Nationals principal owner Mark Lerner says the team’s payroll is “beyond topped out”, per Adam Kilgore of the Washington Post. Lerner added, “Our payroll has skyrocketed to like $140 million. It’s in the papers. I don’t think we can go much further with the revenue streams that we have.”
Jayson Werth ($20.57 million), Ryan Zimmerman ($14 million), Rafael Soriano ($14 million), and Adam LaRoche ($12 million) account for a large portion of the current payroll, at 44 percent. Lerner says the team will be more cautious in spending based on the team’s revenue. Kilgore adds that their future spending could also be determined by the direction in which negotiations over TV rights goes with MASN.
The Nationals’ payroll has skyrocketed after their 2012 success, going from $92.5 million to $118 million, then up to $135 million for the 2014 season.
