The Dodgers need to cut payroll after reaching $1 billion in player spending - MLB

If there’s any threat to the Dodgers’ ability to contend in 2017, it’s the size of their payroll. Bill Shaikin of the Los Angeles Times reports that the team spent approximately $1.181 billion in four years and needs to reduce their debt if they plan to comply with league rules. Shaikin adds that the debt is currently estimated to be in the “hundreds of millions.”

On average, the Dodgers have dumped an annual $295 million into player payroll dating back through 2013, when Guggenheim Baseball Management assumed control of the club. The expenditures were assumed to be a necessary part of the team’s efforts to stay competitive while remodeling their player development program. It’s this mentality that gives Dodgers’ ownership some comfort heading into the 2017 season. Via Shaikin:

So while the Dodgers would have to pay big in order to keep established stars such as third baseman Justin Turner and closer Kenley Jansen from signing elsewhere as free agents, the club says it otherwise is able to operate more efficiently because it has a minor league system that is churning out the young, relatively inexpensive talent necessary to sustain a perennial contender.

Retaining Turner and Jansen won’t come cheap, as the two figure to be in the top tier of free agents this offseason.

MLB debt service rules stipulate that a team cannot exceed “12 times annual revenue, minus expenses,” and all teams under new ownership must adhere to the guidelines within a five-year period. Any organization found in violation of the debt service rule can be subject to one of 16 disciplinary options, the most extreme requiring a suspension of ownership and management.

No details on how the Dodgers will reduce their mountain of debt have been released, but neither club ownership nor MLB commissioner Rob Manfred appears overly concerned about the team’s ability to compete for another NL West title while cutting their expenses.

I think the Dodgers will be in a position that they can comply with our expectations in terms of the debt service rule, without any dramatic alteration in the kind of product they have been putting on the field,” Manfred said.

SAN DIEGO — The scuffling San Diego Padres claimed catcher Gary Sánchez off waivers from the New York Mets.

The two-time All-Star was designated for assignment after playing in three games for the Mets. He went 1 for 6 with three strikeouts and an RBI, looking shaky at times behind the plate.

With the disappointing Padres (24-29) getting meager offensive production at catcher, they hope Sánchez can provide a boost. Austin Nola is batting .131 with three extra-base hits and a paltry .434 OPS in 39 games. His part-time platoon partner, second-stringer Brett Sullivan, is hitting .170 with four extra-base hits and a .482 OPS in 21 games since getting called up from the minors April 16.

Luis Campusano has been on the injured list since April 17 and is expected to be sidelined until around the All-Star break following left thumb surgery.

San Diego is responsible for just over $1 million in salary for Sánchez after assuming his $1.5 million, one-year contract.

The star-studded Padres have lost seven of 11 and are 3-3 on a nine-game East Coast trip. They open a three-game series at Miami.

San Diego becomes the third National League team to take a close look at the 30-year-old Sánchez this season. He spent time in the minors with San Francisco before getting released May 2 and signing a minor league contract a week later with the Mets, who were minus a couple of injured catchers at the time.

After hitting well in a short stint at Triple-A Syracuse, he was promoted to the big leagues May 19. When the Mets reinstated catcher Tomás Nido from the injured list last week, Sánchez was cut.

Sánchez’s best seasons came early in his career with the New York Yankees, where he was runner-up in 2016 AL Rookie of the Year voting and made the AL All-Star team in 2017 and 2019.

He was traded to Minnesota before the 2022 season and batted .205 with 16 homers and 61 RBIs in 128 games last year.

With the Padres, Sánchez could also be a candidate for at-bats at designated hitter, where 42-year-old Nelson Cruz is batting .245 with three homers, 16 RBIs and a .670 OPS, and 37-year-old Matt Carpenter is hitting .174 with four homers, 21 RBIs and a .652 OPS.