Boston Red Sox: World Series champs over luxury tax threshold
By Ryan Feyre
The Boston Red Sox are unsurprisingly one of the most expensive teams in baseball. As a result, they will be one of two teams who must pay the luxury tax for 2018.
The Boston Red Sox are reportedly going to have to pay the luxury tax for the 2018 MLB season.
This was the first year since 2003, where only two teams were forced to pay such a tax (the other team that needs to pay is the Washington Nationals).
According to Bleacher Report, the Sox will be paying the highest luxury tax out of everyone in the league, at $11.95 million.
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Coming into the season, the tax limit for all teams was set at $197 million. However, after the signing of JD Martinez, and trades for Steve Pearce, Nathan Eovaldi, and Ian Kinsler, the Boston Red Sox must now bite the bullet.
At the end of the day, the risk Dave Dombrowski took on his team eventually paid dividends. All of the acquisitions greatly contributed to the World Series championship one way or another.
As expected, Martinez hit the crap out of the ball, amassing 43 regular season home runs, while driving 130 runs in.
Meanwhile, Eovaldi and Pearce both cemented their own legacy amongst the franchise’s storied history. The fact that both of those guys are locked up for at least 2019 means Dombrowski and company want to keep this well-oiled machine running.
Since the Boston Red Sox were so far over the tax limit, the team must surrender at least 10 spots in the draft order, meaning that they will not be able to pick someone in their original 33 spot. The organization won’t officially know where they’re picking until after New Year’s Day.
Because the Sox re-signed Nathan Eovaldi and Steve Pearce, they’ll most likely have to pay the luxury tax again in 2019.
A lot can change between now and the end of next season though, especially with so many free agents currently available. Not to mention, trade swill always be an option for any squad, specifically come mid-season. I’m sure Boston never expected to make the moves they did back in the summer.
The Washington Nationals are the only other team that has to pay the tax in 2018, which is pretty rare. Normally, there’s at lest a few more organizations who usually go over the tax.
Either way, the luxury tax threshold will rise to $208 million next year, which would still put the Boston Red Sox over the limit.
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Regardless, Cora’s them still has what it takes to repeat, and it’s because of those bold moves made from up top.