The Padres’ opening day payroll for their initial 30-man roster checks in at a little more than $59 million, their lowest since 2012.
Of course, that statement requires an asterisk or two.
The 2012 team’s numbers were projected over a 162-game season. This year’s payroll projection is based off Major League Baseball’s 60-game season calling for players to be paid roughly 37 percent of their full-season salaries. It’s also been expanded from 25 players last year to 30 this year (rosters will shrink to 28 and then 26 over the coming weeks).
Over a full season, this roster would have pushed the franchise record for an opening day payroll past $140 million, an upward trend that has continued since the Ron Fowler/Peter Seidler ownership group settled in after the 2012 season.