I think you are missing the point.
The Sox aren't the Rays or A's and aren't going to behave like them in trading off their best players before they become too expensive.
The Sox aren't the Dodgers or Yankees where they are ever going to lead the world in spending.
There is a middle ground, and we are watching the Sox operate in it, because don't fit into one extreme or the other.
We DO have history to go off of, and something called a pandemic which crushed their bottom line last year, so the fact that they aren't spending like the Yankees right now shouldn't be a surprise because the Sox also have always been sensitive to that, but as revenues get back to normal, I full expect the Sox to expand payroll around increasing revenues, just like they have for the last 40 years.
But that isn't dramatic, so...