It’s Only Money- But Sox Sure Are Wasting A Bunch Of It

You probably know the Red Sox have the highest payroll in all of professional sports in this country. Boston will hand out almost $240 million in player compensation in 2018. 
I am told that players typically have paychecks deposited on the first of the month. So, a couple of days ago think what it would be like to open your checking account and see a couple million bucks in there from your employer. 
And what if you didn’t even work for them anymore? If you were Hanley Ramirez or Pablo Sandoval this is what the notation in your checkbook would look like: Hanley Ramirez “pay from Sox” – $1,895,830, Pablo Sandoval – “pay from my last team”, $1,504,583. 
And on July 1, you’ll see it again. And did you know Hanley has seven more of those paydays coming? 
How about the Fat Panda? Pablo has nineteen such deposits still to come from John Henry and company. The Sox are now paying, Hanley, Pablo, and Rusney Castillo just under $30 million not to play for them this season. Castillo is mired in Pawtucket and is owed Castillo $24.5 million before December 2020.
And what about Dustin Pedroia? He had a quality year last year but the off season surgery may have slowed him down for good. I wonder if the Red Sox have injury insurance on Dustin’s contract? They owe him $50 million over the next 3 2/3 years on what could be damaged goods. He’ll be 35 in August. 
I share all of this just so you know where your $50 in parking fees, $90 ticket, or your $8 beer cash is going next time you are at Fenway. – SOLARI
Jeff Solari

About Jeff Solari

Jeff Solari is the president and founder of the Sports Chowdah, Maine’s only free, weekly sports e mail newsletter. Recently, the Mount Desert Island native was the co-host of "The Drive" on 92.9 FM in Bangor.