TORONTO -- Blue Jays general manager Alex Anthopoulos might have to be a little creative this offseason in order to get the most out of his projected payroll for the 2014 campaign.
Toronto is notoriously secretive about its annual budget, but various reports have suggested the club will be able to spend approximately $150 million next season. Anthopoulos has yet to comment on a specific figure, and he frequently talks about having certain parameters accompanied with an ability to approach ownership with various proposals.
If next year's payroll does hover around $150 million, it would be an increase of approximately $30 million from 2013 and almost $77 million more than the club spent in '12. Despite the added funds, there likely will be a certain limitation on what the Blue Jays can do this offseason.
The Blue Jays have 15 players under guaranteed contracts for 2014 and four who are eligible for arbitration. The current projected payroll appears to be $132.9 million, which would leave slightly more than $17 million on the estimated figure to spend in free agency or through trades.
However, there are ways that Anthopoulos could increase the amount of available funds even if he does get capped at $150 million. Here's a closer look at Toronto's current salary commitments and several ways the club could increase the available money:
Guaranteed contracts
Edwin Encarnacion ($9M), Maicer Izturis ($3M), Jose Reyes ($16M), Melky Cabrera ($8M), Jose Bautista ($14M), Adam Lind ($7M), Josh Thole ($1.25M), R.A. Dickey ($12M), Mark Buehrle ($18M), Brandon Morrow ($8M), J.A. Happ ($5.2M), Casey Janssen ($4M), Sergio Santos ($3.75M), Dustin McGowan ($1.5M), Ricky Romero ($7.5M).
