We’re now a solid three weeks away from pitchers and catchers reporting to Spring Training and JD Martinez is still up for grabs. This particular MLB offseason has moved at a seemingly historically low pace, with the only notable moves that I can name off the top of my head being Giancarlo Stanton to the Yankees and Andrew McCutchen to San Francisco; it isn’t just the Red Sox being stubborn. I believe even Dave Dombrowski himself commented on how egregiously slow the dominos have fallen this winter.
Martinez remains easily the hottest big bat commodity on the market and in my opinion, Boston is still going to sign him. I cannot stress enough just how badly the Red Sox need this guy. Without him, Boston is still probably a one-postseason win team, depending on the health of certain players. With him, I’d be willing to bet they win the ALDS, again, depending on the health of certain players.
Dombrowski reiterated at Winter Weekend that he’d be okay with standing pat and putting the exact same 2017 out there again in 2018, confidently. The team is good, not great. Throw Martinez in the middle of the lineup and pray that the likes of Betts, Bogaerts and Ramirez improve from last season? Now you’re cooking with fire. I mean, look at how much better that lineup looks if you slide one single player in there:
RF Betts
LF Benintendi
DH Martinez
3B Devers
1B Ramirez/Moreland
SS Bogaerts
2B Pedroia
C Leon/Vazquez
CF Bradley
I’m a firm believer that hitters feed off of each other’s success. One has to imagine that inserting a guy who hit more second-half home runs (31) than any Red Sock hit all season would rub off, especially on such a young team. I mean, come on: only JD Martinez and Mike Trout have hit at least .300 with at least 125 dingers plus an adjusted OPS of 100 or better over the last four seasons. It’s been 15 months since David Ortiz last stepped foot in the Fenway batter box; it’s about time the Red Sox snag someone who can at least attempt to fill his shoes in the stats department.
As we all know, Martinez hired our good pal Scott Boras the day after the World Series came to a close this past October, scaring the fans of any team that is desperate for a middle-of-the-order bat. I’m pretty sure Boras is still eyeing a 7-year deal, but will be flexible in regards to money, especially as the clock ticks down to spring training. The Red Sox reportedly most recently offered 5 years/$125 million, which I think is nearly perfect. At the same time, they can’t bid against themselves, which I don’t think they will. They’re playing this surprisingly correctly: standing their ground with a decent offer and staying patient.
The main reason why I’m almost certain that Martinez will eventually ink a deal with Boston is because I just can’t see the market for him expanding any further than Boston and Arizona and Boras’ inevitable “mystery team”. The Giants snagged McCutchen, St. Louis snagged Marcell Ozuna, and who knows; Arizona may not even have space in their payroll for Martinez seeing as how they want to keep Zack Greinke long-term.
At some point, from Boston’s point of view, they need to stop relying on hoping that their current roster simply performs better next time around. That rarely pays off and I can’t see how it will in this situation. Again, they’re an okay team. That isn’t good enough in Boston. I know Dombrowski is aware of that, and I know that Martinez is at the top of Davey’s priority list.
The longer this is drawn out, the better, in my opinion. A bidding war between Dombrowski and Boras is something I’m okay with watching go down. Two of the most patient higher-ups in all of sports who both happen to be relatively desperate for each other, in this situation? Incredible. Both sides need each other and both sides are well aware of that fact. Patience is a great approach for both sides, technically speaking. The more I think about it, the more okay I am with this thing hanging on until spring training.
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