Question of the week: What will the 2026 Opening Day payroll look like?

[Brock Beauchamp]

Let us know your thoughts!

[Mike Sixel]

Under 110. 

[thelanges5]

I voted for 111 to 120 but I feel like that’s being optimistic. Everything is setting up like the Pohlads are gonna ride this thing through the new CBA and then try to sell again.  I like the end result there, but they aren’t going to spend money in the next two years.

[yeahyabetcha]

15 hours ago, Mike Sixel said:

Under 110. 

Is that a good plan or bad plan in your opinion?

[Major League Ready]

Anything over $110M assumes they abandon the rebuild, Teams don’t sign expensive free agents in a rebuild. What would be even worse would be to fill a roster spot with an average veteran player that could be used to audition real solutions.  It would make sense they add to the BP via free agency because they have nothing so unless they fill the BOP with guys like Kline, they need something but the BP is the only place I see free agent spending as likely.  I really don’t understand the obsession with payroll knowing they likely continue to rebuild.

If they abandon the rebuild, and assume they spend $150M, there is much to discuss about how to spend $58M on free agents.  We would have even more to discuss about what prospects we would be willing to give up because $58M in free agency does not get us close to contention.  That’s just an opinion and I have seen very little in terms of how spending $150M would produce a contender.    That expenditure projects to produce roughly 7 additional wins.  Even if we don’t consider all of the lost production lost at the deadline, projects to 77 wins. team.  Of course, we did lose significant production from (Duran/Jax/Varland/Columbe/Bader and Correa so we probably would not project to 77 wins even if we spent an additional $55M.  
 

[old nurse]

Depending on what is out there to sign. Any reliever out there looking for a bounceback year to get a closer contract is going to come here. Same for a catcher, same for 1b. The team may be rebuilding but those holes really don’t have anybody to fill them   So the tab well could get up to the 110-120 range. 

[Parfigliano]

16 hours ago, Mike Sixel said:

Under 110. 

Agree.

[Mike Sixel]

3 hours ago, yeahyabetcha said:

Is that a good plan or bad plan in your opinion?

Their plan. Likely right given they have no bullpen, one good OF, no SS, no 1B, and a guy that might be anything from awful to great at third. And basically a rookie at second. And one catcher.