Brewers' payroll takes a 50% jump but remains one of the lowest in the majors

SAN DIEGO - The Milwaukee Brewers’ payroll figured to take a big jump in 2018, and not merely because of the acquisitions of star outfielders Lorenzo Cain and Christian Yelich.

Cain ($12 million salary) and Yelich ($7 million) provided a bump to the payroll but so did the addition of pitcher Jhoulys Chacín ($9.5 million) early in the winter. The Brewers also had a handful of returning players reach arbitration for the first time while adding veteran bullpen help in Matt Albers ($2.5 million) and Boone Logan ($1.875 million).

Add it all together and you get a 50% jump to about $90 million in player salaries for 2018.

Another reason the Brewers’ payroll was bound to jump this year was its bottom-feeder status in 2017. After management stripped the team of veterans during a large-scale rebuild, the team payroll plunged to below $60 million for the past two seasons, ranking at the bottom of the 30 clubs.

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The Brewers are also spending money elsewhere, including $60 million to renovate their spring training facility as well as funds committed to buying the Class A Carolina franchise and building a new complex in the Dominican Republic. They also made a $20 million improvement to concessions at Miller Park before the 2017 season.

In a recent interview on MLB Network Radio, Brewers principal owner Mark Attanasio said some of the decisions made over the winter "were more for keeping our powder dry" for mid-season acquisitions. In other words, instead of stretching the budget for a big-name starting pitcher, the team wanted to keep financial flexibility should a move be warranted for the playoff push.

When you subtract deferred money, such as the $4 million that Ryan Braun is stashing away for a rainy day, the actual player payroll is just over $84 million. Adding the $500,000 spent to buy out Yovani Gallardo’s non-guaranteed $2 million contract and payments from past deferments to Kyle Lohse and Aramis Ramirez brings it to just over $90 million (Matt Garza is due $2 million in deferred pay in December but that is not included here).

The Brewers factor in other projected commitments, such as incentives and call-ups from the minors, and therefore consider their payroll to be north of $100 million for budgetary purposes.

Even with the increases, the Brewers' payroll projects to remain in the bottom five of major-league clubs and figures to be half of what the Chicago Cubs are spending on players this season. Keep that in mind when you're wondering why they have more star players than the Brewers.

Only Pittsburgh (projected $87.3 million), Tampa Bay ($77.7 million), the Chicago White Sox ($70.1 million) and Oakland ($67.5 million) will have lower payrolls than the Brewers, and none of those clubs is expected to be a contender.

2018 Brewers salaries

OF Ryan Braun: $15 million*

OF Lorenzo Cain: $12 million**

RHP Jhoulys Chacin: $9.5 million salary***

OF Christian Yelich: $7 million

RHP Chase Anderson: $5.25 million#

1B Eric Thames: $5 million

RHP Jimmy Nelson (DL): $3.7 million

RHP Corey Knebel: $3.65 million

C Stephen Vogt (DL): $3.065 million

2B Jonathan Villar: $2.55 million

RHP Matt Albers: $2.5 million

INF Eric Sogard: $2.4 million

UTIL Hernán Pérez: $1.975 million

LHP Boone Logan (DL): $1.875 million

RHP Jeremy Jeffress: $1.7 million

1B Ji-Man Choi: $850,000

RF Domingo Santana: $572,400

RHP Zach Davies: $572,000

3B Travis Shaw: $567,400

C Manny Piña: $560,100

SS Orlando Arcia: $559,600

RHP Jacob Barnes: $558,900

1B Jesús Aguilar: $557,200

LHP Josh Hader: $556,500

LHP Brent Suter: $556,500

RHP Oliver Drake: $554,300

C Jett Bandy: $550,700

RHP Brandon Woodruff: $550,100

$500,000 payment to release Yovani Gallardo.

Deferred payments due: Aramis Ramirez, $3.0 million; Kyle Lohse, $2.333 million.

Total: $90,563,700

*Does not include $4 million deferred

**Does not include $1 million deferred

***Includes $1.5 million signing bonus

#Includes $1 million signing bonus

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