Dan Uggla (26) is the highest-paid Braves player this season even though he is not on the team. Eric Hartline-USA TODAY Sports
ATLANTA — The Atlanta Braves were able to dump a lot of salary in their barrage of offseason trades, but the real savings doesn’t come until next year.
About 20 percent of the team’s 2015 payroll is going to two players not on the team.
Second baseman Dan Uggla is the highest paid Brave this season, earning $12.7 million in the final year of his dubious contract even though he was released last year and is now playing with the Washington Nationals.
Outfielder Carlos Quentin, designated for assignment, will be paid $8 million as the price for unloading Melvin Upton Jr.’s remaining $45 million on the San Diego Padres in the Craig Kimbrel deal.
Even with the payouts to Uggla and Quentin, the Braves’ payroll for this season is down to $97.8 million, which ranks 23rd among the 30 major league teams.
The Braves haven’t ranked so low since 1989, when they were 23rd among the 26 teams at that time.
At the start of last season, the Braves ranked 14th in payroll at $112 million.
Even with the Braves’ 6-2 start, attendance is expected to be down this season at Turner Field, which is in its next-to-last season.
The Braves are moving to a new ballpark in suburban Cobb County in 2017, and extra revenue then will allow the team to build back up its payroll.
Right fielder Nick Markakis, earning $11 million in the first season of a four-year deal as a free agent, is the highest paid active Brave. He went 2-for-4 Tuesday in Atlanta’s 8-2 loss to the Miami Marlins.
Right-hander Trevor Cahill, acquired from Arizona, has a salary of $12.2 million, but the Diamondbacks are covering $6.5 million of that.
Seven of the Braves’ 25 active players are making the minimum of $507,500, and three more make just over that amount.
