The Boston Red Sox struck out in the free-agency sweepstakes for Yoshinobu Yamamoto, taking their top target to improve their starting rotation off the board. While the are several high-end starters still available, it appears one of the best might be outside of Boston’s budget.

With Yamamoto off the market, starting pitchers like reigning NL Cy Young Award winner Blake Snell, World Series champion Jordan Montgomery and All-Star pitcher Marcus Stroman are still available. With a wealth of arms on the board and the New York Mets seemingly tightening their wallets, it would seemingly be the perfect moment for Boston to spend.

However, under the Fenway Sports Group and team owner John Henry, Boston has reduced its spending. Mookie Betts was traded to slash payroll, Xander Bogaerts was allowed to leave in MLB free agency and Henry has seemingly been committed to operating with a smaller player payroll.

It’s reached the point that when MassLive.com’s Sean McAdam asked an industry official about Montgomery as a fallback plan for the Red Sox, he was told that Montgomery is “too expensive for the Red Sox’s current budget plans.”

If Montgomery is too expensive for Boston, that immediately takes them out of the mix to sign Snell. It also raises legitimate questions regarding their ability to get into a bidding war for Stroman.

All of this raises further uncertainty regarding the Fenway Sports Group’s willingness to spend the money necessary to be a contender. While Red Sox fans aren’t asking for Boston to spend like the Los Angeles Dodgers, consistently slashing payroll, letting key free agents walk and repeatedly finishing third or fourth for top free agents is a long-term problem.

With the AL East getting stronger and the Red Sox seemingly uninterested in making the moves necessary to keep up with the competition, Boston could finish next season last in the AL East for the fourth time in five seasons.