How will it not have a severe impact? You will need a SP and a closer. Including Kelly, Pom and Kimbrel, the sox will have $24 mil to spend before they hit the cap. But that $24 mil will be eaten with arb raises alone. Mookie is looking at a big raise. If Xander hits like the .300 25HR hitter he could be, he will get a huge arb raise as well. JBJ just by defense will be looking at a raise. Your pen guys and ERod start seeing some money. Vaz' contract kicks in next season, so he sees a raise. Effectively, the money the sox will retain when their FA's hit market will be reabsorbed into the same team. The Hanley money was the money the sox were going to use to replace their outgoing players or keep them. If Hanley vests, Kimbrel and Pom are definitely gone and you are looking at having to deal from your current squad to replace them just so the salaries match. I told you guys in ST, Hanley cannot vest. There is no way Henry says its okay to run past the upper threshold (90% penalty, $1 mil loss of INTL funds, 1st rounder pushed back 10 picks, likely into the second round). It is developmental suicide for a farm already barren as a desert