I increased the ARB raises as some seemed a little light and to be a little conservative on it. I also adjust Rafaela and Bello so that they reflect their CBT cost rather than cash. Also note that Yoshida and Giolito will not be ready on Opening Day. What it shows is that with some of the blockers on the roster (Story, Gio, Masa), there isn't really room to acquire 2 starting pitchers PLUS high end bullpen help. If Pivetta opts out, there's a little more room and maybe they can add Flaherty or another high end guy. Hard to say though. Also, no realistic shot at Soto unless Henry gets amnesia and Werner (loves his stars!) takes over the team. 😩
I think this gets them close to their comfort level with the CBT (just under at the start of the year) and maybe they try to shed Yoshida if he comes back healthy and they eat salary for a few years.
That 6M Rafaela AAV extension didn't seem like much to people at the time, but it would prevent a cheap owner from getting a solid middle reliever. The Bello contract too. You need them to be BETTER or these extensions are just not really worth it over the lifetime of the contracts.
I think it's a roster that will be better in June/July once supplemented with young talent and talent coming of the IL.
C: Connor Wong ($0.80M)
1B: Tristan Casas ($0.80M)
2B: Krisitan Campbell ($0.80M)
3B: Rafael Devers ($27.07M)
SS: Trevor Story ($22.50M)
LF: Jarren Duran ($5.00M)
CF: Ceddanne Rafaela ($6.25M)
RF: Wilyer Abreu ($0.80M)
DH: Masataka Yoshida ($18.60M)
4th OF: Rob Refsnyder ($2.25M)
Utility: David Hamilton ($0.80M)
Utility: Romy Gonzalez ($0.80M)
Backup C: Jacob Stallings ($1.50M)
NA: Add Dead Money Here ($0.00M)
SP1: Garrett Crochet ($25.00M)
SP2: Tanner Houck ($5.00M)
SP3: Brayan Bello ($9.17M)
SP4: Nick Pivetta ($21.00M)
SP5: Lucas Giolito ($19.00M)
RP: Tanner Scott ($14.00M)
RP: Justin Slaten ($0.80M)
RP: Liam Hendricks ($6.00M)
RP: Greg Weissert ($0.80M)
RP: Kutter Crawford ($4.00M)
RP: Luis Guerrero ($0.80M)
RP: Zack Kelly ($0.80M)
RP: Michael Fulmer ($1.50M)
NA: Add Dead Money Here ($0.00M)
Payroll is 2.08% under budget