2013 Estimated Team Payroll

The Giants, after another title run will likely increase the payroll for the 4th consecutive year, according to general manager Brian Sabean. This means that the Giants are a team that believes in re-investing to sustain excellence and it has been remarkably successful of late, obviously. They entered the 2012 season with a team payroll of around 118 million dollars and then added another 14 million in acquisitions during the season. The players they added, especially Scutaro and Pence, had a major impact and led them to pulling away in the division and eventually winning it all again.

Their payroll, entering last season ranked 8th in the majors and you can look for them to stay right around that spot. However, the payroll is expected to go up by about 10-20 million and there is no reason to believe they wouldn't be willing to add to that during the season if it gave them a chance to make another deep run in Orangetober. Now, with the payroll going up, many players are contractually guaranteed raises and that will account for about half of the increase. However, the Giants also are finally free of the Aaron Rowand contract and about 27% of the payroll from last year went to Rowand, Huff, Melky and Freddy Sanchez. None of them are expected to be brought back, in fact Huff has already been bought out at a price of three million dollars.

So, the budget is their to add to the team. I do expect that they will find a way to get Scutaro and Affeldt signed, sooner rather than later. After that, the team should have in the neighborhood of 20-25 million left to spend. The question then is how do you spend it. That will be up the genius that is our GM, Brian Sabean. I have been calling for Hamilton to get a long look from the Giants. Based upon the budget, they can afford him but I wouldn't want to see him get a 6-7 year deal from the Giants. That is apparently what many expect him to want. Some team maybe foolish enough to do it but I strongly doubt that it will be Sabean and the Giants.

Whether Hamilton ends up in San Francisco or not, I trust that Sabean will continue to mold the Giants into a winning team for years to come. There are plenty of options in the outfield, including Angel Pagan who is going to get a significant payday somewhere, so the Giants need to take their time and really get the best fit for this team at this time. They don't necessarily need to make the biggest splash but it is nice to know that ownership is willing to spend the money if the right situation comes up. That is all we can ask for as fans, isn't it?

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