Keep Spending Those Dollars, Boys

I was rudely awoken the other day when my phone rang sometime around 4:00 AM. A friend of mine still living in Boston who is apparently confused by the concept of time difference, decided that we needed talk. This would be fine if it was an emergency, but no, my friend had to call me to talk about a conversation he heard between a couple of Red Sox fans. Mildly irritated, I told him I would call back when it was not 4:00 AM. Besides, what Red Sox talk could be so important that you had to call someone that early in the morning?

The fans were ultimately questioning why the Red Sox spend so much money on players, and how it was stupid and imprudent to do so. If teams can win with less money, why can't the Red Sox? One might argue, they spend because they can. Well, just because you can do something, doesn't mean you should. Perhaps the Red Sox actually have to. If John Henry (Red Sox principal owner) had his choice, I'm sure he'd rather spend less than more, but let's look at several reasons why the Sox have to spend so much money.

First, to have a chance at winning the World Series, a team must make the playoffs. In order to make the playoffs, a team must either win the division or the wild card. That being said, the Red Sox are competing with the Yankees for one playoff spot. Yes, they can win the wild card, but in recent years, there is no guarantee that the wild card is going to come from the AL East. Due to the unbalanced schedule, the Red Sox have to face the Yankees 18 times a year. With that many head to head games, the Red Sox need to try to have a lineup that can keep pace with that of the Yankees. This usually means, that they need to go out and spend their fair share of money.

I understand that the Red Sox could just refuse to spend that kind of money, and take a chance that they could win with a lower payroll. But, that brings me to my second point. The Red Sox can't take that chance, because their fans would never let them. The only way to truly understand Red Sox fans is to live amongst them. Red Sox Nation would be ripping management a new one if they decided to cut payroll AND subsequently if the Red Sox did not make the playoffs, or worse yet, came in behind the Yankees. Red Sox Nation expects a quality team that is in contention for the playoffs yearly. That expectation to its fans and customers means management has to spend the money to field a contending team. This expectation has become more prevalent since John Henry took over in 2002.

For now, it is what it is, and while they can, the Red Sox are going to spend the money to buy a good team, just as the Yankees do. Yes, the Yankees set the market, but the Red Sox aren't going to try to shift the market anytime soon. With the amount of fans coming through the gates, and the fact that they've become adept at "rebuilding" while still being competitive, it is unlikely that their payroll will decrease significantly anytime soon.