What was the Red Sox’ best acquisition? Freedom from luxury-tax penalties
“This pandemic has not been kind to our industry and it’s a massive crisis in a lot of ways for the baseball industry that we’re banding together to try and do everything we can to overcome," said chief baseball officer Chaim Bloom. "It’s hanging over everybody.”
The Red Sox made two more trades Monday, shipping Kevin Pillar to the Rockies and reliever Josh Osich to the Cubs. In both cases, they received a player to be named.
The biggest accomplishment, however, was that Monday’s trade deadline passing also meant the luxury-tax penalties the Sox have been incurring will reset for 2021. That creates considerably more flexibility in putting together a better roster, which is important because the coming offseason will be one where creativity will be required.
It remains uncertain to what degree fans will be allowed into games in 2021 and every team has already taken a financial beating with the loss of revenue this season. The free-agent market could be barren, even for the best players, and some teams may be compelled to shed payroll by trading stars. Controlling costs this season and adding to their prospect depth has positioned the Sox to take advantage of the situation.
“We’re in the business of staging mass gatherings,” Bloom said. “This pandemic has not been kind to our industry and it’s a massive crisis in a lot of ways for the baseball industry that we’re banding together to try and do everything we can to overcome. It’s hanging over everybody.”
“It’s our job to make sure we’re aware of everything that’s out there,” Bloom said.
The final 25 games are unlikely to be pleasant. With Eovaldi on the injured list, the rotation consists of Martin Perez and four coin flips. And nearly every game remaining is against a contender.
Bloom said that the Sox would lean on the side of development as the season plays out. The remaining games offer a chance to further evaluate players such as Jonathan Arauz, Michael Chavis, Bobby Dalbec, and Yairo Munoz and see how many of those pitchers are worth keeping around.
The four trades opened playing time for others and the Sox should use that wisely. Munoz, once a productive player for the Cardinals before a falling out that led to his release, was called up Monday for his first big league time since being signed in March.
“We move on,” manager Ron Roenicke said.
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