Today we published our initial 2019 payroll tracker, aimed at keeping tabs on the Pirates’ payroll for the 2019 season. We run this projection every year, starting in the early offseason in order to get an idea of what the team has left to spend throughout the winter. The payroll tracker is then carried over to the regular season, where we keep track of all of the moves that take place throughout the year.
The early estimates have the Pirates spending $73,509,750 in 2019. That projection comes with the following assumptions:
**A buyout of Josh Harrison’s 2019 option, which seems pretty guaranteed based on how the team handled him in the final month of the season.
**A buyout of Jung Ho Kang’s option. I’m not sure if this is as guaranteed, but it seems safer to leave him off and consider that salary as a potential addition to the payroll, rather than something that is locked in.
**A non-tender for Ryan Lavarnway, who is out of options and arbitration eligible, which is a combo that makes him unlikely to return to a roster that has Francisco Cervelli and Elias Diaz in the majors (plus Jacob Stallings out of options).
**Expected arbitration raises for Corey Dickerson ($7.5 M), Keone Kela ($2.5 M), and Michael Feliz ($800,000).
The Pirates have finished with a payroll in the $90-109 M range in the last four years, including finishing around $90 M this past year. If that were to be used as a guide for the coming offseason, they would have at least $17 M to spend.
I’ve reviewed their needs in a lot of recent articles, including my recap of their pre-season projections. They could use a starter in either right field or at second base, with Adam Frazier taking the other starting spot. They could also use a veteran shortstop to provide insurance for Kevin Newman. Additional bench and bullpen/rotation depth also wouldn’t hurt.
We’re still about a month away from players being eligible for free agency, and probably another month after that before we start to see players beginning to sign and get traded elsewhere. So it will be some time before we know what exactly the Pirates plan on doing, and who they go after. For now, we know that they have some money available this offseason, even if they only spend up to the lowest levels that they’ve spent to in the last few years.
