As of right now their payroll is 20mil less than last year.
And? Look at the salaries of Arod, CC, Jeter and Tex alone. Imo the Yankees need to spend more time developing their own players, because the spending tactic has not worked for them over the last 8 years. The Yankees ain't done yet, they are going to go after Manny to.
I can see the sox letting the Yanks blow their load in FA and dealing some of their many prospects to make some trades. They really don't need all that much right now. They do need a big bat long term though. Although this Lars Anderson kid they have is supposed to be a Tex type hitter.
Also, the Redsox no longer have the second highest payroll in baseball. Many teams outspend them now. The gap is not even really close either way.
Yankees $209,081,579 $6,744,567
Tigers $138,685,197 $4,622,840
Mets $138,293,378 $4,609,779
Red Sox $133,440,037 $4,765,716
White Sox $121,152,667 $4,487,136
Angels $119,216,333 $4,110,908
Cubs $118,595,833 $4,392,438
Dodgers $118,536,038 $4,233,430
Mariners $117,993,982 $4,538,230
Braves $102,424,018 $3,414,134
Cardinals $100,624,450 $3,049,226
Blue Jays $98,641,957 $3,522,927
Phillies $98,269,881 $3,388,617