The A's entered the 2018 season with the lowest payroll in Major League Baseball at about $63 million. That number increased to around $80 million by the end of the season.
Heading into 2019, there is plenty of uncertainty, with only two players officially under contract. With that in mind, we take an early look at the 2019 payroll:
Guaranteed contracts
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SIGN UP HERE Stephen Piscotty: $7,333,333
Yusmeiro Petit: $5,500,000
Retained salary
Brandon Moss: $1,000,000
Club options
Athletics
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Fernando Rodney: $4,250,000 ($250,000 buyout)
--- Assuming the A's buy Rodney out, that adds up to just $14,083,333 in guaranteed payroll for next season.
Arbitration
Here are the players on the A's 40-man roster eligible for arbitration, along with their projected arbitration number from MLB Trade Rumors:
Khris Davis - $18.1M
Mike Fiers - $9.7M
Marcus Semien - $6.6M
Blake Treinen - $5.8M
Sean Manaea - $3.8M
Kendall Graveman - $2.5M
Cory Gearrin - $2.4M
Liam Hendriks - $2.1M
Mark Canha - $2.1M
Chris Bassitt - $1.6M
Ryan Buchter - $1.3M
Josh Phegley - $1.2M
Ryan Dull - $900K
--- If the A's keep all of these players, their projected cost would be $58.1 million. If the A's choose not to bring back Graveman, Gearrin, Bassitt, Phegley, and Dull, that number would go down to $49.5 million, bringing the total up to about $63.5 million.
Pre-arbitration
The following players on the 40-man roster are not yet eligible for arbitration and will likely make somewhere between $500,000 and $600,000:
Matt Olson
Matt Chapman
Franklin Barreto
Nick Martini
Ramón Laureano
Chad Pinder
Dustin Fowler
Jharel Cotton
Andrew Triggs
Paul Blackburn
Daniel Mengden
Daniel Gossett
Frankie Montas
Emilio Pagan
Lou Trivino
J.B. Wendelken
--- These salaries should end up around $9 million, bringing the total payroll to about $72.5 million.
Unrestricted free agents
Here are the A's unrestricted free agents, along with their 2018 salaries:
Jeurys Familia: $7.925M
Jonathan Lucroy - $6.5M
Jed Lowrie - $6M
Matt Joyce - $6M
Shawn Kelley - $5.6M
Edwin Jackson - $1.5M
Brett Anderson - $1.5M
Trevor Cahill - $1.5M
--- If the A's re-signed Lucroy, Lowrie, and Jackson, it would likely cost them somewhere around $15 million, bringing the total payroll close to $90 million. And that's without adding any free agents.
Clearly, Oakland will have some difficult decisions to make.