Astros Payroll Comes Into Focus

Zachary Levine over at the Chronicle does some work, getting a good idea of what the Opening Day payroll for the Houston Astros will be.

His magic number? Around $60 million, which is very close to what new owner Jim Crane said it would be at in his first press conference. What's more, a big chunk of that will be gone after this season, as Carlos Lee's $19 million, Brett Myers' $12 million and Brandon Lyon's $5.5 million will all come off the books.

That should leave the 2013 total around $33.5 million which probably jumps up to a cool $35 million with arbitration cases. To put that into context, the lowest spending team in 2011 were the Kansas City Royals, who managed to spend $38 million on their payroll.

What's more, that $35 million is almost half the total of the next-lowest team in the American League West, the Oakland A's , who spent $67 million last season. No other team in that division spent less than $90 million last year. I know it's a point I've made before, but it just goes to show that Houston has a long hill to climb.