Shocker: Red Sox fans and baseball folks in general are up in arms about something extremely miniscule. This time, it’s about JD Martinez and the fact that the team has yet to announce the signing of their much-needed big bat, acting like it’s something out of the ordinary for there to be multiple days in between both sides agreeing to terms and the inevitable formal announcement.
As I just said, this isn’t absolutely anything to freak about. Why are people freaking out, is the real question. The only answer I can come up with is that Martinez arrived at Sox camp with photographic/video proof a couple days ago, which you rarely see, because it does not take this long for a major free agent to sign with his new team. I cannot explain to you why this has made people assume the worst, but those are the facts.
Think about it: can you recall a time in which a team acquired a big-name piece to their team and it only took one or two days for the press conference to take place? I know I sure don’t. For example, the terms to David Price’s deal in 2015 were agreed upon on December 1, and the press conference wasn’t held until December 4. Plus, the JD Drew announcement took seven WEEKS. Until then, I personally won’t get my panties in a bunch.
My favorite theory from fans that I’ve seen is the “he’s hurt” one, and them promptly bringing up Boston’s recent medical issues with new players, for example, Drew Pomeranz (who turned out quite fine) and Carson Smith (whom is also just fine). Look, I get it. Many are scarred from those blips and they’ve lost faith in this team’s medical staff, so they’re assuming that they screwed up again and Martinez’ legs need to be amputated.
Why are we angry about the team recognizing their medical past with important players, being conscientious about it and doing their deep research to quadruple-check the power bat they’re about to pay nine figures to? Would you rather them announce the singing an hour after they agree to terms and forego the physical and forego making sure every little thing is in line? Would you rather something with him pop up in early May and have this team’s medical staff look bad once again? No. Unfortunately, these fans are going to complain about this whether they announced it too quickly or if they don’t announce it quickly enough. These folks cannot be pleased.
My second favorite line has to be “what, there aren’t any doctors in Florida?” The team’s doctors, I’m assuming, are Boston-based and live in Boston and literally could not have traveled with the team for spring training. I’m not sure about you, but I’d rather have the Red Sox fly their staff members down to Florida and have that process take a few days instead of them plunking someone from a random hospital in Fort Myers. That’s just me, though.
Martinez had a sprained knee last season and also began the 2017 season with a foot injury and suffered from a broken elbow two seasons ago. Why wouldn’t you take the extra few days to make complete sure that he’s okay and take all of the preventitive measures necessary for him to function at his body’s peak for the entire 2018 season? The team could be figuring out something like taking out insurance because of his injury past, which is an incredibly smart thing to do and, as a fan, I’m glad they’re taking the critical precautions to ensure that they don’t eff this up like they have before. People forget that the day Gordon Hayward was signed, it was delayed again and again because of the way he wanted his blog post worded. Shit happens, folks.
As a Red Sox fan, I’m a bit more concerned about where he’ll hit in the lineup as opposed to “how long” the formal announcement is taking; apologies. It’s only been a few days – who gives a hoot? He’s as much of a Boston Red Sox as he was when the terms were agreed upon on Monday and he’s just as healthy today as he was on Monday. All of his limbs are very much attached and life is fantastic.
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