The Red Sox sounded motivated to improve their roster when the offseason began.
Chief baseball officer Craig Breslow pointed to starting pitching as one of the team’s top needs at his introductory press conference and then at the GM Meetings. Chairman Tom Werner vowed the Red Sox would go “full throttle” to improve the roster.
But the regular season will open Thursday against the Mariners at T-Mobile Park and Boston arguably has a worse roster on paper than it did at the end of last season. The competitive balance tax payroll also is about $8 million below where it finished last year.
The Red Sox’ 2024 Opening Day payroll sits at approximately $217 million, $20 million below the competitive balance tax base threshold of $237 million.
Boston spent approximately $225 million on last year’s team. But team president Sam Kennedy said at Winter Weekend in January that the 2024 payroll likely would be lower than the 2023 payroll.
Kennedy then said last month Breslow is working under “set parameters” in terms of payroll.
Boston gave out only $52.25 million in guaranteed money in free agency: Lucas Giolito ($38.5M), Liam Hendriks ($10M), Joely Rodriguez ($1.5M), Chase Anderson ($1.25M) and Cooper Criswell ($1M).
Giolito will earn $18 million in 2024 but he won’t pitch. He’s out for the entire season after undergoing an internal brace procedure on the partially torn ligament in his pitching elbow earlier this month. Hendriks is coming off Tommy John surgery last Aug. 2 and hopes to return by the trade deadline. But there’s a chance he won’t pitch in 2024.
Fanatics Sportsbook
10X$100 BONUS BET
BET MATCH BONUS
Must be 21+. GAMBLING PROBLEM? Call 1-800-GAMBLER (CO, KY ,MD, OH, PA, TN, VA, VT, WV); (888) 789-7777 or ccpg.org (CT); 1-800-BETS-OFF (IA); (800) 327-5050 or gamblinghelpline.org (MA), mdgamblinghelp.org (MD), 1800gambler.net (WV)
The Red Sox traded Chris Sale and let James Paxton walk in free agency. They inexplicably will enter 2024 with five starters — Brayan Bello, Nick Pivetta, Kutter Crawford, Garrett Whitlock and Tanner Houck — all on the roster when the offseason began.
Breslow also stressed needing to add a right-handed bat at his introductory press conference. Boston let its best right-handed hitter, Justin Turner, walk in free agency to the AL East rival Blue Jays. The Sox added right-handed hitters Vaughn Grissom and Tyler O’Neill via trades. It might work out but Grissom has a small major league sample size (64 games) and will begin the season on the IL (left groin strain). O’Neill has had difficulty staying healthy during his career. The 2021 season marks the only year he has appeared in more than 96 games. He has been on the injured list 12 different times since 2018, his rookie year.
Red Sox payroll breakdown
Guaranteed contracts: Rafael Devers $29M, Trevor Story $23.333M, Lucas Giolito $19.25M, Masataka Yoshida $18M, Kenley Jansen $16M, Brayan Bello $9.17M, Chris Martin $8.75M, Liam Hendriks $5M, Garrett Whitlock $4.6875M, Rob Refsnyder $1.85M, Joely Rodriguez $1.5M, Chase Anderson $1.25M, Cooper Criswell $1M. Total: $139.0405M.
Other guaranteed money: Chris Sale $17M, Justin Turner $4.15M. Total: $21.15M.
Arbitration players: Nick Pivetta $7.5M, Reese McGuire $1.5M, Tyler O’Neill $5.85M. Total: $14.85M.
Pre-arbitration players: Wilyer Abreu, Brennan Bernardino, Isaiah Campbell, Triston Casas, Kutter Crawford, Bobby Dalbec, Jarren Duran, Wikelman Gonzalez, Vaughn Grissom, David Hamilton, Tanner Houck, Joe Jacques, Zack Kelly, Bryan Mata, Chris Murphy, Luis Perales, Ceddanne Rafaela, Pablo Reyes, Justin Slaten, Enmanuel Valdez, Brandon Walter, Greg Weissert, Josh Winckowski, Connor Wong. Projected Total: $12.5 million.
Medical and benefits costs: $17M.
Pre-arbitration pool: $1.667M.
Estimated Total: $206.2075 million. Add another approximately $10 million for in-season moves, bonuses, etc., and the CBT payroll is at approximately $217 million.
