2026 Red Sox/MLB Season Thread

[byennie]

I really don't care if NYY wins or not at this point.  I do find it interesting that 3 of the final 4 teams will all have below league average team salaries:

CWS   #24 or CLE #30
TB      #28
MIL    #19
LAD     #2

LAD is below NYM is spending (per Spotrac) but I am not sure how all the deferred money figures into that.  It is really amazing to me how many teams make bad spending decisions.  LAD, when deferred spending is accounted for, I assume would be the biggest spender.  They seem to be able to spend well, but not many other teams.

It definitely speaks to parity in MLB.

The Dodgers are hard to pin down. You can't really say anything was misspent, unlike NYM, with their extreme success. On the other hand, any metric that shows other teams are close in spending isn't really realistic. They have over 2 billion dollars in deferred money on the books, and are basically gaming the system.

Ohtani, Betts, Yamamoto, Skubal (TBD), Tucker, Snell, Freeman are all on mega deals among the biggest in all of MLB... and they still have room for $32M for Glasnow, $20M for Teoscar, $16M for Scott, $16M for Smith, $14M for Diaz, $12M for Edman, $10M on Muncy...

By next season they'll have roughly 7 guys making an average of $50M each, and 7 more guys making an average of $20M, which includes 3 different league MVPs, 2 multi-time Cy Young winners, and two more guys in the running for those honors. Every single one of which they bought.

[slamtheking]

I really don't care if NYY wins or not at this point.  I do find it interesting that 3 of the final 4 teams will all have below league average team salaries:

CWS   #24 or CLE #30
TB      #28
MIL    #19
LAD     #2

LAD is below NYM is spending (per Spotrac) but I am not sure how all the deferred money figures into that.  It is really amazing to me how many teams make bad spending decisions.  LAD, when deferred spending is accounted for, I assume would be the biggest spender.  They seem to be able to spend well, but not many other teams.

It definitely speaks to parity in MLB.

The Dodgers are hard to pin down. You can't really say anything was misspent, unlike NYM, with their extreme success. On the other hand, any metric that shows other teams are close in spending isn't really realistic. They have over 2 billion dollars in deferred money on the books, and are basically gaming the system.

Ohtani, Betts, Yamamoto, Skubal (TBD), Tucker, Snell, Freeman are all on mega deals among the biggest in all of MLB... and they still have room for $32M for Glasnow, $20M for Teoscar, $16M for Scott, $16M for Smith, $14M for Diaz, $12M for Edman, $10M on Muncy...

By next season they'll have roughly 7 guys making an average of $50M each, and 7 more guys making an average of $20M, which includes 3 different league MVPs, 2 multi-time Cy Young winners, and two more guys in the running for those honors. Every single one of which they bought.

to me, that's the biggest problem -- LA has such a staggering financial advantage that only a NY could even think of trying that approach.  teams like the Brewers can't afford to keep the young players that they develop and turn into good players.  it's a revolving door for them with relying on a youth movement that has to outperform their contracts.  once they reach arbitration, the trade clock is ticking -- and most likely to one of those high-spending franchises

[Roy H.]

At least the Dodgers spend a large portion of the revenue they bring in.  The Red Sox don't.

https://www.reddit.com/r/KCRoyals/s/OjIT7Bu6ZS

[byennie]

At least the Dodgers spend a large portion of the revenue they bring in.  The Red Sox don't.

https://www.reddit.com/r/KCRoyals/s/OjIT7Bu6ZS

Indeed, the Dodgers are just the new Yankees (money-wise). In the past, Boston competed by spending less, but a lot. These days, we turn $100M in profit for ownership and the excuse is that we should emulate teams like Milwaukee or Tampa Bay. In other words, why spend your revenue when you can just play moneyball and shed a cool billion for the owners over a decade.