got ya. I will say the same thing if we add some more payroll before the season starts, ideally in the form of an infielder and pitching.
We should have plenty of money to spend.
It'll be interesting to see how the Nationals finish the winter--do they add another pitcher, or do they get a second baseman like Orlando Hudson or Adam Kennedy? And then there's this winter's round of arbitration hearings; that process begins later this month when teams and players start to exchange salary figures, and it should bump the salaries of Willingham and Brian Bruney. They already have $46.725 million committed for 2010 (plus a $1 million buyout to Austin Kearns), and with arbitration and other contracts for pre-arb players, the dollar figure should push into the mid 50s again. The payroll was around $60 million last year, so it would seem like there's room to add another piece and be right around the 2009 payroll, or add two with a slight bump.
