The idea that only by trading Mookie could you reset the tax is a heck of a
.
Maybe Mookie would have been more happy to stay with the Red Sox if they hadn't spent nearly a year leaking that they were going to trade him to avoid paying him.
Again, EVEN before Mookie was moved they were hoping that their best hitter would opt out of a one year option. AKA they had no intention of trying to win this year. It's the process, but instead of picks and talent they're getting payroll relief by trading their best player.
I just keep making the analogy in my head that this is the equivalent of the C's making a title run this year, giving Gordon a rich new contract and trading Tatum in 2022 after a down year to dump Hayward.