The current 2026 payroll numbers:
Gray- 35M
Arenado- 19.4M
Contreras- 18M
Arbitration- 30M~
Pre Arb- 11.2M~
Total- 113.6M
It wouldn’t be difficult to shave that under 100M if they wanted to and yes the 100M number was an arbitrary number I mentioned earlier in the thread, as in this could be the first time the Cardinals got under 100M since 2010. I am not saying they will do it. I said they could do it and I said it out of frustration for the possiblity of trading Gray for no other reason than for profit. Trading him most likely doesn’t help the rebuild much and certainly doesn’t help the 2026 w-l record unless we are psyched up about improving our 2027 draft position.