How Do Red Sox Move Forward With Ownership’s Reported Fear of CBT?

How Do Red Sox Move Forward With Ownership’s Reported Fear of CBT?Story byTom CarrollMon, December 1, 2025 at 3:48 AM UTC·4 min read

For most of the winter, the prevailing view in Boston has been that the Red Sox were gearing up for a far more assertive offseason. That assumption wasn’t pulled from thin air - Alex Cora has openly pushed for organizational urgency, and Craig Breslow showed last year that he’s comfortable acting decisively when reshaping the roster.

A new report, however, challenges the assumption that Boston will aggressively spend this offseason, calling into question whether the Red Sox will actually use their financial resources to match Cora’s and Breslow’s urgency.

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MassLive’s Sean McAdam reported Sunday that ownership is concerned about exceeding the $244 million Competitive Balance Tax threshold in 2026, as this could trigger financial penalties and other operational restrictions.

According to the report, team officials believe crossing that line would result in a “moderate financial loss.” Because MLB teams do not share their financial records, it’s impossible to verify whether that claim reflects actual revenue projections or an internal preference for maintaining a certain level of spending discipline.

Anyone with a brain can tell you that it’s almost certainly the latter.

What can be evaluated, however, is where the Red Sox currently stand.MLB Trade Rumors’ Nick Deeds projects Boston’s luxury-tax payroll to be around $223 million. That leaves them roughly $22 million shy of the first tax tier - and approximately $41 million beneath the second tier.

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If ownership truly caps payroll below the CBT line, this $22 million gap becomes the defining limit shaping Boston's entire offseason, reinforcing the reality that spending restraint is the core issue.

Jul 5, 2015; Boston, MA, USA; Boston Red Sox owner John Henry watches the game between the Boston Red Sox and the Houston Astros during the fourth inning at Fenway Park. (Winslow Townson/Imagn Images)

And that’s where the situation tightens.

Fans hoping to see the Red Sox add two marquee hitters - names like Pete Alonso or Alex Bregman - may need to recalibrate their expectations.

Each of those players is expected to command well above $20 million annually, making it virtually impossible for Boston to land both while staying within the financial boundaries suggested in McAdam’s report.

There is always the option of reducing payroll in other areas.

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Fans and media have floated the idea of trading Masataka Yoshida, whose $18.6 million annual contract is a significant financial commitment. Doing so could free up needed payroll space and help manage roster structure, but even this move alone would not enable the addition of two expensive players while keeping total payroll below the CBT threshold and avoiding related penalties.

A more realistic strategy, given the circumstances, might involve securing one premier bat - Bregman remains the logical target - and pairing that acquisition with a lower-cost but still meaningful player.

That’s where recently reported interest in Jorge Polanco, as noted by The Boston Globe’s Alex Speier, suddenly carries greater weight. Polanco represents the type of solid contributor whose price tag doesn’t force a full-scale budget stretch.

The core question is whether ownership’s apparent spending caution will support the substantive upgrades needed, directly testing whether fiscal restraint or competitive urgency will define Boston’s offseason.

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That expectation wasn’t fueled by overconfidence, but by an honest assessment of where the division is at headed into 2026. The AL East gets tougher by the year, and Boston needs more than incremental improvement to compete with its rivals.

Oct 20, 2025; Toronto, Ontario, CAN; Seattle Mariners second baseman Jorge Polanco (7) warms up before game seven of the ALCS round for the 2025 MLB playoffs against the Toronto Blue Jays at Rogers Centre. (Nick Turchiaro/Imagn Images)

Adding fuel to that fire was a report from McAdam earlier this month, in which he said Red Sox ownership recognized the need to spend into the CBT to actually have a chance of getting their team to the next level.

We also had Red Sox team president Sam Kennedy say on a podcast that the front office is “hungry,” suggesting big moves are on the way.

Must’ve been both an expensive and filling Thanksgiving weekend for FSG, because that’s the opposite of what we’re hearing from McAdam as we sit a day away from December 1.

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If the Red Sox actually adopt the reserved spending described in McAdam’s most recent report, their ability to transform the roster this winter is dramatically limited.

One star addition and one secondary upgrade may help the roster, but it falls short of the sweeping overhaul many believed the team was prepared to pursue heading into 2026.

Tom Carroll is a contributor for Roundtable, with boots-on-the-ground coverage of all things Boston sports. He's a senior digital content producer for WEEI.com, and a native of Lincoln, RI.

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