How Much Is That Dog Team In The Window?

Before we get tooooo far ahead of ourselves, and charting out the future course of National- and mankind, it's probably important to take stock of where we are for next year's roster. Some salaries are estimates, and I could be way off on them; those are noted accordingly.

Rotation
$1,000,000 -- John Patterson (arbitration elgible, was $322,500)
$400,000 -- Mike O'Connor/Beltran Perez (estimate, pre-arb)

Relievers
$1,500,000 -- Chad Cordero (arbitration-eligible, was $525,000)
$1,300,000 -- Luis Ayala
$700,000 -- Jon Rauch (arbitration-eligible, was $335,000)
$700,000 -- Ryan Wagner (likely arbitration-eligible, was $380,000)
$400,000 -- Saul Rivera (estimate, pre-arb)

Catchers
$3,500,000 -- Brian Schneider

Infield
$7,500,000 -- Jose Vidro
$5,500,000 -- Nick Johnson
$4,500,000 -- Felipe Lopez (arbitration-eligible, was $2,700,000)
$4,200,000 -- Cristian Guzman
$500,000 -- Ryan Zimmerman (estimate, pre-arb)

Outfield
$3,500,000 -- Austin Kearns (arbitration-eligible, was $1,850,000)
$500,000 -- Ryan Church (estimate, pre-arb)
$400,000 -- Nook Logan (estimate, pre-arb)

That's it. Those are the only sure bets to return. The others are all roster-filler-types (like Micah Bowie) who could come back, but aren't locks -- and wouldn't come back at a significant price anyway.

That's roughly $36 million for 16 players. Assuming the payroll holds steady in the $65 million range, that leaves about $30 million for the remaining 9. And, as you can see, there's a gaping maw in the rotation and the outfield.

Let's, for the hell of it, plug some values in to get a better picture.

We need a backup catcher, so let's bring back Harper at $400,000. We need a Fick-type, a veteran pinch-hitter. He can catch, play first, and backup the OF. He made $850,000; we'll stick with that. We need a LH reliever. Mike Stanton (or his ilk) can be had for $1,000,000 or so. St. Claire seems to like 12-man staffs, so we'll take one of the New Orleans Columbus crew at $400,000. They liked Castro's speed. Maybe he can be the new Jamey Carroll at $400,000. (or Dorta or Casto or whoever at the minimum). How about an Alex Escobar/George Lombard-type as the fifth OFer? That's, say, $500,000 (to be generous).

That motley crew eats up $3,550,000.

What does that leave us with? Three empty rotation spots and a starting outfielder (either in left, if Logan's your guy, or in center, if you prefer Chuch -- and don't think he can handle center).

So we have about $27 million for three starting pitchers and a starting outfielder.

What would you do with that money? Re-sign Soriano? Let Soriano walk and dump it in pitching? You could entrust another starting spot to one of the Traber/Perez-types, to free up more money for the other positions.

Here's a fairly comprehensive list of free agents. You can sort by position to see which SPs are available, although it includes players with options that are likely to be picked up, so blogger beware. Is there anyone realistic (ie: Not Zito) that you'd target? How would you spend that money.

If I don't get fatter and lazier, I'll give you my answers later. That's a pretty big if, though.