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Dombrowski: Top priority is 8th-inning reliever
- Updated: December 6, 2016
NATIONAL HARBOR, Md. — Red Sox president of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski revealed Monday that his first priority is to find an eighth-inning setup man, and he won’t acquire a bat until that task is accomplished.
After making significant investments in free agents the last two winters, the Red Sox likely aren’t going to spend big this Hot Stove season. Instead, they will make every effort to keep the team payroll below the luxury tax threshold of $195 million.
Based on the projected payroll of their returning roster, the Red Sox have less than $10 million to spend to stay under the luxury tax threshold.
• Hot Stove Tracker
For all the speculation that the Red Sox wanted Carlos Beltran — who signed with the Astros — Dombrowski confirmed Monday that the club didn’t seriously engage with the veteran, or with Matt Holliday, who wound up with the Yankees.
Beltran signed a one-year, $16 million deal. Holliday’s contract is for one year at $13 million.
“I really haven’t wanted to push that part of it yet. I figured we would wait to see what ends up taking place later on and who’s out there, because really our priority is to try …
