Tribe payroll - paging Rigs & Swerb, white courtesy phon

[jb]

http://www.ohio.com/mld/ohio/sports/17046888.htm

BTW - This convinces me more than anything of the owrthlessness of mainstream media at times and why Steve Buffum is the best TRoiber writer anyplace, anywhere, and others on the site blow away these fishwrap hacks. Peep dis:

Ocker on the Indians
If money talks, Indians are mute
Payroll last in division, 23rd overall, but not whole story
By Sheldon Ocker
Get ready, Indians fans. It's time to moan and groan.

Why? Because your team's anemic payroll has been exposed to the light of day in USA Today's annual list of major-league salaries.

As the season gets under way, the Tribe's payroll is a paltry $61,673,267, but that includes four players who are on the disabled list: Matt Miller, Joe Inglett, Franklin Gutierrez and Cliff Lee.

Lee and Miller will return to the active roster when they are healthy. Two players currently on the team will have to return to Triple-A in addition to Gutierrez and Inglett. The luckless twosome probably will be Fausto Carmona and Tom Mastny.

So when those adjustments are made, the 25 players on the big-league roster will earn a shade more than $60 million, which ranks last in the American League Central Division and 23rd in the big leagues.

First, let's put the blame squarely where it belongs, on Keith Foulke, who had the nerve to retire on the first day of spring training, passing up $5 million. If Foulke wants to set an example of selflessness in an industry that thrives on selfishness and ego, that's his business.

But when he costs his club a potential $5 million rise in the payroll rankings (the Indians still would be 23rd), that's a different matter. What further proof is needed to show that Foulke is not a team player?

Biggest.... shill.... ever.

[swerb]

It's really amazing. The Indians have carried a bottom 5 payroll for half a decade now, and still have all the prominent beat guys praising them for it.

Name one other city you could pull that off in.

The softball media in this town and lack of alternatives was the #1 reason I started this thing.

This year, the Indians did spend a little more. Woulda been close to an acceptable 70 mill with Foulke. But they still refuse to give any legitimate talent more than a one year deal, choosing instead to overpay stiffs for a one year roll of the dice.

They cover all theor bases. They can tell savvy fans that can read through fluff pieces like Ockers "Hey, we tried to spend 70 mill this year". At the same time, they still have next to no money booked (comparatively speaking) for future seasons ... maintaining that all important "flexibility" that they never take advantage of.

This year, the Indians had a chance to go out and get two guys they badly needed.

Nasty setup guy Justin Speier (coulda closed here), who went to Anaheim on a three year deal while we gave one year deals to a retired guy and a guy who failed a physical in Philly.

And Moises Alou, who they expected to come to Cleveland for relatively the same amt of $$$ offered by the Mets. They should have never given him a choice. 2/23 woulda got it done. They offered 1/11 and 2/20, and were appalled that he took the Mets 1/10 instead.

[consigliere]

I'm not worried 'bout it.

Still proclaim the payroll is progressively increasing. Once some of these guys start hitting arby, or their deals start maturing, the payroll will inflate. I posted it somewhere else, but the combo of Vic, Sizemore, Sabathia, Hafner, Victor, Lee and Peralta all see their combined deals increase by $10-12M next year.

One of the biggest problems with these payroll listings is age is not included. For the most part, the Indians are a very young team. Young teams are generally cheaper. Once that talent starts hitting arby years or those deals they signed to carry them through their arby years start maturing, the payroll will increase significantly just on that alone.

I said mid 60s in 2007, and low 70s in 2008 when to me it maxes out. I don't see any way this team can afford a payroll over $75M going forward.