They haven’t made any splashy free agent signings this winter yet the Boston Red Sox could still see their major league-leading payroll rise in 2019. Several factors account for this increase but the most notable is that they are paying more to arbitration-eligible players.
Boston paid $47.36 million to 12 arbitration-eligible players in 2018. Drew Pomeranz and Joe Kelly, who accounted for $12.325 million of that total, are gone but have been replaced by first-time eligibles. The team reached one-year agreements with all 12 of their eligible players this year for a total of $58.