No, I 1,000,000%$ believe they will NOT be in the top 5% in payroll next season.
I have no faith in John Henry. I am biased against him. I have been that way for a long time, but have heard lots of negative things about him running this franchise going back to last season.
This is a Tom Werner stan account. Werner wants to spend money, Henry doesn't. That is what I've heard. There's an ongoing push and pull in ownership between spending and not spending. Right now, we are in a not spending phase, which seems very clear to me. The FA moves the current Sox have made can be typified as RINKY DINK.