Rebuild slashes payroll

Moves cut spending 45% from last year

There’s one big advantage to stripping down your roster and embarking on a massive rebuilding program: You save a lot of money in salaries.

That’s certainly the case for the Milwaukee Brewers in 2016 after a slew of veterans were traded for prospects, beginning last July and continuing throughout the winter. The result was an approximate 45% decrease from the seasonopening $102.3 million payroll in 2015, which represented a franchise record.

The Brewers have an actual scheduled payout of $56.5 million to 31 players, which includes six on the disabled list to open the season. With a total of $6 million in deferred payments to Ryan Braun and Matt Garza and other money allocated for call-ups and bonuses, the Brewers’ payroll will be about $63 million for MLB accounting purposes. But even that level is expected to be 29th or 30th in the majors.

Braun’s actual salary is $19 million at the outset of a five-year, $105 million contract extension signed in April 2011. But $4 million is deferred without interest and those payments do not begin until 2022.

In the third year of a four-year, $50 million freeagent contract signed in January 2014, Garza has a $12.5 million salary this season. But $2 million is deferred without interest and won’t be paid until 2018.

Even with that deferred money, Braun and Garza will make a combined $25.5 million this season, or 45% of the team’s actual $56.5 million payout to players. Third baseman Aaron Hill has a $12 million salary, but Arizona is paying $6.5 million of it as a condition of the trade in late January that sent shortstop Jean Segura to the Diamondbacks.

As a sign of how young and inexperienced the Brewers are entering the season, they have 20 players making $522,300 or less. The minimum salary for major-league rookies this year is $507,500.

The Brewers have only nine players making at least $1 million.

Players on the disabled list earn their majorleague salary, and the Brewers have six who qualify: relievers Will Smith, Corey Knebel, Sean Nolin, Yhonathan Barrios and Zack Jones, and outfielder Rymer Liriano.

2016 BREWERS PAYROLL

RF Ryan Braun* $15 million RHP Matt Garza# $10.5 million INF Aaron Hill% $5.5 million C Jonathan Lucroy $4 million RHP Wily Peralta $2.8 million 1B Chris Carter $2.5 million LHP Chris Capuano $1.5 million LHP Will Smith^ $1.475 million C Martin Maldonado $1.1 million RHP Blaine Boyer $950,000 RHP Carlos Torres $950,000 RHP Jimmy Nelson $522,300 RHP Chase Anderson $520,200 RHP Jeremy Jeffress $519,100 RHP Taylor Jungmann $518,500 2B Scooter Gennett $518,100 RHP Michael Blazek $514,200 OF Kirk Nieuwenhuis $514,000 RHP Tyler Thornburg $513,900 OF Domingo Santana $513,800 RHP Corey Knebel^ $513,000 INF Jonathan Villar $512,900 RHP Ariel Pena $510,100 LHP Sean Nolin^ $509,700 RHP Yhonathan Barrios^ $509,200 OF Ramon Flores $508,800 INF Yadiel Rivera $508,600 OF Rymer Liriano^ $508,500 OF Keon Broxton $508,500 INF Colin Walsh $507,500 RHP Zack Jones^ $507,500 Total $56,533,480

^ Disabled list * $4 million of $19 million salary deferred

# $2 million of $12.5 million salary deferred

% Arizona paying $6.5 million of $12 million salary

LAST 5 BREWERS PAYROLLS

2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 $101.2 million $84.3 million $95.4 million $102.3 million $56.5 million