Daily Red Sox Links: John Henry, Steve Pearce, Alex Cora

John Henry spoke to the media on Friday about the Red Sox’ budget this season, and while he said the luxury tax wasn’t a major concern he also said he doesn’t expect the payroll to rise too much. (Evan Drellich; NBC Sports Boston)

Meanwhile, Tom Werner also spoke with the media and told everyone they’d love to keep Mookie Betts in Boston for his entire career. Duh. (Christopher Smith; Masslive)

The Yankees added Adam Ottavino to their already-great bullpen earlier this week, but the Red Sox aren’t really worried about what New York is doing. (Ian Browne; RedSox.com)

In fact, they are still confident in their own plan for the bullpen. (Chad Jennings; The Athletic) ($$)

Steve Pearce signed extremely early in this free agency period, and with the benefit of hindsight it seems that was a smart move by him. (Rob Bradford; WEEI)

In case you missed it, the Red Sox were historically great in 2018. Alex Cora hints they could be even better in 2019. (Alex Speier; Boston Globe)