The Red Sox Problem
Do you know there are children born in the last month who have never experienced a Red Sox championship? Poor little guys. There’s always next year.
And just what exactly does next year have in store for the defending champions? It’s baseball, so you never know, but one thing known for sure is the Red Sox will field one of the biggest payrolls in the league.
In 2018, Boston led the league in runs scored and dollars spent—$234 million. Nearly a quarter of a billion dollars. And 2019 isn’t looking like it’s going to be less. With many players receiving pay raises, the team will need to trim some excess.
With the Red Sox presently well over the luxury tax limits, rudimentary belt-tightening is in order, but once those belt notches are pegged, how greatly will that affect the current favorite to return to the World Series?
The team has already seen playoff star reliever Joe Kelly head to the Dodgers, and the rumors are that unless Craig Kimbrel offers a discount, he’ll be moving on, as well. That leaves Boston with a pretty thin bullpen—an area that was already a weakness during last season.
They re-signed Nate Eovaldi. That’s good. As long as all their starters complete every game, there should be no issues with the pitching. This is sarcasm.
Dombrowki’s Dilemma
Dave Dombrowski‘s challenge of fielding a “defending champion” team while also dealing with the enormous contractual obligations the team has is one of the strangest in professional sports. Not only can he not afford to improve the team, he can’t afford to keep everyone around. So, somebody or somebodies need to be moved.
It’s not a retool or anything like a rebuild. The Red Sox are the team to beat in the American League. But if they sit back and do nothing, the team that easily won over 100 games will be gone in just a year or two.
Dombrowski is no stranger to strange circumstances. In 1997, he was the general manager for the Marlins when they won the World Series ring and then had to trade away of many of those talented players the following winter. Money doesn’t grow on trees. Not in Miami and certainly not in Boston.
Making things more complicated for the Red Sox are some pretty hefty salary leftovers. The ghosts of regretful contracts past. Pablo Sandoval’s $23 million, Rusney Castillo’s $24 million and, starting this year, Manny Ramirez’s Bobby Bonnilla-like annual payments of $2 million.
Adding onto the payroll, Mookie Betts, Xander Bogaerts and Jackie Bradley, Jr will all get raises this offseason. And the Red Sox can’t trade any of them, right? Maybe. There are rumors floating that Bradley and even Bogaerts could be moved. As much as fans would hate to see them go, either would provide about an extra $10 million the team could spend on relief pitching.
Of course, Mookie isn’t going anywhere. But, J.D. Martinez could opt out next season. Chris Sale and Rick Porcello are only signed through 2019.
I’m sure Dombrowski is quite aware how thin the future looks for the team. Winning now is important. That’s what the fans want. But part of winning “now” is whatever was done “then.” Bogaerts is a great player, and he would return some quality pieces. Cheap pieces.
The team’s farm system is among the league’s worst. Meanwhile, over in New York City, the Yankees have rebuilt their starting rotation and are still sniffing around on Manny Machado. They already have a decent third baseman but maybe they just want Boston to sweat a little.
The good news is in just a couple years, the Red Sox will have almost no albatross contracts and can just focus on the present roster. The bad news is there might not be any good players left on the roster.
