El Guapo's Ghost Rambles on about the Red Sox

Since the A's lost out on Hawkins, they are now all over Foulke again. There is little doubt in my mind that the A's will offer Foulke arbitration because they know he will reject it. He has multi-year deals worth far more than a one-year arbitration award. The ancillary benefit for the A's is that they can still try to sign the All-Star. The big benefit is the additional draft choice(s) the A's would receive if another team signed Foulke. Unless the Sox make some major moves, it does not appear that they could sign Foulke and remain under the luxury cap.

My TOTAL is incorrect from my last post. Darren over at Sox Therapy called me on it and Doug Pappas confirmed my error. Option years are considered one-year deals. Hence, Pedro's luxury tax figure for 2004 is not $12.86 million ($90/7 years); it is $17.5 million or his salary of the one-year option. It is a huge mistake worth roughly $11.5 million. The CBA luxury tax section will be on the coffee table this weekend so my new total still could be rough. With that in mind, my new calculation has the Sox, including Schilling's old contract only, totaling $95.13 million for 13 players. Benefits run roughly another $8 million for a grand total of $103 million. It leaves only $17.5 million for the other 12 players - including Nixon (estimated at $6 million), Kim ($4.5), Ortiz ($2.5), and Williamson ($2.5) - needed to fill out the 25-man plus any one on the 40-man roster. Major moves would need to be made to acquire Foulke and not pay the luxury tax.