Massarotti: Dombrowski Now Tasked With Shedding Salary To Get Red Sox Under Luxury Tax
"You would always like to be under the [luxury tax] if you could. Nobody likes to bear penalties. There's a reason they call it penalties."
--Red Sox president of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski, to reporters within the last week
Well, if we're to take Dave Dombrowski at his word, then there are more moves coming.
More specifically, someone – at least – is on the way out.
This isn't about the Chris Sale deal, folks. Because the luxury tax is calculated by the average value of a contract, Sale will count only $6.5 million against the Red Sox' luxury tax next season. He was already a bargain at $12 million in real dollars. From a purely accounting standpoint, Sale is a huge write-off for the 2017 Red Sox.
But under the terms of the new collective bargaining agreement, recently negotiated by owners and players, the luxury tax threshold for 2017 is $196 million. With yesterday's acquisitions and changes, the Red Sox projected payroll currently approaches $210 million. That means they are currently due to pay a 50 percent tax (increased rate) on about $14 million, which translates into a tax of $7 million. Add it all up and the Red Sox currently have roster expenditures approaching $220 million. (It's $217 million, to be precise.)
And that's before they even think about adding players during the season.
Here's a quick breakdown:
| Player | 2017 $ | ||
| Price, David | $31m | ||
| Ramirez, Hanley | $22m | ||
| Porcello, Rick | $20.63m | ||
| Sandoval, Pablo | $19m | ||
| Pedroia, Dustin | $13.75m | ||
| Buchholz, Clay | $13m | ||
| Kimbrel, Craig | $10.5m | ||
| Sale, Chris | $6.5m | ||
| Young, Chris | $6.5m | ||
| Moreland, Mitch | $5.5m |
Add that all up and what you have is $148.4 million. (Note: A previous version accounted for Allen Craig and Rusney Castillo, but their salaries do not count toward the luxury tax threshold.) Like all teams, the Sox then have to pay somewhere around $13 million (probably higher) in player benefits and another $6-$7 million or so to non-arbitration-eligible players who fill out their 40-man roster. That puts the total somewhere around $168 million before you even get to the arbitration table.
According to a projection on the website MLBTradeRumors.com, here is what the Sox are looking at in projected arbitration settlements with the remainder of their roster:
Fernando Abad – $2m
Robbie Ross Jr. – $1.8m
Joe Kelly – $2.6m
Drew Pomeranz – $4.7m
Brock Holt – $1.7m
Xander Bogaerts – $5.7m
Jackie Bradley Jr. – $3.3m
Sandy Leon – $1.3m
The subtotal there: $23.1 million.
Again, these are all estimates. But the point is that if the Red Sox are serious about staying beneath the luxury tax line this season, Dombrowski isn't done making moves at this week's winter meetings.
But instead of adding like he did yesterday, he may be subtracting.