Crossposted from my silly blog (RSS-it already)

It's that time of year again when beat writers dust off their math and attempt to calculate an official baseball team's payroll for the season.  Like it matters much, all it does is heighten expectations (logically:  higher payroll from PY = more wins this year).

Haudricourt from the JS came up with a number close to $73mm, which isn't all that bad.  However, I came up with a number of close to $77mm based off of the wonderful Cot's Baseball Contracts numbers and my own gumption.  Obviously, neither number will actually be the final number as players are cut, signed to different deals (in the Brewers case, their glut of young position players), or should finish arbitration any day now (ie Hardy).  First, the key:

The Brewers have no contracts (as far as I can tell) without a player option.  Obviously a conscious part of the braintrust.  The major league minimum contract in 2008 is worth $390,000, so where players figures aren't known, I've inputted that number.  Players are eligible for salary arbitration after their third, but before their sixth, year in the majors.  Braun may actually qualify under a "Super 2" rule if things go his way this year, which means he would be arb-eligible prior to next season.  Alright, on to the spreadsheet:

(I'm a sucker for color coding and organization, it really makes things better, doesn't it?)

Alright, now, as a Brewers fan, how can you not be excited about the future?  Should injuries be minimized, players signed to reasonable contracts, and players performing to our unnecessarily lofty expectations, the Brewers current window of opportunity appears to be 2008-2011, four full years of players.  Of course, the youngsters could turn on the team, the team could go south, and they could be on their way out of town in 2011, but still ... lots of optimism in these silly colors.  Heck, the Brewers could even sign a few of the key players beyond 2011 and keep them until the decline.

The  infield is set (of course), and even starters if Gallardo and Villanueva pitch as well as we think they will (with Suppan as the Charlie Liebrandt of the rotation for many more years to come).  Outfield could be an issue if Braun doesn't take to LF (ha!) or LaPorta doesn't pan out.  The bullpen is a fickle thing, one year contracts are the nature of the pen at the moment.
Maybe I can write something about baseball soon.