With 15 players eligible for arbitration, Red Sox' moves could be limited

For the past few years, the Red Sox have built a roster which has included a number of homegrown players.

This was viewed as a positive for two reasons: first, it reflected well on the organization’s ability to scout and develop quality young position players (the Sox haven’t had nearly the same success with pitchers); and, by nature of their service time, represented good value for minimal cost.

Now, however, many of those same young players have several years of major league experience and as such, are about to qualify for salary arbitration for the first time or second time.

Soon, they won’t be quite as inexpensive as they were as rookies, when the Red Sox could afford to pay them the league minimum. In fact, some are positioned to take sizeable jumps in salary for 2018.

That’s the cost of doing business, of course. But it could also impede the Red Sox’ ability to make significant upgrades to their roster this off-season.

The team is about to shed some salaries of players eligible for free agency. Mitch Moreland ($5.5 million), Addison Reed (prorated Red Sox share: $2.6 million); Chris Young ($6.5 million); Rajai Davis (pro-rated Red Sox share ($1.2 million); Eduardo Nunez (prorated Red Sox share ($1.45 million);  Fernando Abad ($2 million) and Doug Fister ($1.35 million with a prorated salary and incentives) are all coming off the books, representing about $23 million in savings.

Of the above free agents, only Nunez would seem to be someone the Red Sox might attempt to re-sign, given his contributions, clubhouse presence, versatility and need for a reliable backup to Dustin Pedroia.

But that number will be more than cancelled out by scheduled arbitration raises for a host of players, which could total nearly $51 million in raises this winter.

MLBTradeRumors.com annually projects arbitration awards for eligible players, based on precedent and industry salary trends, and while these projections aren’t absolute – players and teams can settle at slightly higher or lower figures, to say nothing of long-term deals which could be signed.

But with as many as 15 players eligible for arbitration, the cost will be significant, with the Red Sox currently looking at nearly $51 million in salary arbitration costs.

It’s possible, too, that some of these players will be non-tendered. It’s hard to imagine, for example, the Sox will be willing to pay $2 million for Robbie Ross, who’s been inconsistent and injured over the last two seasons. For that matter,  Sandy Leon’s projected 2018 salary of $2.1 million could well result in him being traded or non-tendered, with Christian Vazquez having clearly emerged as the team’s No. 1 catcher and Blake Swihart available at little more than minimum salary as his backup.

Still, the cost is sizeable, with the likes of Mookie Betts going from $950,000 this year to a projected $8.2 million and Drew Pomeranz doubling his salary from $4.45 million in 2017 to a projected $9.1 million next season.

Those spikes could restrict when Dave Dombrowski can do on the free agent market, or limited what sort of salary he could assume in a trade – especially if the Sox are intent on again staying under the CBT (or “luxury tax” it’s more commonly known).

Here’s the list of projected salaries for salary arbitration-eligible players for 2018, according to MLBTradeRumors.com:

Robbie Ross: $2 million
Joe Kelly: $3.6 million
Drew Pomenanz: $9.1 million
Josh Rutledge: $700,000
Tyler Thornburg: $2.1 million
Brock Holt: $2 milion
Xander Bogaerts: $7.6 million
Jackie Bradley Jr.: $5.9 million
Sandy Leon: $2.1 million
Steven Wright: $1.2 million
Mookie Betts $8.2 million
Brandon Workman: $900,000
Carson Smith: $1.1 million
Christian Vazquez: $1.5 million
Eduardo Rodriguez: $2.7 million