Red Sox President Sam Kennedy Open to Becoming Luxury-Tax-Paying Club in 2025
The Boston Red Sox have big plans for this off-season.
After finishing 81-81 last year, missing the playoffs for a third straight season, the franchise hopes to take a massive leap forward in 2025 and position themselves in the same conversation as the Baltimore Orioles and New York Yankees – both of whom made the postseason in ‘24.
However, the Red Sox must construct a much improved roster than they did a season ago to achieve that feat. One obstacle they won’t encounter is the initial $241-million luxury tax threshold, with the organization announcing its willingness to surpass it.
That should provide the front office significant financial flexibility this winter, given their projected $171.1 million Competitive Balance Tax payroll for next season, per FanGraphs’ Roster Resource.
“Even if it takes us over the CBT,” president and CEO Sam Kennedy told reporters at this week’s owners meetings, including the Boston Globe’s Michael Silverman. “Our priority is 90 to 95 wins, and winning the American League East, and winning the division for multiple years.”
The Red Sox haven’t been a luxury-tax-paying club since 2022, meaning they’d face a 20-percent surcharge on any overages as a first-time payee in ‘25. They’d be subject to additional surcharges if they exceed any of the three ensuing CBT thresholds, each increasing by $20 million.
As a team that didn’t surpass the luxury tax in ‘24, Boston would only lose its second-highest draft selection and $500,000 from its international bonus pool by signing a free agent who received a qualifying offer.
That’ll be worth remembering amidst the franchise’s pursuit of superstar Juan Soto, who met with the club last week. He’s expected to command a historic contract worth upwards of $600 million – if not more.
Even with one lucrative deal already on the ledger in Rafael Devers’ 10-year, $313.5-million contract, the Red Sox are fully prepared to add another this off-season, especially for a player of Soto’s calibre.
“Is that possible? If that’s what it takes, yeah, absolutely,” Kennedy said of adding another mega deal to its books. “We are investing more than we did last year. We intend to invest going forward.
“There is an extreme urgency internally to be competing for the American League East Championship and to set ourselves up for a deep postseason run in 2025 without question. The goal is to win 90 plus games to not be worrying about a wild-card spot.”
It’ll likely take more than landing Soto to transform Boston into a legitimate World Series contender, as they also require improvements in the rotation and bullpen. Still, with a top-tier farm system ranked in the top three by most outlets, they appear flush with resources that’ll open them to endless possibilities.
“Look, we have to add, and that’s what we’re trying to do, but I think we’re in a good position to add right now,” Kennedy said. “We need more pitching, front of the rotation guys and bullpen. We feel good about our positional core, we really do. A high priority is pitching but everything and anything’s on the table for us — free agency, trades, promotions from the minor leagues.”
If Soto remains in New York, Boston’s front office could shift to a loaded starting pitching market headlined by Blake Snell, Corbin Burnes and Max Fried. But they’ll likely be a major player in the reliever market, too, with back-end arms like Tanner Scott, Carlos Estévez, Jeff Hoffman and Clay Holmes available.
Either way, the Red Sox seem all-in on putting the last few seasons of mediocrity behind them after receiving a significant financial commitment from Fenway Sports Group, which owns the franchise.
-Thomas Hall
Twitter: @Hall_Thomas_
Photo: Dmoore5556. This file is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 International license.