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When the Twins opened Target Field in 2010, they did so with a $97 million payroll. This was the highest payroll the Twins have had by a whopping $25M. They broke $100M the next year by spending $113M and fell back to just a shade over $100M in 2012. However, payroll fell to the mid-$80 million range in both 2013 and 2014. Enter 2015.The Twins have spent on free agent outfielder Torii Hunter, extended Phil Hughes and signed free agent pitcher Tim Stauffer. But the biggest addition was the four-year commitment the team made to pitcher Ervin Santana. Now the Twins have gone back over $100M. Let's take a closer look. Multi-year Deals** 1B Joe Mauer: $23M (3 yr/$69M remain for '16-'18) SP Ervin Santana: $13.5M (3 yr./$40.5M remain for '16-'18) SP Ricky Nolasco: $12M (2 yr./$24M remain for ’16-’17) SP Phil Hughes: $9.2M (4 yr./$48.8M remain for for ’16-’19) C Kurt Suzuki: $6M (1 yr./$6M remain for ’16) RP Glen Perkins: $4.65M (2 yr./$12.8M remain for ’16-’17 Commitments: $68.35M in 2015 ($201M in commitments through 2019) Pending Free Agents RF Torii Hunter: $10.5M P Mike Pelfrey: $5.5M P Tim Stauffer: $2.2M Commitments: $18.2M in 2015 Total commitments in 2015 to players with six-plus years of experience: $86.55M Arbitration-eligibles 3B Trevor Plouffe (second of four): $4.75M LRP Brian Duensing (third of three): $2.85M P Tommy Milone (first of four): $2.75M OF Jordan Schafer (second of four): $1.45M RP Casey Fien (first of four): $1.25M INF Eduardo Nunez (first of three): $1.05M Projected total: $14.1M in 2015. Commitments plus arbitration: $100.65M (for the above 15 players) That leaves 10 spots unfilled for the opening day roster. With nine pitchers already penciled in, there are three spots for pitchers: Kyle Gibson ($520,000), Caleb Thielbar ($520,000) and J.R. Graham ($507,500***). The seven fielders that could fill out the opening day roster are Brian Dozier ($580,000), Oswaldo Arcia ($525,000), Eduardo Escobar ($520,000), Danny Santana ($512,500), Kennys Vargas ($512,500), Aaron Hicks ($510,000) and Josmil Pinto ($507,500). These ten pre-arbitration players total $5.215M for a grand projected total of $105.865M, the second-highest total in franchise history. --- Some other things could affect this figure: --The Twins sign Brian Dozier to a contract extension. Jason Kipnis signed an extension as a 2+ player, which Dozier is now, and got $2M for his last pre-arb year and $4M/$6M/$9M to buy out his arbitration years. Signing Dozier to a similar contract would increase payroll by $1.42M. (The Indians also committed $30.5M for his first two free agent years with an option for the third year.) --The Twins don’t roll with those 12 pitchers, which is probably likely. There are many options for the fifth rotation spot and the loser(s) could be pitching successfully for the Pirates next year. --I’m not convinced the Twins break camp with Hicks and Nunez on the roster. If Hicks wins the CF job, Santana plays SS and Escobar is a utility player. Nunez is out. If Hicks doesn't win the job, Santana moves to CF, Escobar is the SS and Nunez is a utility player. Hicks heads to Rochester. Both scenarios leave Schafer as the fourth OF and opens up another bench spot. Chris Herrmann, at the minimum, is where I’d put my money. This decreases payroll, too. Of course, there’s still the possibility the Twins add another veteran or make a trade. **Future commitments don't figure in option years or their buyouts. ***The CBA calls for an increase in the minimum and reports have put that figure at $507,500 for 2015. Click here to view the article