BOSTON (AP) — Red Sox owners John Henry and Tom Werner intend to slash payroll to get under the luxury tax threshold next season, saying they fired Dave Dombrowski because of differing opinions on how to build for the future.
The pair made their first public comments Friday since parting with Dombrowski, the president of baseball operations, on Sept. 8. They said no matter who replaces Dombrowski, Alex Cora will return for a third season as manager.
Boston has had baseball’s highest payroll for two straight seasons and is on track to pay a $13 million luxury tax this year on a payroll of $243 million for purposes of the competitive balance tax, as it is formally known. That is $37 million over the tax threshold.
Next year’s threshold goes up to $208 million, and the Red Sox will be helped by the departure from the payroll of $56.82 million invested in five players: Rick Porcello ($20,625,000), Pablo Sandoval ($18,445,000), Mitch Moreland ($6.5 million), Steve Pearce ($6,250,000) and Eduardo Núñez ($5 million).
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