So what happened to the Red Sox and Yankees this off-season?

[Homer Jay]

Are we looking at a fundamental change in how they operate? Are the Steinbrenner boys less concerned about titles than their old man? Might John Henry be looking at taking his profits and two WS rings and selling the Sox?

Every off-season for seemingly the last decade has been dominated by these two big spenders. Last year we saw both teams drive up Carl Crawford to a ridiculous level against each other. Yankees by going with Plan B, Curtis Granderson, ended up coming up way way way ahead in that, as the Sox now have 120 million dollars tied up in a fourth OF. We also watched Cliff Lee take LESS money to play in Philly.

Are the Yankees finally going to give a chance for their young players to grow together? Will Gardner and Montero stick around? Did Brian Cashman really say that A-Rod (who they still owe 172 million dollars to with his HR King Bonus) may have been best utilized at DH instead of 3B after yet another poor playoff?

The Sox decided to retain the 36 - year old Marco Scutaro over Jed Lowrie. I know Lowrie had disappointed slightly, but was he not their SS of the future? What of the talk that Ellsbury won't sign an extension and wants to go to SF when he is a Free Agent. I think this is the first time in years I heard about an elite player wanting to leave one of these two teams for somewhere else. Last player I can think of was Randy Johnson who wanted to go back to Arizona to play out the string.

When both teams have to look at the fact that most of their major free agent signings from the last 5 or so years have not worked out: Lackey, Burnett, Clements, Crawford, Drew... just the top of the heap. At the same time the Teams, even lacking high draft picks, have internally developed MVP/Cy Young/All-star calibre players like Pedroia, Ellsbury, Lester, Nova, Gardner, and Swisher.

The reason why I bring this up is because I thought when Darvish was first being mentioned as coming over, one of these two teams would be automatic for the bid winner. I thought, "What is the point of us even getting involved and excited in this process?", when we would be dramatically short of the winner. Has something finally changed here?

[LBJSeizedMyID]

Both teams have the luxury tax to worry about now - if you pass the amount I believe there's a 40% tax on each dollar you go over. Both teams payrolls are already at the threshold.

[Kurtz]

Well, the Red Sox already have likely the most impressive roster in MLB. They just need to address chemistry issues, and those aren't usualy solved through free agency. I'm a bit surprised that they chose to go the budget approach to replace their closer, however.

As for the Yankees, here's hoping that George's sons are way more budget conscious than he was. It really is rather puzzling that they didn't put in a heavy bid on Darvish, especially given that the posting fee doesn't count against luxury tax. Although offcourse we don't know this for sure quite yet.

[satyr9]

I think NY has wanted to get trend towards getting below the tax threshold for several years 'cause they were sick of being the only team to pay every year (BOS has paid a few times I think, but not consistently). Also, I think they've realized their money is best spent grabbing the best when they come up, so no overpaying for 'cause maybe you don't get Halladay a year after Burnett, or in this case Hernandez a year after Wilson. I think the future of the Yanks is more internal development with a focus on just destroying the competition for elite level talent, not all-star talent.

BOS doesn't surprise me. They spend every couple of years, but aren't annually in for all the big names. They doled out crazy cash the last couple years and have had more misses than hits so they're probably a little gunshy, not to mention BOS is stacked all over, they need cohesion more than they need more talent.

[Schad]

Both teams have the luxury tax to worry about now - if you pass the amount I believe there's a 40% tax on each dollar you go over. Both teams payrolls are already at the threshold.

Yep. Both teams have budgets, just as the Blue Jays have a budget, and just as every other team does; the Sox and Yankees just happen to have far more revenue.

However, even they reach a point where their payroll is uncomfortably high...the Yankees have $175m on the books for next year with another $10-15m due to arb-eligible players, and that still doesn't get them to a full 25 man roster. They'll probably reach $200m as is, which is in the range where they've hovered for the past four years ($201-$214m).

Re-signing David Ortiz and adding Ellsbury's arb year would take the Sox above $150m committed, with more players to re-sign; they've hovered just above $160m over the last two years, and will probably be in the same range again.

It's why the "they have an unlimited budget, why don't we?" thing misses the mark...they don't have unlimited budgets, and both of them are facing a little bit of a crunch owing to the fact that their general managers have spent as if they did. Matsuzaka, Lackey and Crawford will make a combined $45m this upcoming season; Alex Rodriguez, Derek Jeter, AJ Burnett and Rafael Soriano will make $75m. Even with the riches possessed by those two teams, that can result in a season or two where they aren't willing to add another high-salaried player or players.

[mikero]

I'm a bit surprised the Red Sox weren't interested in Reyes.

Other than that, both NY and BOS are set at 1B and might as well wait until next year if they are going to overspend for a pitcher (Hamels, Cain, Greinke..).

[Al_Oliver]

Sox might start feeling the brunt of Liverpool's massive debt... maybe the drunken sailor spending is slowing down? just a thought

[JRG]

I dont know what it is but if it keeps up over the coming years then it is SWEEEEEETTTTTTTTT!!!

[baulderdash77]

The Sox and Yankees have been racking up debt each year because they've been spending over their capabilities. I think there's going to be a 1-2 year window where they don't go after all the free agents as they pay down their salary commitments.

This is going to start to open up a 2-3 year window starting this year through 2015 where they're going to be weaker than they've been over the past 15 years. But then they'll be right back in it.