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2010 Payroll Projection Following the Winter Meetings

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The 2010 Winter Meetings saw the Pittsburgh Pirates sign three players: Scott Olsen, Kevin Correia, and Matt Diaz, along with making a Rule 5 selection, taking Josh Rodriguez from the Cleveland Indians.  The only signing that has been made official so far has been Olsen, so there are technically two spots open on the 40-man roster.  However, since Correia and Diaz should be added in the next week, I went ahead and updated the 2010 40-man roster/payroll projection.

The payroll projection currently sits at $36,383,000, after estimated arbitration raises to Joel Hanrahan and Ross Ohlendorf.  There are two potential moves that could lower that projected payroll:

1. A Ryan Doumit Trade – The Pirates would most likely have to pick up a large portion of Doumit’s salary to get any value in return, although I can see a Doumit trade (if it happens) cutting $1-2 M off the payroll.

2. A Paul Maholm Trade – The Pirates seem to be shopping Maholm, who makes $5.75 M this year.  Like Doumit, I could see the Pirates picking up some of Maholm’s salary to get a better return.  They might shed some salary, although if Maholm is moved I think the salary they cut gets spent on Kenshin Kawakami.

For reference, the Pirates opened with a $39 M payroll in 2010.  Prior to that, they started in the $48.6 M range the previous two seasons.

Tim Williams
Tim Williams
Tim is the owner, producer, editor, and lead writer of PiratesProspects.com. He has been running Pirates Prospects since 2009, becoming the first new media reporter and outlet covering the Pirates at the MLB level in 2011 and 2012. His work can also be found in Baseball America, where he has been a contributor since 2014 and the Pirates' correspondent since 2019.

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