It seems hypocritical that Red Sox CEO Larry Lucchino continues to insist his club operates differently than the Yankees, considering the most expensive Red Sox team ever is set to enter the season with a payroll north of $200 million. But the difference between the two teams isn’t how much money they spend. It’s how they spend it.
Lucchino doesn’t deny that the Red Sox and Yankees both shell out of a lot of money for players. But as he said to the assembled press in Fort Myers, Fla. Wednesday, several other organizations in baseball do as well.
“We are different,” Lucchino said. “We run our franchises differently. But there is a commonality in our willingness to invest sizable sums in baseball players, whether they be short-term additions or long-term development projects. In that sense, we — like the Dodgers, like the Giants, like a lot of successful clubs — are willing to pay the price and write the check.”
The Red Sox signed Cuban super-prospect Yoan Moncada Monday, and will pay him a signing bonus north of $30 million. When you factor in tax, the Red Sox will spend in excess of $60 million for Moncada’s services.
Over the last seven months, the Red Sox have invested roughly $320 million in Rusney Castillo, Hanley Ramirez, Pablo Sandoval and Moncada. But it’s worth noting that they didn’t re-sign Jon Lester, and therein lies the difference between the Sox and Yankees.
Red Sox principal owner John Henry said last spring almost every overpaid player in baseball is older than 30. This is especially true when it comes to pitchers, who breakdown with more regularity than position players.
The Cubs dolled out $155 million to sign the 31-year-old Lester this offseason. The Red Sox, meanwhile, stopped short at $135 million – and probably knew that figure wouldn’t be good enough to get a deal done. It was akin to the lowball offer the club reportedly extended to Jacoby Ellsbury last winter, which ESPN Boston’s Gordon Edes reported was less than $120 million. The Yankees signed Ellsbury, 31, to a seven-year, $153 million contract.
Since Ben Cherington was named general manager in 2012, the Red Sox have almost only spent big money on positional players who are younger than 30 – like Sandoval, Castillo and Moncada. The two exceptions are Dustin Pedroia and Ramirez, but they’re moderate outliers at best. Pedroia was 30 when the Red Sox signed him to a then-below market eight-year, $110 million extension in July 2013. Ramirez, 31, signed a four-year, $88 million deal with a vesting option. It’s a significant commitment, but a far cry from Ellsbury’s seven-year contract, for example.
The Red Sox throw around a lot of money, but they appear to do so with a plan. Contrast that with the Yankees, who have spent $852 million on Alex Rodriguez, CC Sabathia, Mark Teixeira, Ellsbury and Brian McCann over the last several years – all of whom are older than 30.
Maybe that’s semantics, but it was difficult to not see the difference between the two team’s philosophies this week. As the New York Post’s Joel Sherman points out, 19-year-old phenom Yoan Moncada didn’t show up to Yankees Spring Training. A-Rod did.
Every dollar spent isn’t equal.
