If the season is canceled the Sox CBT will NOT reset

Please let there be a stupid mini season

The owners would vote 29-1 to keep the Red Sox spending constrained one more year. I have heard the Cubs are in a similar situation, so maybe 28-2.

I think a neutral third party would say that it's fair for the CBT penalties to reset this year, especially considering the Red Sox took deliberate action to accomplish it and were sitting ~$10 million under. I think the union was asleep at the wheel again and potentially cost its members tens of millions of dollars.

Consider this: The Red Sox will have the highest payroll in baseball this season. Here's who they're paying what, and how that will change in 3 years:

C
2018: Vazquez/Leon tandem costs $3,375,000
2021: Both Vazquez and Leon will be free agents. No clear in-house replacement.

1B
2018: Hanley/Moreland platoon costs $28.5M.
2021: Both Hanley and Moreland are gone after 2019, so who the hell knows. JDM?

2B
2018: Pedroia, $13.75M
2021: Same, but in his last year.

SS
2018: Bogaerts, $7.05M
2021: Bogaerts is a free agent and would cost at least twice that.

3B
2018: Devers, league minimum
2021: Devers, first year of arb. Probably at least $5M and more if things go the way we all hope.

LF
2018: Benintendi, close to league minimum
2021: Benintendi, second year of arb. Probably around $10M at least?

CF
2018: Bradley, $6.1M
2021: Bradley is a free agent

RF
2018: Betts, $10.5M
2021: Betts is a free agent, will require >$20M

DH
2018: JDM, $22M
2021: JDM, $22M (unless he moves into the OF - conceivable given both JBJ and Betts as free agents - or 1B; in that case, maybe Chavis on the cheap is up and hitting?)

In the lineup alone, you're looking at a significant increase in cost to keep the band together. 1B and one OF spot look like the places they'd potentially save money, but to do that, you're not bringing back one of Bradley or Betts.

Now consider the rotation: You're still paying Price $31M, Rodriguez is in his fourth year of arbitration, and you need to have replaced the other three. Maybe Groome, Houck, and/or Mata is ready by then, but you may not have the luxury of waiting - Pomeranz is a FA this year and Porcello and Sale are after next. Net cost of keeping all three would be a staggering increase.

Oh, and Kimbrel's gone after this year.

The point: Monetarily and, frankly, just based on logic, this team is going to look drastically different in 2021. They can't realistically re-sign every free agent, and the lack of prospects means they'll have fewer underpaid young players allowing them to spend money on veterans. For every team, there comes a point where you don't have the money. The club got to that point once and got bailed out by the Dodgers. That's not going to happen again.

James is right - it's unnecessarily pessimistic to say they're doomed, but Dombrowski is going to have to get creative in the next few years. The current Red Sox team was built based on the graduation (Bogaerts, Bradley, Betts, Benintendi, Devers, Rodriguez sorta) and trading of minor league assets (for Sale, Kimbrel, Pomeranz), as well as MLB FAs (Ramirez, Porcello, JDM) and one re-signing (Pedroia). In 2021, the team is probably going to have to be built nearly exclusively on the latter two categories. THAT is the problem.

Can we reset the tax if 60 games are played? Last I heard, we couldn't, but I havent been paying attention.

Just an opinion but I'd guess that the players union will be in favor of tax resets as easy as possible because that adds to the money available in future years.