Red Sox Stuck With MLB's Largest 2019 Luxury Tax Bill Despite Disaster Season

Oh, Chaim Bloom. What on earth did you get yourself into?

The Boston Red Sox were officially sent their luxury tax bill on Thursday for exceeding the $206 million threshold in 2019. Despite missing the playoffs in a forgettable effort to defend their 2018 World Series crown, Boston was charged a club record $13.4 million.

To put that whopping figure into perspective, the Cubs and Yankees were the only other organizations billed -- Chicago will cough up $7.6 million and New York will concede $6.7 million.

The optics wouldn't have been as bad had the Red Sox at least had something to play for in the final month of the regular season, but Alex Cora's side stumbled to an 84-78 finish, 19 games back of the Yanks in the AL East and 12 games back of the Rays for the second Wild Card spot.

The tax threshold for 2020 is set at $208 million and Boston will be hard-pressed to not be billed once again as they are projected to breach that figure by almost $20 million (!).

Boston is reportedly trying to shed some of their payroll by trading the likes of Mookie Betts and/or David Price, but there has been no reported progress in talks.

To say that Bloom has A LOT on his plate in his first year as the Red Sox' new Chief Baseball Officer is an understatement.