Sox and Rocks said:Not sure where to ask this; perhaps it deserves its own thread, but can someone explain to me why the Sox are so intent on staying under the $189 threshold this year? They did it last season (13), so the tax has been reset. Shouldn't a team with their resources and recent success be willing to go over it?
I'm not saying they should plan to go over, or that they should go over at all costs, but if re-signing Drew and signing Tannaka are conceivable, should the luxury tax be a reason not to? The same could be said of other potential signings as well.
I just posted this in another misfit thread:
The inability to cut payroll might prevent the Yankees from getting under the luxury tax limit this season despite their promise to do so:
http://espn.go.com/b...-28m-luxury-tax
I am weirdly rooting for them to cut A Rod's suspension back to not more than 50 games. It will cause plenty of interesting drama in the Bronx. This quote is revealing:
"Yankees owner Hal Steinbrenner said he hopes to get under the threshold next year, when it rises to $189 million. That would reset the team's tax rate to 12.5 percent for 2015 and get the Yankees some revenue-sharing refunds.
But following agreements Tuesday on a $2 million, one-year deal with second baseman Brian Roberts and a $7 million, two-year contract with left-hander Matt Thornton, the Yankees are at $177.7 million for 15 players next year, when benefits are likely to total between $11 million and $12 million. Their only hope to get below the threshold appears to be if an arbitrator upholds most of Alex Rodriguez's 211-game suspension, relieving the team of a large percentage of the third baseman's $25 million salary."