The Red Sox and star third baseman Rafael Devers have settled on an $11.2MM salary to avoid arbitration, reports Mark Feinsand of MLB.com (on Twitter). Barring an extension, the 25-year-old will go through the process once more before hitting free agency over the 2023-24 offseason.
The figure lines up almost perfectly with MLBTR contributor Matt Swartz’s $11.1MM projection for Devers entering the offseason. It marks a rather notable jump over last season’s $4.575MM salary, as Devers earned a raise with another excellent showing. He played in 156 games and tallied 664 plate appearances in 2021, hitting .279/.352/.538 with 38 home runs.
Along the way, Devers picked up his first All-Star selection and Silver Slugger Award. He also finished 11th in AL MVP balloting — his second career season garnering down-ballot support in that regard — helping the Red Sox to a 92-win campaign and an eventual berth in the AL Championship Series.
The Red Sox’s slate of arbitration agreements have brought the payroll up to around $220MM, in the estimation of Jason Martinez of Roster Resource. Their luxury tax ledger now sits around $236MM, setting the club up to narrowly exceed the base CBT threshold of $230MM. The Red Sox didn’t pay the tax last season, so they’d be subject to the first-time payor rate of 20% on every dollar spent between $230MM and $250MM.