Red Sox Feel “Extreme Urgency,” Aim to Win AL East, Team President Reveals

Getty Red Sox President Sam Kennedy

Even if the Boston Red Sox fail to land this off-season’s most sought-after free agent, Juan Soto, the team plans to spend generously on other players in a bid to end the franchise’s multi-season streak of mediocrity. That was the message delivered by team President Sam Kennedy in a meeting with reporters at the Major League Baseball Owners Meetings in New York on Wednesday.

In fact, according to Kennedy, the organization’s top brass feels “extreme urgency internally” to open up the checkbook and spend cash in order to put the Red Sox back into serious competition for an American League East title, Kennedy said, according to a report by the Boston Globe scribe Michael Silverman.

“Even if it takes us over the CBT, our priority is 90 to 95 wins, and winning the American League East, and winning the division for multiple years,” Kennedy said. His statements stood in stark contrast to a revelation Kennedy made prior to the 2024 season, when he said that the team’s ownership had placed “parameters” on what Chief Baseball Officer Craig Breslow was allowed to spend.

Red Sox Will Not Hesitate to Top Luxury Tax Limit

The Red Sox last season, and in previous seasons going back to 2020, were clearly reluctant to exceed the CBT, or Competitive Balance Tax, threshold — also known as the “luxury tax.” For 2025, the MLB payroll spending limit for a team before it incurs a “luxury tax” penalty is set at $241 million.

In 2024, according to the most recent figures from the sports financial site Spotrac, the Red Sox had a total cash outlay of $208.7 million for player salaries, almost $30 million below last year’s limit of $237 million. According to Kennedy’s statements Wednesday, the team is now ready to increase its spending by at least $33 million and possibly more, to achieve what he outlined as the Red Sox’ competitive goals.

After winning the World Series in 2018 with a $237 million payroll, and winning 108 regular season games that year — breaking the all-time record for the franchise of 105 set in 1912 — the Red Sox increased their payroll in 2019 to $247 million.

But for all of that spending, the team not only failed to get back to the World Series, the Red Sox won only 84 games, finished in third place in their division, and missed the postseason entirely. That led to a drastic reduction in spending, accompanied by a renewed emphasis on building up the organization’s farm system. In the 2020 season, which was ultimately shortened to just 60 games due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Red Sox trimmed spending to $177 million, and has remained in that neighborhood ever since.

Kennedy Says Era of Low-Payroll Mediocrity is Ending

As a result, the Red Sox finished last in the AL East in three of the last five seasons. A surprise second-place finish on the strength of 92 wins in 2021 led to a postseason berth that saw the team get all the way to the American League Championship Series. But the team immediately regressed, occupying the cellar in 2022 and 2023, finishing with identical 78-84 records both years. In 2024, the Red Sox finished in third place at an even, 81-81 .500 mark.

But Kennedy now says all of that is about to change.

“We are investing more than we did last year. We intend to invest going forward,” he said on Wednesday. “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.”