Friday, December 7, 2018

Don't Sweat The Red Sox Payroll/Luxury Tax, John Henry Has Plenty Of Dough

The latest figures that are available (2017) show that the Boston Red Sox (read: John Henry) accumulated total revenues of $453 million—of which 51.6% was spent on payroll. That's the fourth-highest revenue stream in all of baseball—behind only the Yankees, Dodgers and Cubs. And that's with the smallest ballpark in MLB ("thank you, Red Sox fans", should be the daily mantra out of Jersey Street—AKA Yawkey Way). So, you do the math. The 2018 revenue numbers are sure to be even higher. Which brings us to all this "luxury tax" angst. With their current projected payroll, Boston will likely be at the third level of the tax—since they are already committed to over $236 million in salaries. But, let's try to remember that Henry is awash in cash. Hell, let him pay the top tax—as long as we get championship calibre teams that can legitimately compete for a World Series every year. I don't care—do you? So, don't shed any holiday tears for the NOG (New Ownership Group) about all the money they have to spend—they're doing just fine, thank you.