Red Sox Have a $20 Million Luxury Tax Headache After Paying Mookie Betts and Jackie Bradley

The tough financial situation of the Boston Red Sox just keep rolling on.

These guys just can't seem to catch a break. After coming under massive fan and media scrutinty when the lid was blown off a reported sign-stealing scandal alleged to have taken place during their 2018 World Series season, the team is now suffering in more ways than one. Ater signing outfielders Mookie Betts and Jackie Bradley Jr. to one-year deals in order to avoid salary arbitration, the team's pockets are in line to take another big hit: they're currently sitting $20 million over the league's luxury tax line.

It's been a while since the Sox were this far over the "Competitive Balance Tax" threshold, as it's formally known. The CBT acts as a soft salary cap for professional ballclubs payrolls, forcing teams to pay a tax back to the league for a percentage of every dollar they go over a set payroll treshold, established at $208 million for 2020. After giving $27 million to Betts (an arbitration year record) and another $11 million to JBJ Friday, the team still has real work to do to shed salary this year.

The team also signed pitchers Matt Barnes, Heath Hembree and Brandon Workman to contracts totaling nearly $8 million, good for a whopping $46.2 in total settlements.

It's safe a say a trade or a clumsy, teeth-gnashing DFA move will be in the works in the coming weeks, as Boston needs to unmoor itself from some of its big contracts (looking at you, David Price!). They're deep in the red in terms of the tax linee, and it's going to take some spirited work from new front office boss Chaim Bloom to get everything squared away for the new season.