Originally Posted by
clvclv
Not exactly sure how you plan to "save money there". Assuming Contreras replaces Flowers, the BEST you do is break even, and the chances you do that are remote given the season Dansby's having. Flow>>>Contreras saves around $3.4 million, but Albies' raise eats up $2 million of that, and it's pretty hard to imagine Dansby doesn't get the rest of that (if not more) through his raise in arbitration. The Ender contract is going to hurt twice as bad as it would have before.
You're missing the point here. Trying to figure out how to keep payroll from going up in 2021 is a waste of time - it's going down significantly, and not just in Atlanta. Most arbitration-eligible players making any money of consequence (Folty, Camargo, Jackson) as well as players with team options in their contracts that AREN'T significant pieces of your 2021 team will become free-agents this winter. Teams are going to look to cut costs EVERYWHERE. Chances are really good that all of the following guys can be added to the list of free-agents...
Jake Arrieta ($20,000,000)
Carlos Santana ($17,500,000)
Bret Gardner ($10,000,000)
Edwin Encarnacion ($12,000,000)
David Robertson ($12,000,000)
Anibal Sanchez ($12,000,000)
Wilson Ramos ($10,000,000)
Corey Kluber ($18,000,000)
Robinson Chirinos ($6,500,000)
Brad Hand ($10,000,000)
Steve Cishek ($6,750,000)
Chase Anderson ($9,250,000)
Kolten Wong ($12,500,000)
Gio Gonzalez ($7,000,000)
Todd Frazier ($5,750,000)
Sergio Romo ($5,000,000)
Hector Neris ($7,000,000)
Eric Sogard ($4,500,000)
Mike Zunino ($4,500,000)
Chris Archer ($11,000,000)
Those numbers are what the players' options are, and there's almost no way they get close to those as free-agents in a few months. That's without looking at all the first and second time arbitration-eligible guys on rosters that are due pretty big raises.
The only guy that's getting PAID this winter is Realmuto. Springer should get a decent deal if he's not going to bet on himself with a one-year deal, but it's going to be more like what Castellanos got last winter - not 6 or more years at $20+ million. Given the circumstances, Castellanos might be better off going back to Cincinnati for 2021 to put up some more numbers and then looking at things again next winter. It's probably 50/50 whether or not Miami picks up Marte's option, and that's shocking to most of us.