The club saved some money at the deadline to tender contrac

ts."After winning 86 games and finishing a game out of the playoffs in 2017 http://www.astrosfanproshop.com/authentic-justin-verlander-jersey , the Milwaukee Brewers opened up the pocketbook and added roughly $145 mil in future payroll commitments to the books during the 2017-18 offseason. This led to close to a 50% jump in Opening Day payroll from 2017 ($63 mil) to 2018 ($91 mil). The Brewers proceeded to add even more money to the books during their run through the regular season and into the playoffs.The additional expenditures certainly aided Milwaukee’s cause, as the club improved to 96 victories and captured a division championship, securing their first playoff berth since 2011 before bowing out in game seven of the NLCS. Now the challenge for David Stearns and company will be to get the squad over the hump and into the World Series by finding ways to improve the roster for 2019 without the same kind of payroll flexibility they had entering last offseason.Our first look at next year’s payroll had the franchise bumping up against the $110 mil threshold when factoring in the projected raises for arbitration-eligible players. Since then, however, Slingin’ Stearns non-tendered three players and agreed to terms with three others, altering the lay of the land when it comes to how much money the team will be able to spend this winter:Total: $97,447,500There are a few caveats to this chart, of course:Ryan Braun ($4 mil) and Lorenzo Cain ($1 mil) have deferred money in their contracts which will be paid out at a later date.Eric Thames, Matt Albers, Jeremy Jeffress, Chase Anderson, and Cain all have various attainable incentives built into their contracts.Arbitration-eligible players Santana, Shaw, Pina, Nelson, Davies, Knebel, and Guerra do not yet have their salaries officially set for 2019 so the figures provided are projections from MLB Trade Rumors. The MLB league minimum salary rises to $555 Jose Cruz Jr. Jersey ,000 in 2019 and has been assigned to all pre-arbitration players, though ultimately many of those players will make a small amount over the league minimum. Pre-arb roster spots aren’t set in stone, but they don’t really affect the main topic of this post. So if you don’t like any of the league-minimum players on this list, swap them out for another pre-arb player. It won’t affect the payroll projection.The Brewers saved a shade over $800K on next year’s payroll by agree to below-projected contracts with Erik Kratz ($1.2 mil), Hernan Perez ($2.5 mil), and Tyler Saladino ($887.5K) and helped provide some clarity about the role players who will be filling in as depth next season. Non-tendering Jennings and Cedeno leaves the bullpen without much left-handed depth (Hader is the only healthy southpaw remaining on the 40 man roster), but according to Stearns, often times the arbitration process gives larger salaries to those types of players than what they would be able to find on the open market. Finally, the decision to move on from Jonathan Schoop and his $10+ mil arb projection provides the most financial flexibility of any of the moves made yesterday; “Look, it was a bad deal, and that’s on me,” Stearns said of the decision to trade Jonathan Villar, Jean Carmona, and Luis Ortiz to Baltimore for Schoop in late July.Overall, the payroll projection is now about $12 mil lower than it was when the offseason began, coming in at close to $97.5 mil. Assuming that the front office is willing to reach - or slightly exceed - previous levels of spending in a competitive cycle and increase personnel expenditures to $110-$120 mil in 2019, that gives the front office some $15+ mil to work with while searching for upgrades to the roster this winter. Additional space could be opened up by dealing obvious trade candidates like Chase Anderson, Eric Thames, or Matt Albers. The club now has a glaring need at second base - which Nolan Ryan Jersey , given the composition of the roster, may be best filled by a right-handed batter - and they’re sure to look for additional pitching depth, as well.Contract information courtesy of Cot’s Baseball ContractsArbitration projections courtesy of MLB Trade Rumors ARLINGTON, Texas (AP) — The Texas Rangers declined their 2019 options for catcher Robinson Chirinos and three pitchers on Friday, when their longest-tenured player stayed put.While the Rangers had been expected to let pitchers Doug Fister, Matt Moore and Martin Perez become free agents, the decision on Chirinos was a bit of a surprise. Their primary starting catcher had a $4.5 million option for next season with a $100,000 buyout.“We wanted to explore some things in the marketplace. We haven’t necessarily closed the door on Robbie by any stretch,” Daniels said. “It’s just the timing of it. We weren’t ready to commit. We wanted to explore potential alternatives behind the plate.”Shortstop Elvis Andrus, at 30 and already with the team 10 seasons, is halfway through a $120 million, eight-year deal that offered him the opportunity to become a free agent this offseason. He also has that option next year.Andrus, the only player remaining who was part of both of the team’s World Series appearances (2010 and 2011), had indicated that he was staying, but Friday was the deadline for that decision.Andrus hit .256 this season, when he went on the disabled list for the first time in his career and played only 97 games. He missed two months because of a fractured right elbow after getting hit by a pitch in April.The Rangers last offseason exercised a $6 million club option on Perez before he broke a bone in his right (non-throwing) elbow that required surgery. This time, they chose a $750,000 buyout over a $7.5 million option after he went 2-7 with a 6.22 ERA in 22 games. Daniels said the team could consider bringing him back at a lower price.“He really didn’t bounce back from the injury,” Daniels said. “I think it really affected him and led to some mechanical issues.”Moore ($750 http://www.astrosfanproshop.com/authentic-justin-verlander-jersey ,000 buyout) and Fister ($500,000) were acquisitions last offseason. Fister began the season as the team’s No. 2 starter, but went 1-7 with a 4.50 ERA in 12 starts before going on the disabled list in June with a strained right knee that kept him from pitching again. Moore was 3-8 with a 6.79 ERA in 39 games (12 starts, 27 relief appearances).The Rangers did add a potential starter when they acquired lefty Drew Smyly from the Chicago Cubs.That deal, for a player to be named later, came after the Cubs exercised the $20 million option on Cole Hamels, the lefty the Rangers traded to Chicago this summer. Texas would have had to make an additional $6 million payment to the Cubs if the pitcher’s option had been declined, triggering a $6 million buyout.Smyly signed a $10 million, two-year contract with Chicago last December that includes a $7 million salary for next year. He was healthy at the end of last season after recovering from Tommy John surgery. Daniels said Smyly had a physical in Texas, and is expected to have a normal offseason before spring training.Fister was one of six right-handers Texas activated from the 60-day disabled list. The others were Clayton Blackburn, Matt Bush, Nick Gardewine and Ronald Herrera.Blackburn, right-hander Austin Bibens-Dirkx, lefty Brandon Mann, catcher Carlos Perez and outfielder Ryan Rua to Triple-A Nashville. All are expected to decline the outright assignment and elect free agency.