The Oakland Athletics have reached one-year arbitration settlements with Marc Rzepczynski, Eric Sogard, and Sam Fuld, the club announced Wednesday evening ahead of the 9 PM Pacific Time deadline to tender contracts to players under club control.
The club tendered contracts to arbitration-eligible players Brett Lawrie, Yonder Alonso, Josh Reddick, Danny Valencia,Jarrod Parker, Fernando Rodriguez, and Evan Scribner, the club also announced in a press release. They also came to terms with pre-arbitration outfielder Andrew Lambo.
Ike Davis was the only player non-tendered from the 40-man roster today, and Felix Doubront reached a $2 million settlement of his arbitration case earlier as well, with $500,000 guaranteed.
What's clear is that the A's are going to be making more moves, and Sam Fuld at a discount from the $2.3 million he was predicted to earn at arbitration has some minimal trade value. Eric Sogard can be optioned to Triple-A if the A's hold onto both Brett Lawrie and Danny Valencia or make other infield prospect promotions this season. Evan Scribner gets another chance, but ultimately paying him 45 days salary if he doesn't make the cut out of spring training isn't a huge impact on salary.
Oakland A's 25-man and contracted players payroll projection | |||||
Position Players | Pitchers | ||||
Player | 2016 (Swartz est.) | Type | Player | 2016 (Swartz est.) | Type |
Coco Crisp | $11,000,000 | Contract | Rich Hill | $6,000,000 | Contract |
Billy Butler | $10,000,000 | Contract | Marc Rzepczynski | $2,950,000 | Arb. Settlement |
Jed Lowrie | $7,500,000 | Contract | Felix Doubront | $2,000,000 | Arb. Settlement |
Josh Reddick | $7,000,000 | Arb. Tender | Sean Doolittle | $1,580,000 | Contract |
Brett Lawrie | $3,900,000 | Arb. Tender | Fernando Rodriguez | $1,300,000 | Arb. Tender |
Danny Valencia | $3,400,000 | Arb. Tender | Jarrod Parker | $850,000 | Arb. Tender |
Yonder Alonso | $2,500,000 | Arb. Tender | Evan Scribner | $700,000 | Arb. Tender |
Sam Fuld | $1,925,000 | Arb. Settlement | Liam Hendriks | $507,500 | Minimum |
Eric Sogard | $1,500,000 | Arb. Settlement | Sean Nolin | $507,500 | Minimum |
Stephen Vogt | $507,500 | Minimum | Sonny Gray | $507,500 | Minimum |
Billy Burns | $507,500 | Minimum | Jesse Hahn | $507,500 | Minimum |
Mark Canha | $507,500 | Minimum | Chris Bassitt | $507,500 | Minimum |
Marcus Semien | $507,500 | Minimum | |||
Josh Phegley | $507,500 | Minimum | |||
Other expenses | |||||
September callups (15) | $ 1,200,000 | ||||
GRAND TOTAL | $ 68,857,500 |
Payroll is still under $70 million with the Winter Meetings coming up next week. If Doubront is ultimately cut, subtract another million from the total, two million minus his guaranteed half-million and his replacement's (say, Kendall Graveman) league minimum half-million.
What's most interesting is how the A's deal with their roster crunch as they make more acquisitions. They have 39 players on their 40-man roster after releasing Ike Davis today. Arnold Leon comes to mind as the next choice to waive off the roster if a spot is needed, as he's out of options. There will be some difficult choices to make beyond him, however.