BREAKING MOOS: Outfielder J.D. Martinez has agreed to sign with the Red Sox. It will be a 5 year deal worth $110 million with a player opt-out after 2 years.
We made it. After a long off-season of playing chicken with one of the top free agents of 2018, the Red Sox have finally signed J.D. Martinez, and you can consider me ecstatic.
Martinez will become exactly what the Red Sox needed––a middle of the order power bat––and now it appears as though we have realistic World Series hopes in Boston again. If the Red Sox were a first round exit last year with inconsistent pitching, a terrible coach, and no power on offense, I cannot wait to see what they can do with healthy arms; a new, young coach; and a proven power hitter back in the middle of the lineup.
Red Sox fans demanded for sweeping changes after the Sox got booted from the playoffs last year, and here we have it. J.D. Martinez will not only become the slugger we needed, but he will step in as one of the oldest players in the clubhouse. I mention this because Boston has notably lacked leadership since the retirement of David Ortiz, so hopefully Martinez can fill this role (see Box Score Bishop’s blog about Pedroia and leadership in Boston’s clubhouse).
Martinez indicated in December that he would play the outfield and DH for the Sox, to which the Red Sox offered him a full time outfielding spot. Could this mean bye bye to JBJ? Personally, I hope so. Obviously Jackie Bradley Jr. has a great glove and speed, but he creates a large hole in the lineup that Red Sox fans are tired of. This also means no more Hanley in the four slot, and good riddance.
As Martinez enters his age-30 season, the Red Sox are buying into his sustained success by signing him to a five year deal. However, considering the Sox biggest slugger last year––with a meager 24 home runs––was Mookie Betts, Red Sox GM Dave Dombrowski would be perfectly happy with anything close to Martinez’s production last year. I’m personally hoping Martinez can replicate, or even improve upon, his numbers from last season with both the Diamondbacks and the Tigers: 45 home runs, 104 RBI, .303 batting average, and 1.066 OPS (second best in the MLB). This guy has quietly been extremely productive and didn’t nearly drum up as much interest in free agency as he should have; the only two real contenders to sign (or re-sign him) were the Red Sox and his now former team, the Arizona Diamondbacks.
On the price side of things (no, not you David), $110 million is a steal. I know that sounds crazy, but hey, it’s baseball. For comparison purposes, the Padres recently signed former Royals first baseman Eric Hosmer to an eight year, $144 million deal––about $18 million a year. Martinez’s deal is valued at $22 million a year; this for a guy who has produced significantly better than the $4 million/year gap between him and Hosmer would indicate. So why did the Sox get him for so cheap?
It’s interesting; somehow the Red Sox front office waiting an eternity to make a move has helped them out. Reports surfaced during the Winter Meetings that Martinez was seeking a deal in the $200 million range. Later, it was reported that he brought his asking price down to $150 million. The Red Sox still wouldn’t budge, and rightfully so. It appears that all this waiting made Martinez impatient enough to sign for an (apparently) much lower price than he had hoped for.
It will never make sense to me why Martinez didn’t get as much attention in free agency as he should have; many fans believe collusion between MLB GMs is possible. I, however, couldn't care less. The only issue that I have with the Red Sox blue-balling Martinez is that it may have caused some resentment towards Boston’s front office from the Martinez camp. According to a report from Ken Rosenthal in early February, Martinez was “fed up” with the Red Sox and wanted to sign with another team. Not the right foot to start off on between the Sox front office and Martinez, but, alas, the deal’s done.
Collusion or not, we finally have our star power hitter, and I can confidently say that the World Series is back on.
(Photo via WCVB)
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