About those Red Sox ticket prices

RE "SOX step in, freeze ticket prices," (Page A1, Nov. 13): Has it yet dawned on Red Sox Nation that the main inspiration for team ownership holding the line on 2009 ticket prices is the significant reduction in payroll provided by the departure of the likes of Manny Ramírez? And does anyone think Jason Varitek will command the $10 million per he's been socking away over the past four years?

The New England (and world) economy may surely justify stabilizing entertainment prices, but, let's be realistic about it, it's the significant drop in labor costs making such a grandiose gesture possible. And it's easy to forget that, in spite of the club's decision not to raise ticket prices for the first time in 14 years, it's unlikely the Sox will give up their spot at the top of baseball's costliest venues.
RANDY JOHNSON, Weymouth