The Diamondbacks came up two games shy of a playoff spot despite running a franchise-high payroll. Their spending will come down next season on the heels of their third straight missed October.
“It will not be at the same level. It’ll be a lower payroll than we had this year,” owner Ken Kendrick told Burns and Gambo of Arizona Sports this afternoon. The Snakes finished the 2026 season with an approximate $193MM cash payroll and a luxury tax number around $236.29MM, as shown on MLBTR’s new Payroll Tracker (courtesy of contributor Ethan Hullihen). That’s $8MM up from what had been a franchise high in 2025 and put the Snakes within $8MM of the first CBT threshold. The Diamondbacks have never paid the luxury tax.
The spending reduction doesn’t necessarily mean the Snakes will make any cost-cutting transactions. As Kendrick pointed out, they have a decent amount of money coming off the books in the form of impending free agents who “made little or no contribution to the team” this year.
Kendrick didn’t single out any names, but it’s easy enough to identify the players to whom he’s alluding. Zac Gallen played on a $22.025MM salary, albeit with more than $14MM deferred. He had an earned run average north of 6.00 in 22 appearances. Lourdes Gurriel Jr. made a $13MM salary and will collect a $5MM buyout at the end of the year. He had a career-worst .544 OPS and was released in September.
Michael Soroka is the team’s top impending free agent. He made $7.5MM this year and surely pitched his way to a raise. Ryan Thompson, A.J. Puk, Jonathan Loáisiga, Taylor Clarke, James McCann, Ildemaro Vargas, Kevin Ginkel and Dennis Santana combined for roughly $17MM on arbitration or one-year free agent contracts. Some of those players outperformed their modest salaries — Loáisiga and Clarke especially — but they’ll all be coming off the books this winter.
The D-Backs don’t have any players who are entering arbitration for the first time. Lars Nootbaar, Gabriel Moreno and Ryne Nelson will earn raises. MLBTR contributor Matt Swartz projects them to combine for roughly $15.8MM. Pavin Smith is projected for a $2.5MM salary but likely to be non-tendered. The Snakes spent just over $19.5MM on their arbitration class this year, so this group could net a few million dollars in savings.
Corbin Burnes, Eduardo Rodriguez, Corbin Carroll, Merrill Kelly, Nolan Arenado, Ketel Marte, Brandon Pfaadt, Geraldo Perdomo and Justin Martinez will combine for $130MM in salaries next season. The Cardinals will send $9MM to Arizona at the end of the year to offset a good chunk of Arenado’s salary, so the Snakes essentially have $121MM in guaranteed commitments.
Between that and the arbitration class, they’d have around $137MM on the books before outside acquisitions or players on league minimum salaries to round out the roster. Next year’s minimum is to be determined in the upcoming collective bargaining agreement. If that lands around $1MM, the Snakes would essentially have a $150MM payroll going into the winter.
The D-Backs will need to add a couple veterans to a bullpen that’ll have Martinez, Brandyn Garcia and Juan Morillo in the leverage mix. They’re going to need to replace or re-sign Soroka, with whom there’s mutual interest in a reunion. Even if they manage to retain him, they should add another starter with swing-and-miss ability. They need to upgrade a first base position that was MLB’s worst in 2026. Backup catcher and a utility infielder are other potential needs.
Arizona presumably won’t try to address that all via free agency. It wouldn’t be surprising if they discuss Marte in trade conversations after he no-showed for another game in August. They could also leverage their outfield depth on the trade market, as they have four outfielders who could provide above-average production if healthy: Carroll, Nootbaar, Jordan Lawlar and Ryan Waldschmidt.
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