Watch the A's Payroll Closely

A's GM David Forst said earlier this month that he expects the A's payroll to go up again this winter, though he and owner John Fisher would be continuing those conversations over the coming months.

"With Vegas in our sights in 2028, the idea was to continue to ramp up each year, and that's my expectation."

The A's payroll ended up just shy of $118 million in luxury tax payroll by the end of the 2025 campaign, while the average payroll across MLB was closer to $175 million. With the plan to increase payroll yet again, and previous promises that the A's would have a league average payroll when they get to Vegas, we could potentially see a decent increase this offseason.

While we're expecting that figure to go up, by how much will be fascinating to watch. The team has five arbitration eligible players—Shea Langeliers, JJ Bleday, Austin Wynns, Ken Waldichuk and Luis Medina—who are projected to receive roughly $11 million combined.

That would certainly be an increase in payroll if every player is tendered a contract. Make a couple more additions and all of a sudden you've added $20+ million to payroll.

It should also be noted that in the trade at the deadline that netted the A's No. 3 prospect in baseball Leo De Vries, they also sent out two more arbitration eligible players in Mason Miller (one of the game's best relief pitchers) and JP Sears. Miller is projected for $3.4 million, while Sears is at $3.5 million. That deal ended up saving the A's a little short-term money this winter.

How Much the A's Spend Could Matter

When the ramp up period was initially brought up, it was initially by former team president Dave Kaval, and the A's hadn't announced where they would be playing games once their lease at the Oakland Coliseum ran out following the 2024 season.

The plan ended up being at least a three-year stint in West Sacramento, and the idea seemed to initially be to charge well above market rate for the opportunity to watch big-league games on a minor-league field. The club had the highest median ticket price in MLB heading into last season.

The attendance figures show that the plan was a disaster. The team ended up drawing 768,464 fans in total for an average of 9,487 per game. While it's true that the team drew fewer fans in 2021 (701,430), that was also when attendance was capped after the pandemic.

The club also barely topped their 2025 figure in 2022 at 787,902 fans in Oakland, but that was also after a lockout and the front office trading away Sean Manaea, Chris Bassitt, Matt Chapman and Matt Olson. Fans weren't too happy with the club that season and still outdrew the A's unveiling in a brand new city.

Even with the team announcing they were leaving for Las Vegas at the beginning of the 2023 season, they still drew well over 10,000 fans per game those final two years as spirits were broken and fury at the team was at an all-time high.

Will Slight Changes Make a Difference?

With the idea being that the A's would be a smashing success in Sacramento and therefore could charge fans a ridiculous amount to get them in the gate having failed, the team's payroll this winter should provide an indication of Fisher's actual willingness to spend. There is no way that the team ended up making as much as they had projected in year one in Sacramento.

That should end up lowering their financial projections a bit heading into 2026, though introducing a gold 'Sacramento' jersey and an improved product on the field could help bring a few more fans. The team was expecting sellouts every game, and even put it out there that tickets were flying off the shelves.

Turns out that made people believe that there wouldn't be any tickets, so they stopped looking. It also didn't help that for those that did look, especially early on in the season, that the ticket prices were exorbitant.

More affordable ticket prices paired with some effort to embrace the team's temporary home could have an impact on butts in seats, but it still may not be exactly what the team was after when they left for Sacramento. How much of a role will all of this play as the team plans to ramp up for Vegas? We'll have to watch and see.