lower financial savings reward. And I doubt whether, when he does become a FA, they can afford to keep him if he’s as special as he seems.
You obviously missed Wanders comments a week or so ago, otherwise you’d realize that Phil’s saying that tongue in cheek.
Simple solution –
Play ball
Have Snell sit home collect nothing
Have him come back a year later worse off, lowering his next contract (Oh wait he did just do that w his “getting mine” statement”
Like Bill James said, the game isnt going to remember or slow down for you Snell, EVER !
Thread lightly, besides sounding like a fool your costing yourself millions by opening your mouth
If he wants to fall on the sword be my guest but nobodies going to care by Day 3 of the shortened season