Mariners
Payroll likely to stay same for '05 season

By Bob Finnigan
Seattle Times staff reporter

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It is ironic that this year, when the Mariners have money to spend at midseason — some $5 million after a series of transactions — first-half losses have left them with no reason to spend it.

In most seasons past, with the club winning as the July 31 trading deadline approached, it had usually maxed out its player budget.

Last year, the Mariners created some wiggle room with $2 million set aside for midseason additions and tried for Trot Nixon, Aaron Boone and Hank Blalock.

Now there is no need to deal for pricey veterans.

This year, eyes are already on next season, starting with the winter's work of rebuilding, and there is a whopping Catch-22 staring back at the team and its fans — just when money is needed, there is certain to be less money coming in.

Yet CEO Howard Lincoln said the 2005 payroll "will be about the same, certainly no less."

That should be about $95 million. Seattle's player payroll has advanced from $82 million in 2001 to $88 million in 2002 and $92 million in 2003. Each year, $3 million to $7 million was set aside for contingencies such as midseason callups.

"Because we have exercised financial discipline (in previous years) we are in position to do this now, even though all our money has been poured back into the franchise," Lincoln said. "We can weather this storm as many clubs cannot do."

How stormy does it figure to get? The barometer is already down and falling. If there is a profit this year, it will be based on advance ticket sales, including a season-ticket base of 19,500.

Attendance was off 133,569 the first 41 home games of the season, from 1,572,791 in 2003 to 1,439,222 this year.
 
But that decline figures to steepen. In a four-game series last season against Anaheim (June 16-19, 2003), Seattle drew 169,942, and a comparable four-game set against Texas two weeks ago drew 38,125 fewer.

The schedule might help, including always-attractive weekend series against AL West rivals, as well as Boston and New York. But there are duds like Cleveland and Kansas City, too, with some 57,000 seats available as of Sunday for this week's four-game series against the Indians.

However, because there will be an influx of young players who could add interest and excitement, if not victories, to the Mariners' equation, attendance might not suffer as much as if club officials sat on a sorry squad of vets.

Next year, the Mariners have already rung up about $53 million for 11 players under contract, not including the additions Jamie Moyer can earn to his $2 million base salary.

Depending on how Seattle works trades in the second half and in the offseason, there could be more reduction in the payroll, which is currently under budget.

With Kazu Sasaki walking last offseason, some $7 million became available, but after several moves, including the addition of Jolbert Cabrera for $1 million, about $5 million was left — just in time to pay off in advance the $5.25 million due in 2005 to pitcher Kevin Jarvis, who was released in May.

The trade of Freddy Garcia and Ben Davis took about a combined $4 million off the books, and the money left from the preseason contingency leaves about $5 million in the 2004 budget.

Can that savings be added to next year's payroll budget? Apparently not, according to Lincoln. "It doesn't work that way," he said. "You close the books on one year and turn the page."

The Seattle club has made money since 2000, although it has not made the $68.58 million total that was reported about a month ago, based on the team's annual accounting to the Public Facilities District, the agency that oversees Safeco Field operations.

According to numbers furnished by the Mariners, the net profit for the four years is $30.2 million.

"The figure we give the PFD does not subtract funds for capital costs and depreciation of capital expenditures, the biggest being the amortization of the money we borrowed to fulfill our promise to cover the cost overruns in the construction of the park," explained Randy Adamack, Mariners vice president for communications. "The number reported to the PFD is a special calculation required by the lease."

Noting that the PFD can audit the Mariners' books at any time, Adamack explained that the net income figures — $9.2 million for 2000, $7.5 million for 2001, $10.7 million for 2002, $2.8 million for 2003 — are the actual profits.

"In our agreement with the PFD," Adamack said, "we submit the overall profit number to them to make certain we would share profits with the public sooner than would occur if we used customary accounting principles.

"But don't get the idea we pocket the difference between the $68.5 million and the $30.2 million. That has already been spent on the overruns."

According to the agreement between the team and the PFD, the public begins to share in the profits when the team recovers its operating losses from 1995 on, including the money borrowed for the $100 million in overruns.

On the downside, the M's had to pay off Jarvis for $3.6 million, Quinton McCracken for about $1.2 million and Rich Aurilia for about $1.4 million. But those funds were already accounted for, and the $1 million for the young players who filled those roster spots comes from another contingency fund for callups.

Despite the losses almost sure to come for a year or two, at least, Lincoln said money will be spent on free agents. "We have pursued them as far as we thought it was reasonably possible to go. And we'll do it again.

"The franchise is very strong financially and we are prepared for this rainy day. That is the one reason we see ourselves moving quickly to turn this around."