Red Sox & Nationals Owe Luxury Tax.

Red Sox and Nationals owe luxury tax in 2018 as MLB teams combine for smallest bill in 15 years One two teams, the Boston Red Sox and Washington Nationals, exceeded the $197 million luxury tax threshold this past season, according to the Associated Press The Yankees had paid luxury tax every year since the system was implemented in 2003 before getting under the threshold in 2018.

That means their first draft pick moves back 10 spots and they pay an increased tax rate for going $20 million over the threshold, plus another increased tax rate for going $40 million over the threshold.

Half the remainder is used to fund player retirement accounts, and the rest is distributed to non-luxury tax paying teams.

The 28 other teams each received roughly $24,000 in luxury tax money this year.