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Red Sox: Dave Dombrowski under “no mandate” to stay below luxury tax

By Jake Ellis

BOSTON, MA - SEPTEMBER 24: Dave Dombrowski, President of Baseball Operations, left, and Mike Hazen, new Senior Vice President and General Manager of the Red Sox, address the media during a press conference to announce Hazen's promotion before the game against the Tampa Bay Rays at Fenway Park on September 24, 2015 in Boston, Massachusetts. (Photo by Maddie Meyer/Getty Images)
BOSTON, MA - SEPTEMBER 24: Dave Dombrowski, President of Baseball Operations, left, and Mike Hazen, new Senior Vice President and General Manager of the Red Sox, address the media during a press conference to announce Hazen's promotion before the game against the Tampa Bay Rays at Fenway Park on September 24, 2015 in Boston, Massachusetts. (Photo by Maddie Meyer/Getty Images) /
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The heavy luxury tax bill sure doesn’t seem to scare Dave Dombrowski

Usually, an annual goal for a franchise is to always remain below the luxury tax. However, according to Rob Bradford, “Dave Dombrowski, the President of the Red Sox, has stated that he is under no mandate to stay under the CBT, or Competitive Balance Tax.”

The CBT is a luxury tax paid by teams in the MLB that are over the payroll limit. If the Red Sox cross over the payroll limit, they will have a 50 percent penalty if they go over the limit. The Red Sox payroll sits at about 183 million, which gives Dombrowski just over 10 million dollars to work with. Right now, the Red Sox have a number of targets that could drive them over that threshold. A relief pitcher is always something that we are looking to upgrade especially since we are missing both Carson Smith and Tyler Thornburg.

Another upgrade Dombrowski and the Sox have been waiting for is at third base. We decided to throw all our eggs in that “Kung Fu Panda” basket before the season started, and Sandoval has been an absolute atrocity this season. The targets that the Sox covet the most are Mike Moustakas from the Kansas City Royals, and Todd Frazier from the Chicago White Sox.

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Frazier seems like the most likely candidate with the Royals now catching fire and starting to play well again. Pitching is also a need for the Red Sox, as we have gotten no consistency below Chris Sale. Some of the targets Dombrowski has been looking at are Sonny Gray from the Oakland Athletics and Jose Quintana from the Chicago White Sox. While both are appealing trade candidates, either pitcher’s cost would be more than the already depleted farm system could handle.

Dombrowski has never been shy about improving his team through trades. He was known in Detroit for never being afraid of making a deal, no matter the cost. Relief pitching is also a need for the Red Sox. A name that has been coming up is Brad Hand from the San Diego Padres. He has had quite a solid year so far. This year, he has pitched 41.2 innings with a 2.59 ERA and 30.5% strikeout rate. He has been nothing but a dominant late option for the Padres, something that the Red Sox could use before they “release the Kimbrel.”

Next: Mookie Betts' latest home run just second at Fenway

Like I said above, Dombrowski is never afraid of making a deal.  Even though the Red Sox are in first place, Dombrowski is not settling for anything. I mean, he doesn’t have the nickname “Dealing Dave” for nothing. It seems as if “Dealing Dave” is not intimated by the Luxury Tax bill. If a heavy tax bill doesn’t scare Dombrowksi, I don’t know what would. It seems as if Dombrowski will stop at nothing until the Sox are on top of the baseball world

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