Red Sox fans can thank Rafael Devers yet again after Roman Anthony extension

The Rafael Devers trade will remain an inflection point for this modern iteration of the Boston Red Sox, which will eventually come to be defined as the "Craig Breslow era".

The trade, which was far from popular at the time it was completed, hit another snag on the road at the trade deadline. Boston unloaded the best prospect acquired from the San Francisco Giants, outfielder James Tibbs III, to the Dodgers in exchange for Dustin May.

The most forgotten part of that deal, though, was that the Giants agreed to assume all of the remainder of Devers' contract. The Red Sox, in turn, saved about $30 million in salary per year through 2033, as well as $29.7 million on their annual luxury tax calculations.

There was hope that the franchise would turn around and make the most of those savings. On August 6, those hopes were answered with resounding confirmation, as Roman Anthony agreed to a $130 million extension.

Red Sox's Roman Anthony extension doesn't happen without Rafael Devers trade

Without Devers clogging up the payroll, take a look at the big salaries the Red Sox have on the books past this year:

1) Alex Bregman: $31.7 million AAV **
2) Garrett Crochet: $28.3 million AAV
3) Trevor Story: $23.3 million AAV
4) Masataka Yoshida: $18 million AAV
5) Roman Anthony: $16.3 million AAV
6) Jordan Hicks: $12.5 million AAV

** Bregman can opt out after this season.

Those are the only eight-figure hits to the team's luxury tax calculations currently on the roster, totaling $130.1 million ($98.4 million without Bregman). That's a lot more digestible than the roughly $160 million it would have been with Devers, and thanks to some of the other team-friendly deals inked over the past few seasons (Kristian Campbell, Ceddanne Rafaela, Brayan Bello), the franchise remains in position to continue adding external talent, even after the Anthony extension.

Now, the Red Sox have never been averse to paying a luxury tax bill when it suits a competitive team— they were the top spenders in baseball in 2018 when they last won the World Series — but they've only done so once since the pandemic (in 2022, when they went less than $5 million over the first threshold). The current CBA (and, surely, the next one in 2027) has introduced harsher penalties for tax-paying teams, and the Red Sox have felt the encouragement to duck the tax when possible. It's no secret that the team was hoping to save money as a priority when figuring out where to trade Devers.

Finally, fans can breathe a sigh of relief. The Devers trade was a salary dump first and foremost, but those savings aren't going into the pocket of ownership. Instead, Breslow has used that freed-up money to lock down the new face of the franchise for the better part of the next decade.

Welcome to the spotlight, Roman Anthony.