Apparently I understand more than you do. Cot's shows us on the hook as it stands right now for $126 million, not including arb guys, of which Ellsbury will be the biggest and the rest will be minimal. Not $150 million by any stretch.
Bumping Papelbon's salary up to $15 million only costs us an extra $3 million on top of what we paid him this year, when our salary numbers came out to $163 million. The Luxury tax will likely be north of $170 million. That gives us plenty of money, regardless of whether we move Dice-K or not. And I know it's not a f***ing X-Box... don't be a tool. Oh wait... you're a Yankees fan... guess that makes you one by default
As a side note, the Sox have never said they won't go over the luxury tax, just that they don't like to do it. If they can get the right set of players, they'll do it.