The Royals began the season with an Opening Day payroll of $100 million, according to numbers from Sportrac. That number is a significant decline of 19 percent over last year’s figure, when the team fielded a $123 million payroll. Those numbers include players on the active roster and on the injured list, such as Salvador Perez, who is out for the entire year with an elbow injury. The Royals have insurance to cover an undisclosed amount of Perez’s salary this year. Performance incentives are not included in these figures.
The numbers do not count Eric Skoglund, who is suspended 80 games without pay for violating the league’s banned substances policy.