Actually, it makes it very hard to swallow.I get that the back-end of contracts are always scary but the market has shown that teams are willing to throw that in to get deals done. It feels like the MLB market has arrived at the idea that a fourth through sixth years are essentially throw aways but they also may allow teams to get to a lower AAV which is worth a lot given the payroll constraints.
Back to Betts, I get the pragmatism around looking at him as a trade candidate but aside from the Sox freeing themselves from having to pay him, they are highly unlikely to get anything close to equal value - especially since if he is being offered out, teams will know the Sox are motivated to move him.
Players like Betts are fairly rare (hence his looming massive price tag) and while some here may be getting all lathered up about some new prospects to fawn over, the reality is that the Sox may be sending out a ~6-8 WAR player for what effectively amounts to salary relief. As outlined in this thread, it may be necessary given the Sox current financial situation but that doesn't make it any easier to swallow.
OK, I'm willing to accept that there will be a price that the Sox would not try to beat if Betts should ever get to free agency. At some point, the money does become real. I also can understand the team not wanting to go above the 3rd threshold on the luxury tax.
But the idea that this team has to get under the first tax threshold in the very near future is very tough to swallow.