Abreu redux

In 18 games with the Yankees, Bobby Abreu is hitting .400 / .494 / .529 and went 4 for 5 with a double, a walk, a stolen base, and a run in game 1 yesterday. In the nightcap Abreu went 2 for 4 with 2 walks and 2 RBIs.

All of which raises the question: should the Red Sox have gotten him?

Obviously the money was the reason the Sox didn't want him, but it wasn't just his staight salary. Factoring in the luxury tax, Abreu would have cost the Sox close to $27.7 million for the rest of this season and next.

Any team that is over the luxury tax threshold ($136.5 million in 2006) for the third or fourth time in 2006 pays the tax at a 40 percent rate. So the total hit for Abreu in 2007 would be $15 million salary plus $2 million option buyout (if not exercised) plus a $4.6 million tax hit (if the tax rate is 40 percent and the club is over the threshold) for a total of approximately $21.6 million. Add that to the 2006 cost and you are talking about approximately $27.7 million for about a season and a third of Abreu.