COMMENTARY
With less than a month to go until pitchers and catchers report, the Red Sox finally showed their hand.
After sparking hope for a weary fanbase with talks of a “full throttle” offseason back in November, the Red Sox top brass snuffed out such optimism with their words in January regarding the team’s payroll and relative inaction this winter.
The 2024 Red Sox — as currently constituted — would have to spend at least $36 million to reach MLB’s first competitive tax threshold of $237 million.
But it doesn’t seem as though Boston is willing to come close to that ceiling, with team president Sam Kennedy telling the media at Winter Weekend that the payroll for this season will “probably be lower” than it was in 2023.