In recent weeks I've mentioned websites such as Fangraphs, which is a place devoted to the in-depth look at many statistics you generally wouldn't find in the newspaper or in most publications. However with the sabermetrics movement among many fans of the game of baseball, terms such a UZR (ultimate zone rating) have become common nomenclature in modern baseball as fans continually want to invest themselves more into the inner workings of the sport. For those of you who are introducing yourselves to the world of sabermetrics for the first time, Wikipedia has a great resource that defines many of the terms used.
One thing about Fangraphs I really enjoy is how the site is about the put a dollar value on each individual player. Taking into account their production they are able to take any given players' WAR and turn it into a monetary figure of what that player could potentially be earning on the free agent market.
According to ESPN, Kansas City's payroll for 2011 is $35.7 million, which is the lowest in baseball by quite a long stretch. The Tampa Bay Rays, with their $41.9 payroll, are the next organization listed above the Royals.
In terms of contract amounts, here is what the current Royals players are earning. Note, with rookies it can often be hard to pinpoint what they are making, but generally it is well under $1 million annually. That is why many of the rookies on the youthful Royals are not listed among the payroll on most websites.
Joakim Soria - $4 million
Billy Butler - $3.5 million
Jeff Francoeur - $2.5 million
Jeff Francis - $2 million
Bruce Chen - $2 million
Luke Hochevar - $1.76 million
Aaron Crow - $1.4 million
Alex Gordon - $1.4 million
Melky Cabrera - $1.25 million
Felipe Paulino - $790,000
Brayan Pena - $660,000
Mitch Maier - $459,000
Chris Getz - $443,000
Alcides Escobar - $428,000
Tim Collins - $414,400
Nathan Adcock - $414,000
Now if you convert their 2011 seasons to monetary values per fangraphs, the player values are as follows (I've included all players not originally listed in the ESPN data).
Gordon - $22.4 million (career high)
Cabrera - $15.5 million (career high)
Francoeur - $10.9 million
Francis - $10.6 million
Butler - $9.5 million
Paulino - $8.1 million (career high)
Hochevar - $7 million
Greg Holland - $6.4 million
Escobar - $6.2 (career high)
Chen - $3.1 million
Pena - $3.1 million (Career high)
Chris Getz - $2.6 million (career high)
Soria - $2.5 million
Louis Coleman - $1.9 million
Crow - $1.9 million
Danny Duffy - $1.9 million
Maier - $1.9 million (career high)
Blake Wood - $1.5 million (career high)
Adcock - $600,000
Collins - $600,000
Salvador Perez - $600,000
Eric Hosmer - $200,000
Johnny Giavotella - $0
Mike Moustakas - $0
Obviously it is an imperfect system as no major league team out there values Chris Getz as a player worthy of a contract 13 times higher than Eric Hosmer's, but as a player plays more games in their professional career and develops more WAR to their name, the statistics become more true. The same is true with Mike Moustakas who just two months into his professional career has a 0 WAR, which attributes to have a $0 worth.
One person who does stick out greatly is Royals rookie reliever Greg Holland. While it was nice to see Aaron Crow make the All-Star team and do so well early in the season, Holland has been excellent this year posting a 1.85 ERA in 48.2 innings pitched. He has struck out 58 while walking 15. His $6.2 value only trails three Kansas City starting pitchers and by far leads the bullpen.