New Red Sox Report Bad News For Pursuit Of Multiple Big Bats

Although there isn't a publicly-availabke budget for the Boston Red Sox, the picture is starting to get a little clearer about what fans should expect for the 2026 season.

Boston has already shown that it is willing to get aggressive. Acquiring Sonny Gray certainly is a sign of that. But how far is Boston willing to go? MassLive.com's Sean McAdam shed some light on Boston's spending preferences and noted that the team is open to going past the first Competitive Balance Tax threshold of $244 million, but there is a "reluctance" against "bigger deficits."

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The Red Sox have some room to add

"Thus, the Red Sox face the real possibility that they’ll enter the 2026 season with not one but two division rivals willing to spend upwards of $300 million in payroll," McAdam wrote. "Don’t expect the Red Sox to match that figure. Since the Red Sox led baseball in spending in 2018, they’ve been in a sort of financial retrenchment. The 2025 season was just the second time since 2019 that the Sox went over the first CBT threshold — and then only barely.

"According to industry sources familiar with the organization’s thinking, the Red Sox are OK going over the first CBT threshold — set at $244 million for 2026 — which would translate to them absorbing a modest financial loss. But with anything beyond that, there’s a reluctance to incur bigger deficits. As last season demonstrated, that sort of payroll can enable a competitive team on the field, one capable of qualifying for the postseason. As the Red Sox saw, however, the team’s roster was far from top-notch when injuries struck in September."

FanGraphs currently has Boston's projected luxury tax payroll sitting at just over $223 million. That means there's roughly $21 million in space before that first threshold. After that, the next luxury tax threshold is $264 million.

Based on McAdam's comments, it seems like a safe bet that Boston doesn't want to go past that second threshold. That's speculation based on McAdam noting that there's "reluctance to incur bigger deficits" beyond the first CBT threshold.

So, what can Boston do? Right now, Spotrac has Alex Bregman's projected market value to be just over $112 million across four years, for example. That's just a projection, but it shows the perception around Bregman right now, even on the low end. That would be an average annual value of roughly $28 million. A deal like that would put Boston over the first CBT threshold -- depending on deferrals and other things of that nature -- and wouldn't leave a ton of space before the next one.

Boston has been heavily linked to Bregman, along with other stars like Pete Alonso and Kyle Schwarber. But if this report from McAdam is accurate, it makes it tough to believe that Boston could add multiple big bats. This sort of update from McAdam is bad news for the idea of adding multiple high-priced sluggers, but there is a lot of offseason left.

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