Former Atlanta Braves pitcher Kyle Wright, traded to the Kansas City Royals last Friday, shared what he was told about Atlanta's payroll and 2024 offseason plans in a recent interview.
Talking to Justin Toscano of the Atlanta-Journal Constitution ($), Wright shared his thoughts about the surprise trade away from his hometown team (Wright grew up in Alabama and attended Vanderbilt University before being drafted #5 overall in the 2017 MLB Draft) and what he was told by president of baseball operations Alex Anthopoulos when he was informed of the trade to Kansas City last week.
When Toscano asked him about the reasoning for the trade, as shared by Anthopoulos, Wright explained he was told it was about money:
Pretty much that he had a number that he was given from up top, and that’s what he had to work with. I definitely wasn’t the only one. There were a lot of guys that were moved on from. That was the main thing, at least from what he told me, was just trying to clear out as much cap space as possible to get that number.
Per Spotrac, Atlanta's 2024 40-man payroll now sits at an estimated $206M, although it's higher in Competitive Balance Tax calculations, coming in at $239M. (CBT payroll uses the average annual value figures for each contract, versus the actual cash expenditures, as well as accounts for other non-salary expenditures such as benefits, minor league salaries, etc.)
Under CBT payroll calculations, Atlanta is already over the first luxury tax threshold of $237M. As a 2nd time payor of the competitive balance tax, Atlanta's overage taxation rate moves up from 20% (for first-time offenders) to 30%. Any pending free agent signings run the possibility of increasing the tax rate - if payroll ends up in between $20M to $40M over the $237M initial limit, there's an additional 12 percent surcharge added. If a team goes $40M over the limit, it jumps to 42.5%.
If Atlanta passes the threshold in 2025, as a third-time offender they'd jump to an initial 50% tax rate.
Wright admitted that he didn't know if the Braves were trying to get under a certain limit for payroll or just finding as many salary dollars as possible for a splash in free agency, but he had a preference:
I hope (it’s) the second,” Wright told Toscano. “I think that’s what the Braves should be doing, is trying to go make some big additions. I hope it’s the latter. I don’t know exactly which one. Only Alex knows that."
Wright went on to discuss his feelings towards the trade and the organization, his plans in Kansas City, and more. The full article is available for subscribers on the Atlanta Journal-Constitution's website.
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