Breaking Down the 2025 Opening Day Payroll
Turns out this is the second year in a row I need to issue an apology.
While I find the challenge I took on last year—tracking the entire league the way I do the Pittsburgh Pirates—extremely fulfilling (if not foolish), there is no question it is very time-consuming. One of the only things I don’t like about it is that it does put the Pirates on the back burner sometimes, and it turned out to be the case again.
I have been doing this article at any number of publications since 2018, so I certainly don’t plan on stopping anytime soon. Unfortunately, it just came a little later than I’d like, but the good news is it’s not as if anything has changed about the Opening Day projection.
As always, I’d like to make the disclaimer that I couldn’t care less what this number is—at least in terms of the way most other fans do. With all the drama surrounding the Pirates’ payroll, my main concern is giving the most accurate number there is, not how much the Pirates are actually spending.
For a more in-depth, line-by-line breakdown, check out (and save) my payroll tracker that I’ll keep updated throughout the season. As a matter of practicality, my estimates assume that every transaction will be the last; however, we know that’s not the case. Moves will happen all season, and I’ll be tracking every one and their effect on the final figure.
Guaranteed Salaries: $85,165,333
With his extension from last season taking full effect, Mitch Keller moved into the lead as far as the top earner on the team, with a salary of $15 million for 2025. Bryan Reynolds is second at $12 million, with a large gap between second and third—Isiah Kiner-Falefa at $7.5 million.
In comparison to the two prior offseasons—in which the team committed over $30 million in free agent dollars—they promised quite a bit less, committing $19.95 million to six players.
An arbitration class of seven (if you want to count Justin Lawrence) totals $14,597,000, while the rest is made up of pre-arbitration salaries to twelve players.
As I always like to point out, opening day figures can be inflated due to players starting on the injured list. Four players ended up there—less than normal—and while an injured player’s salary still counts against the total, they also need replaced with another making a major league salary.
The longer a player stays on the IL, the less volatile those swings will be. For example, the replacement for Jared Jones is going to cost the team more in the long-run than patch-working the roster for Spencer Horwitz, or at least that’s likely.
Minor League Salary: $2,175,414
More often than not, when a player is in the minors, they are paid at a different, lesser rate than their major league salary. Industry standard is 50% of a player’s total earnings from the prior season.
Kyle Nicolas was the highest to start at $322,769, with four other players making over $200,000 while in the minors.
The minimum for a player with prior service—or signing their second career contract—is $123,900. The Pirates didn’t protect any players from the Rule 5 Draft, so no player is making the first-contract minimum of $62,000.
Outright Assignments: $613,139
When a player gets outrighted to the minors after they are tendered a contract, the team is still committed to their salary for the season—the level of which depends on contractual status of the player.
All of Alika Williams, Joshua Palacios, and Peter Strzelecki were outrighted after being tendered, so they are on the team’s ledger despite not being on the 40-man roster to start the season.
The entirety of Palacios’ and Strzelecki’s salaries aren’t here, as they were paid at the major league rate—and gained a few days of service—while they were in designated for assignment limbo to start the season. This is because they weren’t on optional assignment at the time of the designation.
Signing Bonuses: $2,161,500
For Labor Relations Department purposes—what’s being covered here—signing bonuses are prorated over the life of a contract. That means that both Reynolds and Keller are accounted for here—and will be for the foreseeable future.
Included on top of those two long-term deals this season is Andrew Heaney, who received a portion of his $5.25 million commitment as a signing bonus—$1.5 million.
This is becoming more popular around the league, with the likeliest explanation being that in-season salary is taxed where the player earns their salary, while a bonus is taxed in the state in which the player resides. Purely speculation, but it’s likely Heaney’s state of residence has a friendlier tax landscape than Pennsylvania, and this is something—best I can tell—that the team hasn’t done in a long time.
Cash Considerations: $100,000
Simple one here, as the only player whose cash counts for LRD purposes is Brett de Geus.
2025 Payroll Projection: $90,215,386
While it’s not going to be enough for many, this is the highest opening day figure the club has had since 2017, when they started at over $94.6 million.
In addition to the figure above, I calculated the Collective Balance Tax payroll—just as teams have both—which started at $111,541,793. This includes an estimated $17.5 million in player benefits, as well as the Pirates’ $1.67 million share of the pre-arbitration bonus pool. Aside from these two figures, the two measures are closer than they normally are on a season-by-season basis.
You can find these totals in the payroll spreadsheets as well, and I will be tracking both of these figures as the season goes.
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Overheard outside the Nuttin Suite on Federal St:
“$100K gone on Brett de Geus! Get my lawyer on the phone!!”
Naturally, Iove this stuff. Thanks for the article.