Seattle Mariners Opening Day Payroll Just Under $100M

Dec 12, 2013; Settle, WA, USA; Seattle Mariners second baseman

(22) smiles during a press conference at Safeco Field. Mandatory Credit: Joe Nicholson-USA TODAY Sports

The Seattle Mariners made strides in the offseason to address issues this team has had over the past several seasons. Those moves were highlighted by the signing of Robinson Cano.

But the team still has only the 18th-highest Opening Day payroll in baseball according to new figures complied by the Associated Press and reported on by Deadspin.

At $92,081,943 the Mariners are 8th in the American League and 3rd in their own division. Many believed that the Mariners would push $100M this season and it didn’t seem like they were even close. Here is the breakdown by player:

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It’s worth noting that the main pieces added this offseason: Cano, Corey Hart, Fernando Rodney, Willie Bloomquist, John Buck and Logan Morrison are set to earn more than the rest of the team – minus Felix Hernandez – combined.

The Mariners have two $20M+ men in Cano and Hernandez. The Tigers also have two (Justin Verlander and Miguel Cabrera). Only the Phillies (3- Cole Hamels, Cliff Lee and Ryan Howard) Dodgers (4- Carl Crawford, Matt Kemp, Adrian Gonzalez and Zach Greinke) and Yankees (4- Jacoby Ellsbury, Masahiro Tanka, CC Sabathia and Mark Teixeira) have more.

The last time the Mariners Opening Day payroll was higher than this was in 2010 when the team sported a $98.3M payroll, ninth in the bigs and went on to a 61-101 record, proving that money doesn’t necessarily buy success.

So, knowing all this; Do you consider the Mariners offseason to be a success? They went from the 24th-highest payroll in baseball to the 18th. Their 2014 payroll would have been the 15th-highest last year. So other teams added payroll this year as well.

If the Mariners had kept the same payroll from 2013, they would be the 3rd-lowest in baseball.

It’s some interesting statistics. Don’t know how much they mean in the end though. Remember, the Athletics have won the AL West each of the past two seasons with the 4th-lowest and 2nd-lowest payrolls in the majors, respectively.

Money doesn’t buy championships. Talent does. Are your 2014 Seattle Mariners talented enough? We are about to find out.