If accurate, Cot's has the 40 man CB Tax calculation for Boston at $216.8 million for '23. Actually , there are not any really bad contracts that will burden FA pursuit over the '23-'24 off season, if Sale stays healthy . Sale's deal expires in '24, with a club option for '25 and a backdoor vesting if Sale is in top 10 AL Cy Young voting for '24. Turner costs $11M for '24 , but he could get moved at some point. Jansen has '24 under contract too. So does Rich Bleier ($3M) and a more costly sore shouldered IL designee Chris Martin ( $7.5M in '24).
Devers is locked in from '24-'33 and we'll see how that is wearing in 4-5 years. Yoshida is a gamble at $18M/year and is tied up through 2027 . Let him get through this year to learn American MLB pitching.
Garrett Whitlock is a lock through 2026 , with club options for '27 & '28 at low cost ( 4 years @ $18.75 million). Compare that to Paxton , who is yet to pitch for Boston at all in '22 or '23. Rumors are that he's close .
The wild card , imo, is Trevor Story who is under contract through 2027, with some complicated option/buyout possibilities for 2028. Story has got some earning to do when he returns in July (?) . The Sox need to get some mileage from this $20M-$25M player . If his elbow fix holds, he does cover either SS or 2nd base needs, both of which are a first half '23 black hole . He would certainly strengthen the RH hitting side of the '23 lineup