JD Martinez (l) and Mookie Betts are two key players on the highest paid Red Sox roster in historyGETTY IMAGES
If the Red Sox are "intent on staying below" the $237M luxury tax threshold, it might leave the club with as little as $3-4M for "in-season trades," according to Alex Speier of the BOSTON GLOBE. Last year, the team added roughly $6M "through in-season moves." The Red Sox are "on track to have the highest payroll" in MLB and in team history. The team right now has more than $230M committed to payroll as calculated for luxury tax purposes -- more than $25M "beyond any level at which the team has previously spent." The team was "set to blow well beyond" MLB's initial $197M threshold that triggers a luxury tax bill, and after signing OF J.D. Martinez and 2B Eduardo Núñez seem "certain to surpass the second luxury tax tier" ($217M). Speier: "At some point this year, the Sox are likely to confront an interesting question: Should they add payroll and possibly go beyond the highest luxury tax tier of $237 million?" (BOSTON GLOBE, 3/7). In Boston, Sean McAdam noted by surpassing the $197M threshold, the Red Sox have to pay a 20% "surcharge on all money above and beyond" that amount. That means the team "currently owes a tax" of approximately $9M on the overage. Should the Sox "exceed the next threshold" at $237M, the team would be taxed at a rate of 42.5% for everything over $197M. But what really "dissuades teams from avoiding that next threshold are penalties that aren’t taxes, but rather, competitive penalties." Teams also "forfeit 10 spots in the following year’s draft and lose $500,000 in international pool money." A source said that while the Sox will strive to stay under the $237M threshold, that is "not an absolute." Club execs "aren’t willing to say definitively that they won’t go over the mark 'under special circumstances'" (BOSTONSPORTSJOURNAL.com, 3/4).
ONE WAY OR ANOTHER: In Boston, Dan Shaughnessy wrote, "If the Red Sox are truly bothered by the Yawkey legacy, why not start by erasing the homage to Thomas A. Yawkey on the Green Monster at both Fenway and Fenway South?" Yawkey’s initials are "stenciled in Morse code on both edifices." The Sox "don’t need the city’s permission to make that change" (BOSTON GLOBE, 3/4). Also in Boston, Joe Fitzgerald wrote Red Sox Owner John Henry is "determined we should forget the memory and legacy of that philanthropist who spoiled and loved the team for the 44 years he owned it." To hear Henry tell it, Yawkey was "one step short of burning a cross in the outfield, a vile man who harbored hatred in his heart." Fitzgerald: "Don’t confuse wealth with wisdom, Mr. Henry. You’re obviously bright at business, but when it comes to common sense you haven’t got a clue" (BOSTON HERALD, 3/6).
