Bottom line, the A’s have to increase their payroll to the $105 million range in order to avoid a grievance from the players association. Essentially, the A’s have to spend more than 150% of their revenue sharing money (roughly $70 million) on their payroll.
So, where do they stand and how can they get to this threshold of around $105 million?
Current Payroll Situation
The A’s only have four players who are not pre-arbitration in 2025. Luis Severino ($20M AAV), Brent Rooker (projected $3.5M),T.J. McFarland ($1.8M), and Seth Brown ($2.7M). If you take Spotrac’s projections on the rest of the 40-man roster, the A’s would be around $56 million, other sites have them closer to $54 million. Regardless, the A’s have to spend.
These projections are not exact but close enough to work with. Of course, they do not include any trades that might happen. Keep in mind, for every player they add, one most come off the 40-man as well, presumably deducting roughly $800,000 (pre-arb contract) from their total.
Options to Increase Payroll
Usually, a team can go out and simply overpay for a player and the discussion is over. However, with the A’s ownership not having a solid reputation, playing in a minor league park, and eventually moving to Vegas, the situation is not as attractive as most overpays you might see.
If the A’s prefer to keep flexibility down the road, they could just load up on one-year deals.