The structure of Chris Sale’s five-year, $32.5 million was an appealing element to the Red Sox, in that it made it possible to add an ace without jeopardizing the team’s desire to stay under the luxury tax threshold.
While Sale will make $12 million in 2017, for luxury tax purposes — which calculate the average annual value of the deal — he will count for just $6,769,562.50 against the team’s payroll.
Infielder Mitch Moreland, according to the Globe’s Peter Abraham, will get $5.5 million.
Reliever Tyler Thornburg is likely due to get a bit over $2 million as a first-time arbitration-eligible player.
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Bundle those players together, add them to the players the Red Sox have and the $13.5 million for medical benefits that all 30 teams must pay, and it brings the Red Sox’ current projected commitments to approximately $193 million. That is $2 million under the $195 million luxury tax threshold, though it fails to leave any available room for in-season maneuvers, like big league salaries for call-ups, in-season signings, trades, etc.
If the Red Sox want to have, say, $9 million or $10 million for in-season moves while staying under the $195 million luxury tax threshold, then, they’d have to clear about $7 million or $8 million from their payroll.
In theory, the team could do that either by trading Clay Buchholz ($13.5 million) or perhaps by dealing Drew Pomeranz (projected arbitration figure of $4.7 million from MLBTradeRumors.com) and Fernando Abad (projected arbitration figure of $2 million).
In other words, the Red Sox retain some flexibility as they decide what to do moving forward with their pitching assets.
| Player | 2017 AAV ($M) |
|---|---|
| David Price | $31,000,000 |
| Hanley Ramirez | $22,000,000 |
| Rick Porcello | $20,630,000 |
| Pablo Sandoval | $19,000,000 |
| Clay Buchholz | $13,500,000 |
| Dustin Pedroia | $13,300,000 |
| Craig Kimbrel | $10,500,000 |
| Chris Sale | $6,770,000 |
| Chris Young | $6,500,000 |
| Mitch Moreland* | $5,500,000 |
| 10 players | $148,690,000 |
| Player | 2017 $** |
|---|---|
| Xander Bogaerts | $5,700,000 |
| Drew Pomeranz | $4,700,000 |
| Jackie Bradley Jr. | $3,300,000 |
| Joe Kelly | $2,600,000 |
| Tyler Thornburg | $2,200,000 |
| Fernando Abad | $2,000,000 |
| Robbie Ross Jr. | $1,800,000 |
| Brock Holt | $1,700,000 |
| Sandy Leon | $1,300,000 |
| 9 players | $25,300,000 |
| Player | 2017 projected*** |
|---|---|
| Mookie Betts | $800,000 |
| Steven Wright | $650,000 |
| Carson Smith | $550,000 |
| Christian Vazquez | $550,000 |
| Eduardo Rodriguez | $550,000 |
| Matt Barnes | $550,000 |
| Heath Hembree | $550,000 |
| 7 players | $4,200,000 |
| Commitment | Players | 2017 $ |
|---|---|---|
| Guaranteed (AAV) | 10 | $148,690,000 |
| Arbitration | 9 | $25,300,000 |
| Major league pre-arb | 7 | $4,200,000 |
| Minor league 40-man** | $1,200,000 | |
| Benefits** | $13,500,000 | |
| Total | 26 | $192,890,000 |
| In-season budget | $ |
|---|---|
| Depth call-ups** | $4,000,000 |
| Trades/midyear** | $5,000,000 |
| Incentives | $1,000,000 |
| Total | $10,000,000 |
| Commitments and in-season budget | $202,890,000 |
Follow Alex Speier on Twitter @alexspeier.