The Crimson Sox made waves on Saturday afternoon, trading seven-time All-Star and 2018 World Collection champion Chris Sale to the Atlanta Braves in trade for younger infielder Vaughn Grissom.
Boston wanted a second baseman, and Grissom can fill that function instantly — and probably for years to come back. Nonetheless, as gifted as Grissom very properly could also be, it’s onerous to not view the commerce as one thing of a wage dump for the Crimson Sox.
Though Sale has spent vital time on the injured checklist over the previous a number of years, he has flashed nice stuff when wholesome, and the Crimson Sox want all of the upside they will get in the event that they’re going to compete within the fearsome AL East.
By buying and selling the veteran starter to the Braves, together with $17M in money, the Crimson Sox lowered their complete payroll commitments by $10.5M and their luxurious tax payroll by roughly $7M for 2024 (per Roster Resource).
This isn’t the one commerce chief baseball officer Craig Breslow has made to lower payroll this winter. He flipped Luis Urías to the Mariners simply earlier than the non-tender deadline, sacrificing the infielder’s upside to keep away from his estimated $4.7M arbitration wage. He additionally dealt Alex Verdugo to the Yankees and primarily changed him with former Cardinals outfielder Tyler O’Neill, saving an estimated $3.7M within the course of.
These sound like comparatively inconsequential numbers for a large-market workforce like Boston, however for what it’s price, the cash the workforce saved by buying and selling Urías, Verdugo, and Sale provides as much as slightly below $19M, and newly signed starter Lucas Giolito will earn $18M in 2024.
Certainly, whereas the Crimson Sox sometimes run one of many larger payrolls within the sport, it appears they’ll be working below a tighter finances this offseason. As reported by Chris Cotillo of MassLive.com, the workforce has knowledgeable at the very least one free agent that they need to “shed extra payroll” earlier than they will pursue him “as aggressively as they wish to.”
The Crimson Sox have shed considerably extra payroll than they’ve added this winter. Along with their varied trades, the workforce let Justin Turner, Corey Kluber, Adam Duvall, James Paxton and Joely Rodríguez attain free company. These 5 accounted for simply over $34M in luxurious tax payroll final season.
Boston’s estimated luxurious tax payroll now sits beneath $200M for the primary time since 2020. That being the case, it’s fairly shocking to listen to that possession is tightening the purse strings. In any case, it wasn’t so way back that chairman Tom Werner claimed the workforce can be aggressive in 2024, vowing to go “full throttle in each attainable approach,” per Sean McAdam of MassLive.com.
In fact, this rumor could also be little greater than a negotiation tactic, with the Crimson Sox enjoying onerous to get to drive down a free-agent goal’s worth. Nonetheless, if Breslow is severe about lowering payroll, he may look to deal Kenley Jansen or Chris Martin within the coming weeks.
The veteran relievers are set to hit free company following the 2024 season, and so they’d absolutely draw loads of curiosity on the buying and selling block.
Jansen, who’s owed $16M subsequent 12 months, made his fourth profession All-Star workforce final season, whereas Martin, who is about to make $9.5M, led certified MLB relievers in ERA. Dropping Jansen or Martin can be a troublesome blow for Boston’s bullpen, however one might argue the Crimson Sox can be promoting excessive on both arm.
Jansen might be 36 subsequent season, and he’s not the dominant nearer he as soon as was. In the meantime, Martin might be 37, and it’s extremely unlikely he’ll be capable of preserve an ERA beneath 2.00.
Breslow might additionally dangle Nick Pivetta, who is about to earn roughly $6.9M in his remaining 12 months of arbitration eligibility, however then once more, the workforce’s rotation appears to be like skinny sufficient as it’s.
Lastly, the chief baseball officer would absolutely want to be freed of the $95M remaining on Trevor Story’s contract, but it surely’s onerous to think about the Crimson Sox might discover a commerce associate prepared to tackle the injury-prone shortstop.
It also needs to be mentioned that it’s unclear which participant Cotillo’s report refers to, because the Crimson Sox has been related with no scarcity of high free brokers. The checklist contains frontline beginning pitchers Blake Snell and Jordan Montgomery, high-end relievers Jordan Hicks and Robert Stephenson and slugging outfielder Teoscar Hernández.
All 5 of these gamers might be rewarded handsomely this winter. Maybe the Crimson Sox would want to shed payroll earlier than signing any of those gamers, but it surely’s attainable they’d solely want to chop again to signal Snell or Montgomery to a nine-figure deal.