Mets Projected Payroll Drops On The Eve Of The Winter Meetings

Sandy Alderson met with team reporters last night on the even of the winter meetings.  He said alot, to include the fact that the Mets will likely trade Ike Davis this week.  However, the one thing that probably chapped Mets fans the most was that he reiterated that he doesn't believe the 2015 payroll will be any less than 2013's $85 million dollars.  What..what?

You'll recalled just prior to Thanksgiving that ESPN NY reported that Alderson stated the 2014 payroll would be no less than 2013's $87 million dollars.  So why the change?  Well to be honest we don't know because no one in the room called him on it.  So what does that mean?

Over the weekend we dove into the Mets budget (HERE), or lack there of, and determined that the team would of had $12 million dollars remaining to spend this winter.  The following day it was reported by Newsday's Marc Carig that the Mets by his estimate had $13 million dollars remaining.  There is also an outlier report by the boys over at MetsBlog that the team has between $17-$20 million to spend.  The only way I can get to that number is if I include the salaries of the players, such as Ike Davis and Daniel Murphy that could be freed up if they are traded.

At the end of the day, by whatever projection your decide to use the target minimum payroll of the New York Mets for 2014 dropped two million dollars last night, and that's not good.