After months of negotiations, and another weak of final tweaking, the Red Sox have officially signed slugger J.D. Martinez. ESPN.com’s Pedro Gomez first tweeted that a deal was in place; Jon Heyman of FanRag Sports had tweeted that the sides were close. Martinez is represented by the Boras Corporation.
The contract is for five years and $110MM, per reports. Notably, it includes three opt-out opportunities — after the second, third, and fourth seasons of the deal. As Evan Drellich of NBC Sports Boston tweets, Martinez will receive $23.75MM annual salaries for the first two years and is promised a $2.5MM buyout if he opts out of the remainder of the deal. He’ll also earn $23.75MM for the third season of the contract. At that point, he’ll choose between a return to the open market (with no buyout) and $19.35MM salaries for 2021 and 2022.
But that’s not all. The original deal only included two opt-outs and did not protect the Red Sox in the event of injury. After a physical and ensuing additional negotiations, the pact now contains not only a third opt-out but also some language allowing Boston to avoid certain obligations if Martinez’s prior Lisfranc injury recurs, as we detailed here. There’ll also be some limited no-trade protection, as Heyman tweeted originally. Martnez can designate a “small” number of teams to which he cannot be moved without his consent.
Boston has been the primary suitor connected to Martinez for virtually all of the offseason — especially since their decision to re-sign Mitch Moreland effectively took them out of the Eric Hosmer sweepstakes. Martinez figures to slot in as the primary DH for the Sox but should see some occasional time in the outfield when any of Andrew Benintendi, Jackie Bradley or Mookie Betts needs a breather. His addition calls the role of Hanley Ramirez with the Red Sox into question, as Ramirez now appears to be, at best, a backup DH and a part-time first baseman that is on the short side of the platoon.
[RELATED: Updated Red Sox Depth Chart]
Though the Sox have a substantial commitment to Ramirez already in place, that didn’t stop them from making a sizable offer to bring Martinez into the fold, and it’s not difficult to see why they felt he was a key piece to pushing into World Series contention. Martinez slashed a Herculean .303/.376/.690 with 45 home runs and 26 doubles in just 489 plate appearances last offseason. In all, an out-of-the-blue breakout with the 2014 Tigers, Martinez has been one of the game’s most feared hitters — as evidenced by the .300/.362/.574 batting line he’s logged in that four-year period.
Context-neutral metrics like OPS+ (149) and wRC+ (148) feel that the 30-year-old Martinez has been nearly 50 percent better than the league-average hitter in that time, when adjusting for park and league. That 148 wRC+ ties him with Bryce Harper and now-former teammate Paul Goldschmidt for fourth in all of baseball over the past four years; only Mike Trout, Joey Votto and Giancarlo Stanton have posted better wRC+ marks in that time.
The Red Sox ranked 10th in the Majors in runs scored last season as it was, though their combined .258/.329/.407 batting line was below-average on a rate basis, and they ranked 27th in the Majors with 168 homers. Martinez will serve as a particularly potent upgrade in the DH department, as Boston designated hitters combined to hit just .244/.327/.419 last year.
Clearly, the contract isn’t quite as massive as many had anticipated coming into the season. Martinez’s camp was said to be seeking over $200MM at the outset of free agency; MLBTR predicted that Martinez could reach $150MM in guaranteed money. As things developed, there just wasn’t sufficient demand around the game to drive a real bidding war. The Diamondbacks reportedly made a real run to keep Martinez, but never figured to have a war chest large enough to really push Boston’s offer up.
Martinez’s new deal also reflects a broad devaluation of one-dimensional sluggers. For instance, Edwin Encarnacion — an equally gifted hitter who became a free agent last year at a more advanced age — did not earn as large or long a deal as had been expected.
To be fair, Martinez offers more function on defense than does Encarnacion, as he’s still capable of lining up in the corner outfield. But metrics have soured on his glovework. Though both UZR and DRS viewed Martinez as an above-average presence in 2015, they graded him as one of the game’s worst fielders in the ensuing campaign. He bounced back last year, but still drew below-average marks in right field. Fangraphs’ BsR measure also values Martinez as an exceedingly poor baserunner.
Those aspects of Martinez’s game created some drag on his market value. But the Sox surely aren’t that concerned with how good Martinez will be in the outfield. Presumably, he’ll stay fresh by limiting his exposure to the grass, which may boost his output when he is asked to take the field. Regardless, the contract values Martinez for his anticipated contributions with the bat.
Contract details were reported by Alex Speier of the Boston Globe (contract length; Twitter link), ESPN.com’s Pedro Gomez (opt-out clause, on Twitter), Jon Morosi of MLB Network (total guarantee, via Twitter), Jon Heyman of Fan Rag (salary in first two years & second opt-out, via Twitter), Jason Mastrodonato of the Boston Herald (second opt-out details), and Evan Drellich of NBC Sports Boston (second opt-out details; Twitter link).
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
JUST DINGERS BABY
JUST DINGERS MAYBE (JDM). Naw jk he’ll hit a bunch.
He’s only hit over 30 twice in his career and gets hurt a lot. So don’t expect a year like last year.
Think about what he did last year (4 ding dongs off of 4 different pitchers)
Tru dat but remember who was hitting around him and it wasn’t Hanley!
I’m a Yankee fan and I have to disagree. He will hit over 30. He has the power to hit doubles or HR depending on which side of the outfield. With the weak pitching in AL East (Baltimore and Toronto) He will have many opportunities. Smart 5 year deal. Sucks for a Yankee fan though lol
Yeah my first reaction, as a fellow yankee fan, was “ah damn.” He’s good. Defensively limited, but a hell of a bat that Boston really needed to put them over the edge. He makes that lineup look so much more fearsome.
Weak pitching is Balt/Yanks….and my guess Boston’s pitching isn’t going to be all everyone thinks !
Yankees have weak pitching… LOL…… They’re expected to have the 6th best rotation and thats ahead of the red sox who are at 7th
How do the Yanks have weak pitching?
Yankees, weak pitching? Please explain. Easily the best bullpen in the game. The rotation contains Severino, Tanaka, Gray, Sabathia, and Montgomery with plenty of depth behind them. While not otherworldly, that is a solid rotation.
Baltimore maybe, Toronto has at worst the second best rotation in the division and easily top 10 in baseball.
Agreed .
At least your reaction as a NY fan is just “ah damn”. As a Rays fan I just want to hide in a hole. Stanton is going to put one through the roof at the Trop.
Actually it‘s great, this contract will look pretty bad very fast. He goes on cold streaks and gets injured frequently, strikes out way too much…
Yanks had the 3rd best era in the AL last year?
Toronto has arguably the best rotation (1-4) in AL East.
3 Cy Young winners including two guys that have been considered the best in the AL in 3 of the past 5 seasons and it isn’t going to be all everyone thinks? Can you pass whatever you are smoking? Because that must be some powerful stuff.
no they didn’t.
You’re exactly right, but why are we talking about Stanton?? The Sox just signed JD Martinez. You’re right about Stanton though, the contract will look bad quickly. Big hole.in his swing & NEVER stays healthy. He has one healthy season & two years of injuries, one healthy season, 2 more years of injuries., But Yankees fans who’ve had to hide their arrogance under the tail between their legs for the last several years are barking loudly again. it’s going to be a fun season. ‘Judge, Stanton & Sanchez are going to go back-to-back-to-back!!” And you’ll only have 3 runs to show for it. lol
Your IGNORANCE is showing, beyond that….not even worthy of more of a comment Troll!
Not sure if your a yankee fan but if so its fairly rich to be slamming a player for striking out too much with the strikeout kings judge and stanton on board
I think Sale and Porcello will have good year! I think this will be a down year for Price.
Be nice, Rocky, with the other children
@popeye Yes, they did. Right behind the Red Sox who didn’t have Price or Wright much of the season.
https://www.fangraphs.com/leaders.aspx?pos=all&stats=pit&lg=al&qual=0&type=8&season=2017&month=0&season1=2017&ind=0&team=0,ts&rost=0&age=0&filter=&players=0&sort=15,a
The only challenge is that he will want time off on the DL.
Hater lol
He had his breakout year in 2015. The 2 years where he didn’t hit 30 he only played around 120 games. If healthy and in Fenway he could easily hit 40+ and have 70+ XBH
The problem is he hasn’t been healthy – even in his 20’s. Will he be more or less susceptible to injuries as he moves into his 30’s.
IMHO the opt outs will prove to be cosmetic – something Boras brags about getting for his player but which will probably never be used.
Maybe JDM stays healthier because he’ll be primarily a DH now, but if he averages only what he’s done the last 4 years – 130 games – it’s a big overpay, and there’ no way he’ll opt out.
czontixhldr: The opt-out was hardly “cosmetic” for recent contracts involving both Yoenis Cespedes and Zack Greinke.
Yoenis Cespedes and Zack Greinke are not JDM. Cespedes averaged a lot more games on the field than JDM in the for years leading up to his opting out. Greinke averaged 31 starts in the 5 years leading up to his opting out.
You addressed the language I used, but not the reason I think it may be cosmetic.
Give it another shot.
In the same sense that Ian Kennedy player opt out was cosmetic Lol
Here come 20 downvotes!! Relax, I tease 😉
They don’t even play the same position. Closest comp is Heyward but he nearly makes double (110 to 184)
You are right. Cespedes isn’t the offensive player JDM is and he hasn’t been healthy near as much as JDM the past 3 seasons.
Stanton a DH also
No unlike JD, Stanton’s not a DH. His defense is above-average.
Stanton had +10 DRS, + 6.7 UZR in 2017.
Stanton’s career numbers in OF: +45 DRS, +28.2 UZR.
JD Martinez on the other-hand: -28 DRS, -17.5 UZR
JD Martinez is 30, Stanton is 28.
https://www.fangraphs.com/statss.aspx?playerid=6184&position=OF
https://www.fangraphs.com/statss.aspx?playerid=4949&position=OF
He goes to opposite field way to much
Yankees are saying Stanton will DH most of the time.
http://newyork.yankees.mlb.com/team/depth_chart/index.jsp?c_id=nyy
Typical yankee fan comment.
It’s stupid comments like that cause yankee fans to get ripped on. You can say the same thing about stanton.
True, Stanton’s only averaged 124 games the last 4 seasons, but the big blow came because he missed so much time when he got hit in the face with a pitch – a freak thing.
So i make yankee fans look bad because i don’t think JD Martinez is the superstar that everyone is making him out to be.. I have seen Red Sox fans actually say he is better then Giancarlo Stanton.
Stanton is a lot better.
Stanton got hit in the face on 9/11.
Their stats from 2015-2017. Which is better?
.265/.354/.580/.934 with 113 HR in 1289 AB over 352 games
.296/.363/.580/.943 with 105 HR in 1488 AB over 397 games
You mean the injury shortened last year?
He’s been hurt when playing on the field but if he gonna be a full time dh then bombs away
Only will be dh ing so he should be able to stay healthier
Similar to Stanton, no?
Strange all the downvotes. It’s like when people talk about Stanton hitting 50 or 60 next year and you point out he’s only ever gotten to 40 once (this past year.) Sure they could both bash 50 but it’s not as much of a given as most people seem to think.
I know JD has peerless opposite field power but that will only take you so far and Fenway has a rather tall left field wall. Also, I see Martinez missing a lot of games due to straining muscles legging out doubles due to being stiff from not playing the field for the first time in his life.
Most people act like its a sure thing think that Stanton and Judge will hit over 100 hr combined. I’m a yankee fan and i just don’t see it. I would be happy if they hit around 80 together.
You mean the same way Judge and Stanton have hit over 50 once? Stanton gets hurt a lot, so don’t expect a year like last year.
Typical NYY fan
And Giancarlo is hurt every year and costing you guys way more. Don’t be a biased Yankees fan.
Says the yankee fan who hates the Sox’s. U know he is going to be good
Hepatitis C you later
Wow
Sweet damn!!!!!
5/125M my guess
Agree
I think less because of the 237 cap. Sac needs to be 23m or less
Might be backloaded.
Backloading doesn’t help a team avoid luxury tax penalties early on.
Nope, Morosi says frontloaded, must notcare about the tax the next couple years.
back loaded or front loaded is irrelevant. it’s all about the AAV of the contractual obligations.
$22M a year frontloaded, which will still count $22M a year for luxury tax. Assuming he opts out after 2 years, the uncounted $6M of salary from 2018 and 2019 would be applied to 2020 luxury tax, which Boston likely has planned out for.
Isn’t this less than what Boston offered him earlier?
There was an incorrect rumor they offer 5/125; it was later reported they had only offered around 5/100
It’s absolutely not irrelevant. It’s front loaded and he has an opt out after the second year. So, technically for the Sox, it’s guaranteed at 2/50. Obviously that would be very different if it were back loaded. So, it’s not irrelevant.
The CBT does not take into account opt outs when calculating where the team stands. Just the AAV for all guaranteed dollars.
I understand that. My point is that it would be beneficial for JDM to opt out after year two, essentially after a 2/50 deal. If he can earn more back on the open market, which he will considering the remaining contract descends. If he struggles or flat out flops, he can obviously not opt out and keep getting paid. Front loaded contracts w/ options is a HUGE player advantage, I’m assuming this was a sticking point for Boras and why it took so long to close.
It’s not about the luxury tax for the Sox, they’re gonna be in the luxury tax either way, thus rendering the AAV moot.
Ok! Thanks!
AAV of guaranteed money.
The cap is 197. Where do you people come up with 237
Luxury tax maybe? Idk though lol I did no research prior to posting this comment
$237 is the upper level of the luxury tax where the team pays an higher tax and drops 10 spots in the draft. That’s what the red sox are looking to avoid.
Yeah what on earth is 237 about?
The 237M is the major threshold mark in which teams get drilled for going over the 40M. The loss of ifa pool money, the dropping of ten spots in the draft, the 42.5% tax added (since the reset). It’s the major penalty portion of the threshold tax.
Goes from 12% tax on the overage to 42.5% tax on the overage at $40 million over the CBT threshold of $197 million.
There’s no cap! But there is a $197 luxury tax line !
My guess at the outset of the offseason was that they’d spend way too much, something to the tune of 7/175. Now maybe I’ll temper that a little to 6/144.
EDIT: Well, now there’s some report of 5/110 with an opt-out after 2? I figure those first two years might be 25 per, and the following 3 years at 20, if the 5/110 figure stands
WEEI is reporting that it’s $25mm/$25mm/$22mm/$14mm/$14mm with a $10 million signing bonus. If he opts out after 2 years it’s $60 million guaranteed.
about time
Damn
Duh
Good. Maybe now he will make the Sox roster in MLB 18 The show!
That’s why I always wait until the week after opening day to get the game, updated rosters.
BOOOM
Who could have seen this coming
Stevie wonder could see this coming. Sorry old joke
oh mercy.. please don’t get rid of JBJ now..
Please DO NOT SIGN JD Martinez, there are better and cheaper options out there and besides I think the team will rebound from last year with more HRs.
Little late there buddy
They won’t
the arms race is back on!
Wow I’m happy to this happen. J.D Martinez is a good guy.
Wow. Maybe there will be a parade.
Does he still hate the Red Sox like was previously reported? Hard to say either side lost when talking 110 million$ but I’m sure Borass was disappointed. He was dreaming when seeking 7 year 200 ballpark ish like contract
Boras got what he was looking for with high AAV in first 2 seasons and then an opt out. JDM is going to jack 30-40 with 70+ XBH in Fenway and get more in 2 years.
Now the Yankees need to go sign Lynn or Arrietta
No money
Have like 18 million I’m pretty sure
Leaves no room for in season improvements
If only we could get rid of stupid Ellsbury. The dudes at best the teams 5th outfielder behind Judge, Stanton, Gardner, and Hicks. Frazier would probably be the most likely moved but he’s not making what JE is.
Haha Ellsbury, the guy you so wanted to take from us.
no they dont
They will.
God no, they should pass. Particularly since they received QOs. Should pass on Arrieta altogether.
What a surprise
Took them long enough. Everyone do you think the red sox should sign Alex cobb or arrieta. Also do you guys like this signing
Good signing at a good price.
don’t go after “frontline” starters. focus on depth.
I think you meant “took HIM long enough”. Boston knew the market and his worth, but he (like so many other FAs this offseason) were still learning about the new reality for older players in a sport increasingly dominated by youth. He held out as long as was reasonable, and now he clearly has accepted the situation (while opening up flexibility to get the deal he wanted all along in two years, which is fair).
Yes,pitching!
Sale, healthy Price, Porcello, Pomeranz, and Wright. Do you see a need for Arrieta or Cobb? Especially since either will cost $20 million AAV.
HEALTHY is the big thing though!
Moreland/Ramirez platoon probably
I think we look at who’s hot after spring training to get the nod at first. But my guess is that Hanley is ready to go. He’ll play a lot of first with Moreland backing him up, maybe a little bit of platoon.
My guess is Sox will try to keep Hanley under the 497 plate appearances to make his option vest.
I think Moreland was brought in to make Hanley work if he hits like he’s capable of he’ll get that 497 if he doesn’t Moreland starts. Hanley knows what he’s worth now on fa market and that option is a significant upgrade to that.
This one actually makes a lot of sense.
Fine bat for Boston, just as long as he’s a full time DH after this year.
But but but but but I though he was done with them
This comes out as the least surprise of the off-season.
Congrats Boston. May the NYY/BOS rivalry extend to next year and beyond.
I hope so hasn’t felt like a real rivalry in a long time maybe 04.
Its a 5 year deal
It is really a 2 year deal, just like the Hosmer deal is really a 5 year deal.
Still not even close to be as good as Yankees !!!! but they can try
Hahah someone’s nervous.
You saw what happened to Judge once the league saw him a second time.
Uh, you do know that he ended the season on an absolute tear, right?
9 hits in October is an absolute tear?
Was talking about the regular season. In the post season, he had a dreadful ALDS and a great ALCS. Also, simply going by hits is terrible logic. What if 7 of the 9 hits were home runs? That would be a good thing, wouldn’t it? Of his 9 hits, 4 were home runs and 3 were doubles. All hits are not created equally.
If. If. If.
A true Yankees homer.
Weak teams
Impossibly sustainable .426 first half BABIP. Struggles against above average pitchers, especially power pitchers. Hence the inept playoff showing. Picked it up in September facing a steady diet of minor league call ups. There’s enough bad pitching to go around for him to still hit .240.
And you saw what he did once he saw them a third time in September
.211 from mid-June to mid-September. Then he got to hit against all the call-ups, back-end starters, schlubs, schmoes, and a few over the hill guys and he crushed them from September 15 to the end of the season.
Ynoa 0-2, Hellickson 0-2, Jiminez 1-4, Santana 1-4 with solo HR, Berrios 2-4, Colon 1-3 with 2 run HR, Estrada and his 5.00 ERA 2-2, Biagini 1-4, Stroman 2-4 with solo HR, Junis of KC 2-4 with solo HR, Snell 1-3, Andriese 1-2, Faria 1-4 with solo HR, Biagini 1-3, Stroman 1-3 with solo HR.
I only included HRs against the starters. You would not recognize the names of most of the relievers. Guys like Tepera who gave up 2 HR to Judge in 2 AB.
That is not what Vegas is saying.
Hellllllll yeeaaahhhhhh!!! Ok haters let’s hear it. Tell me how this is a bad move. Huge addition and will instantly help raise the rest of the lineups stats. Huge year from Mookie coming.
I bet he signed for millions.
Hot take.
Overpay
Yes big overpay
Dumb comment.
Stanton was yes.
5 years, 2 year opt out
Thank god. Took them long enough. Like the 5 years, keeps both sides happy. Really hoping they didn’t go higher then $25mil per year. He’s a DH, not a center fielder.
The worlds longest staring contest is finally over. Someone get these guys some visine
Boras smartly made contract opt out in 2 years because when Harper and Machado both getting ~$400M is going make this contract dirt cheap in comparison—
Oh haha so Boras takes it up the ass on the deal but “he smartly made contract opt out in 2 years” oh what a genius you say?
Well Bosox are not giving an opt out after one year and Bosox smartly suckered Boras into the 2 year opt out since the current CBA will still be in place.
And oh by the way JDM is not Machado or Harper. Not close to their league so he will never be competing with them
WTF are you talking about? Boras got his client huge money in the 1st 2 season and an opt out after 2 years.
And if he sucks he ain’t opting out. Another win for boras and JD
did you even look at the contract before you commented?
Yea I saw the contract. Boras initially demanded 7/210 so this is dramatically less.
You think he told JDM hey I will get you $110 guaranteed lets start at $210m?
Sorry Boras took it up the rear end.
you do realize that he never really wanted 210m right?!
Boras squeezed an extra $10 MM out of team that had nobody realistically bidding against them.
Someone is jealous that Boras is better at their job than they are at theirs.
Yeah, sucks to be Boras taking a percentage on a 110 million dollar contract.
Poor guy!
I guess that means you take it dp with the salary you make?! Lol
He obviously has no clue what negotiating tactics are.
Boras got his client $60 million guaranteed over 2 years and then an opt out. after his age 31 season..
Then $82 million guaranteed over 3 if he decides to stay an extra year then an opt out, Only way that happens is if the Red Sox are going deep in the playoffs every year.
And $110 guaranteed over 5 years if somehow he gets seriously injured in the first 2 years as a DH and misses significant time and can’t opt out. Those 2 opt outs are huge. So is a front loaded contract.
Just think about the short porches in NY and Camden and the Green Monster in Fenway. JDM put up a .690 SLG last season. That should be the floor for his performance next season. I see 110 games at DH and another 20 in LF and a .300/.375/.690/1.085, 40HR/100RBI season coming.
Although most of the above have valid points, this was really the art of negotiating on both sides. Boston was never paying 30 per for 6 or 7 years and won’t mind if/when JDM opts out. If they win another WS, the 30M per was easily justifiable and if they decide to move ON and not renegotiate a new deal, the money saved will be reinvested in one or more of the B boys or in Chris Sale.
Honestly, if the Sox have him for his age 30 and 31 seasons, and he does well enough that he wants to opt out after that, I feel like that could be a win-win. That JDM money could maybe head to Betts and Bogaerts at that point (if everything is going well).
100% correct. Boston likely will have the money freed up for extensions (and, if not, Martinez likely would still be hitting well enough to be worth his $22M luxury tax salary), and Martinez avoids the possibility of raking for two years and being stuck for a value salary for three more.
But if J.D. Martinez bombs (and I hope he doesn’t) the Red Sox could be on the hook for $20 million annually for three more years, limiting their ability to extend Chris Sale, Mookie Betts, Xander Bogaerts and Jackie Bradley Jr.
I mean, that’s true, but I feel like there’s no getting JDM without giving him the security of 5 years if he wants it. This way, he has two different opportunities to opt-out after good seasons, which would be beneficial for both sides. If he ends up performing poorly it’ll just be the same as not having an opt-out.
At the same time, the Sox have Hanley and most of the Sandoval deal come off the books in the next couples years which frees up a bunch of money. After that you have Pedroia a couple years after that. The cap will also be increasing so it may not be as bad down the road.
If he stays healthy enough to play 120-130 games per season he is going to produce big time in the AL East and then he is going to opt out an get a lot more money than the 3/50 that will be left on his deal. If he doesn’t stay healthy enough to play 120 games, then no one is going to be happy including him and Boras.
That certainly will affect the market in 2 years but I’m guessing he will be happy with the bird in hand theory. Tell me I’m crazy but I still say Logan M or even the recently DFA Dickerson would be just as good a fit for much cheaper dough?
You’re crazy. Logan Morrison hit 38 HR last year. Do you know how many TOTAL HR he hit in the 3 years prior? 42. That’s an average of 14. Lifetime AVG of .245. Lifetime OBP .330. Dickerson is barely better. AND he got released or DFA’d, so I;m pretty sure he would NOT be as good a fit. You’re right though, they both would be cheaper.
No one is getting close to $400m.
3 people may in the next few years. Harper is a lock to get a $400 million deal, Machado may, and Trout definitely will.
Please let me know what three teams will be able to afford them? Its also possible that those teams may not need them.
No way. 8 for 40 per tops and I doubt the owners will do that. Those players are 4 years too late
A lock to get $400 million? Maybe on a 15 year deal.
It’s a lock that you’ll continue to make uninformed posts all over the place.
Why do you think the Dodgers, Giants, and Yankees are trying desperately to stay under the CBT this season and teams like the Cubs are not going all in?
What team does not need a 25 year old absolute stud. I just wish the O’s had not signed Davis so we could afford to keep Machado, but 10-12 years at $34-36 million AAV is way too much for the O’s. He will be the Yankees shortstop in 2019.
Harper is going to cost even more. That 9.5 WAR MVP season at age 22 and 5 WAR average is going to pay him beaucoup bucks. He won’t have even reached his peak 26-29 year old season when he hits free agency. Think about that.
Trout will be a FA after the 2020 season and will get a significant raise from the $34.1 million per season he is making the last 3 season of his deal. He will be 28 at that time and is looking at a 8/360 deal at a minimum. With the way the CBT is structured it behooves teams to go longer and have a lower AAV. So 10/400 is better than 8/360 for the luxury tax purposes.
Harper and Machado will be 25 years old when they hit FA and with the way the CBT is structured, longer with a lower AAV is better. Figure 10-12 years for both Harper and Machado, maybe longer. Machado may not hit $400 million, but he is going to get paid $34-36 million AAV.
Trout will be 28 when he hits FA and will get 10 years and $40+mm AAV. He is making $34.1 per season now.
10-12 years! Now way. Not anymore. The players want opt out clauses and clubs don’t want to be on the hook for pay players who are worthless after 33-34 years of age. They will get 6-8 max and if they are still performing the teams will work on resigning them. Baseball salaries are being reset, don’t be too late to understand that.
If Harper is worth $400 million, then what will Trout be worth ? Double that?
Trout will be 28 when he hits FA and will get 10 years and $40+mm AAV. He is making $34.1 per season now and in a recent article Rosenthal said $45 million AAV and Verducci said in another article $42-45 million AAV. He will undoubtedly get a raise from what he is earning right now. He is the best player in baseball and there is no debate about that.
Boras is a smart cookie, I don’t care how much you guys hate him he’s doing good by his clients, and they deserve those big contracts. That money is better in the players pockets than in the owners.
Wonder at this point who gave in more to make it happen.
Looks like JDM did. This seems pretty close to the offer that was rumored like 2 months ago.
ESPN’s Buster Olney retweeted a source that claims the Red Sox increased their offer in the last 48 hours:
https://twitter.com/Buster_ESPN?ref_src=twsrc%5Egoogle%7Ctwcamp%5Eserp%7Ctwgr%5Eauthor
Nice find, muskie73. For those who can’t click links
Buster Olney’s tweet says:
“$125 million dollar rumor was wrong. Red Sox always offered 5 for $100M and upped the money within the last 48 hours”
The opt outs in years 2 and 3 and $60 million guaranteed in first 2 years with signing bonus is better than $25 million AAV the Red Sox offered before. There is a reason that Olney readership is in the toilet, he is rarely correct.
So does this mean we aren’t going to get our daily JDM update?
Lol
Finally. We all saw this coming but at least we don’t have to watch this stupid game of chicken go on any longer.
Surprise, he signed with the Red Sox. Anybody with a pulse knew this was inevitable with only a one team market.
EXCELLENT
Nice to see my sox finally making a move. Hopefully this can keep us with the Yankees and maybe make it past the alds for once.
Get rid of Ramirez now
Nope. They need Ramirez. Love him or hate him they need him to have a good year. It’s a contract year for him and now there’s some protection for him. Could have 30/100.
It’s not actually a contract year, he has a vesting option. If Ramirez gets at least 497 PA then he’s guaranteed 22 million.
The JD signing virtually guarantees Ramirez wont be getting those ABs. He also wont hit 30/100. He will sit bench, pout and whine.
“He will sit bench, pout and whine.”
Is there another team that could use him if the Sox ate enough of the deal?
My guess is another team would have to eat most of the option if it vests. but I doubt another team would do that.
HanRam is a major league pouter/whiner
To all of the above, if HanRam is healthy, being the primary 1bman is his job to lose. His offensive upside is superior to Moreland who will still get plenty of ABs due to injuries, tough righties, normal resting of players and going into games as a defensive replacement.
I think that now makes the Red Sox having the highest payroll. Yet no one wants to say they’re trying to buy championships. Only when the Yankees sign someone.
Get over yourself n your ego. Typical NYer
Ding Ding.. after the Stanton trade Sox fans were saying that exact thing. Look at the Sox contracts on the books compared to the Yanks.
The Red Sox committed far less to new contracts compared to the Yankees this offseason.
5 year 110 million with opt out after 2 years. Amazing
red sox regret all major free agent signings: Hanley, Panda, Price and Castillo. JD the next big Red Sox flop?
Don’t forget Crawford.
i always forget about him he was so forgettable
but in all fairness he became the Dodgers problem
Price was not a Bad signing, it could be very good. He regrets what happened with EK on the plane n that is an admirable quality. Panda n Crawford were the horrific signings.
5/110. Not bad
Front loaded with opt out, so unless he falls off a cliff this is really something like a 2/$50m deal.
This
Plus the $ 10 mill signing bonus
For the same $110 that has been on the table
If that’s true Borass got beat
Only $100M was on the table.
Boras never had $125M (completely fabricated report) and BoSox upped offer within last 48 hours $100M to $110M to “seal” the deal.
https://twitter.com/Buster_ESPN?ref_src=twsrc%5Egoogle%7Ctwcamp%5Eserp%7Ctwgr%5Eauthor
Just my guess, but When they upped offer from $100 to $110, it was probably in the form of that sweet $10 million Signing bonus.
Player opt out after year 2 and 3, nicee. Boras wins, dude.
He only threw $210M out there because it’s part of his negotiation “game”
Sorry, meant to post this link to the Buster Olney tweet: https://twitter.com/Buster_ESPN/status/965719989633286144?s=20
In that same twitter link is says this:
“JD Martinez originally wanted $210 million over 7 years,…” Bob Nightengale
Yeah I didn’t link the actual tweet in my first post. (My bad)
But here’s link to Nightengale’s tweet you were referring to.
https://twitter.com/BNightengale/status/965721495916961792?s=20
Great guy wish him well !
With ortiz retired, the sox needed a bat.
Great guy !! Wish him well
Dammit, Stanton vs Jd coming to a ball park near New York and Boston
Hope they checked him out for PEDs
This is a fair deal. Hosmer got paid. As has everyone else. The collusion storyline needs to be replaced with smarter analysis of the market.
This
The 89 six year players that were on season-ending MLB rosters do not agree with you.
JD Martinez Defense is the biggest concern.
JD posted -5 DRS, -13.1 Def, -7.7 UZR, 2 teams in 2017.
2016 Defense #’s nightmare: -17.2 UZR and -22 DRS.
https://www.fangraphs.com/statss.aspx?playerid=6184&position=OF
Defensive issues notwithstanding, I still think this contract will look like a steal because of Harper/Machado potential 2018 earnings, and think an opt out after 2019 by JD is all but guaranteed, barring injury. Boston did well to protect themselves making the opt out a year later— after that historic 2018 FA offseason.
Won’t have to play much defense as the DH
I would think the biggest concern is that he’s played more than 125 games all of once in his career
Figured an AL team would get him. No NL team besides the D-Backs were gonna sign him for a long term deal, especially since he’s not that great a defender. Owners learned from previous players and their long term contracts
Opt out after 2 and $60 million in first 2 years including the signing bonus. Nice deal for JDM.
2/50 nice deal for Boston.
WEEI is reporting that the 1st 2 years are $25 million salary, the 3rd year is $22 million, the last 2 years are $14 per and there is a $10 million signing bonus. For CBT purposes it’s the same, but when it comes to when he earns the money it’s entirely different. If he opts out after 2 years, he gets $60 million guaranteed.
Now THIS is frontload. (Not like Hosmer 20M to 13M)
$60M first 2 years (counting $10m Signing bonus)
$14M per year, last 2 years.
Opt out after Year 2 &3. Red Sox did it right.
2 opt outs in the first 2 years per the article.
However, I would not want to go against harper and company.
After years 2 and 3 I thought it said.
It is reported everywhere JD opt-out is after year 2 or 3
Good signing n good money. I thought it would be a bit more years n time. But being front loaded with an opt after 2 makes sense 2/50 25 a year.
Good for Red Sox
This does leave Logan Morrison and others available for the White Sox. Now that Corey Dickerson has been DFA’d, he’d be my first choice because he is younger than Morrison, Lucas Duda and Carlos Gonzalez among the left-handed FA power bats. Former White Sox switch-hitter Melky Cabrera might also be a good DH option if he were amenable to a contract that was no more than two years in length.
The J.D. Martinez signing should also put to rest any rumors of Jose Abreu going to the Red Sox which is fine by me. Reports out of spring training suggest that an Abreu extension is looking more likely than any trade for the slugging first baseman.
Catch up with your FO. They are 2-3 years away at least from competing. That’s if these “prospects” realize their potential. It would be counter intuitive to sign any big free agents this offseason or next. Also, keep in mind, the south side has NEVER been a desirable destination for top free agents in their prime. In fact, even when they were “all in” they couldn’t attract top free agents. In the midst of a rebuild, that would be even harder for them. There are no guarantees, MANY have tried what the Cubs and Astros accomplished, FEW have done it.
With that in mind, Hahn should ABSOLUTELY move Abreau and Garcia. If not now, certainly at the deadline. Do you really think Jerry is gonna sign off on an extension for Abreau in the midst of a rebuild? No chance. They can’t draw fans when they are winning, they certainly aren’t gonna draw fans in a rebuild. You probably already know, JR likes nothing more than money.
An NL East title for the Rays just got a bit more difficult.
I’d say there’s no chance it happens.
If it’s one in a million, there’s still a chance.
To be honest, I think its more likely they contract the Rays than move them to the NL
Yeah I don’t think there’s a one in a million chance
They’re contracting themselves.
Khris Davis> J.D.
Lol that’s not what stats show.
if you are looking in the power department, than yes, Khris Davis>JDM
I thought JDM said he was not going to sign with Bosox for that offer? Guess he and Boras caved in pretty quick
No, I think he realized this was the best he was going to get.
If JD has a monster year, in year 1 or 2, opt out, and hit again.
IF not, get the 110 mil.
he waited months to sign, don’t see this as him caving quickly
Lol
So much for everyones extreme guestimates
…still not sure he is worth even this much tho, to be honest
YES! Finally the TR notification I’ve been waiting (so long) for.
Well done Dave.
It is a fair deal all around. The Red Sox get their bat and a front loaded contract. It is $25 mil per the first two years and $20 mil the last three, assuming he doesn’t opt out. The Ramirez, Panda and Castillo contracts all start falling off in 2019 and 2020. They can then shift the money to extending Devers, Boegarts, Betts and Benintendi. Of course who knows what the future of their rotation will be but is pretty safe to say Price and Porcello will not be retained when they are up.
Guesses in the next 2 weeks
Arrieta-Brewers
Holland-Nats
Bautista-Blue Jays
Morrison- Twins
Moustakas-Padres?
Lucroy-Nats
Lynn-Cards
Any other big FA I’m forgetting?
Depending on your definition of big: Alex Cobb, Neil Walker, Carlos Gonzalez, Lucas Duda, Melky Cabrera and maybe Corey Dickerson if he doesn’t get claimed or traded for while in DFA limbo.
Corey Dickerson can’t become a free agent, he can only be optioned to triple A
Do you know how many option years remain for Corey Dickerson? This site hasn’t posted its Out of Options tracker yet for 2018. Last year’s was posted in mid-March.
If Dickerson does have remaining options and doesn’t get traded this week (1o days from his DFA last Saturday) he will be exposed to a waiver claim. It’s hard to fathom another team not claiming him after the 10 day DFA period has expired. If Dickerson somehow manages to clear waivers I believe the Rays will still be responsible for 1/6 of his $5.95MM arbitration salary, close to $1MM. Do you believe the “stingy” Rays will flat out release him (making him a FA) or option him to AAA and pay him almost $1MM dollars to do so?
Dickerson will NOT become a free agent, ZERO chance. The Marlins wouldn’t even be that stupid, the Rays certainly aren’t. They are just manipulating a roster spot on the 40 man.
Twins have Mauer at 1B. Blue Jays have moved on from Bautista ! Padres have finished spending money! Cards
are going with the young pitchers!
5/110!! Nice DD!! Now get Cobb 2/24m
These “overpaid” comments are so hollow. Get a new line. You aren’t a GM. Hosmer is overpaid, Martinez is overpaid, Machado and Harper will be overpaid. This just in, if you want an all star caliber player, you have to…overpay. Or you can sign your favorite players like Todd Father, LoMo, Yonder, Morrow, etc and say you got a good deal, when in fact you got a mediocre player for a mediocre price. Hell, Jake McGee got 9 mil a year.
Padres2019ha
And you are not a GM either just a bitter Padres fan still fuming as everyone knows the Hosmer deal was a big overpay by the Padres and a bad signing that will get worse as it barely upgrades first base and now pushes Myers to a crowded OF so now you have to trade Myers or Renfroe
I love the Hosmer signing. I think it’s a great deal. Who wouldn’t want a 28 yes old gold glove, silver slugger on a 5 year/105 contract, w motivation from an opt out at a cheap 3/39 remaining. I’m really glad you saw there is trade “interest” in Renfroe on a website and ASSumed we have to trade him or Myers. When in fact, moving Myers simply solidifies our OF w Myers in Left, Margot in Center, Renfroe in right. So where is the crowded outfield? Pirela?? Dude is a career minor leaguer 2b who played really well. Dickerson? Injured all of last year. Cordero?? 23 yr old prospect. Jankowski?? Please explain your main stream media influence in your statement, geek.
Hosmer has been worth 79 million over his 7 year career and you love the 8/144 you guys promised him?
To each their own, I guess…
Trending up. And that doesn’t calculate the new coined phrase “prestige value”, which our team needs more than ever. He’s a perfect fit.
So in your opinion, which alternative free agents should we sign this year or next? Kuechel at 6/180?
Oh ok Padre homer. Good luck with your “star” and what website are you referring to ole wise one
Prestige value? Haha boy did Boras bend you guys over! Prestige? Hosmer? The only team who thinks that Hosmer has prestige is the Padres. Lol.
Yeah here come the Padres led by Hosmer … wow everyone is shaking in their boots! Seriously they are shaking but its just laughter! Laughing at Padres2019ha
Oh he is “trending up” haha did you see that on some website. Let the media influence you more. Lol. Go get your man! He is trending up you say. Go lock him into a $144m guarantee! Better do it as ever team is after him … oh wait no one else was! Lol
Trending up. Wow. Go recheck the website you got that one from. Sure he stunk in 2016 so he did better in 2017 so trending up. Lol. Go give him $144m and you did!
By what measure? 14 WAR is worth $144 million at it’s current value.
Where in the world do you get that silly 14 WAR? Fangraphs has him at just 9.9
9.9 x 8m = 79.2
And even if you did use the silly 14 number;
14 x 8m = 112
…no matter how you slice it, even if trying to go as hyperbolicly helpful to him as you can possibly be, hes been worth no where near 144 over his peak physical condition seasons
It’s from baseball reference. https://www.baseball-reference.com/players/h/hosmeer01.shtml
But I don’t know why he is using 2018 value/war to measure value that hosmer has provided over the past 7 years, when the $/war would be lower than it is currently.
‘Prestige value”? Really?
If I hadn’t read all of your other posts trying to justify the Hosmer contract I would think this post was satire.
Wow, I know B-R has a history of coming up with some silly WAR numbers, but…
Anyway, why would the 8m Fangraphs has used for years all of a sudden jump way up after one of the slower, least lucrative for the players offseasons we have seen too?
Why would outinleftfield use that number? Because it completely skews things in favor of the players.
I assume he is using the ~10m/yr # is from an article by Matt Swartz (I think it was him) that looked at actual dollar for production or something like that. I’d have to go back and re-read it to see exactly what his conclusion was, but it was something about how teams are actually getting less production for the money than they likely expected (so the $/war is actually higher). Again, I am saying this from memory without re-reading the article so if I’m off about that summary I apologize.
Haha, good point. I meant why someone would use that if they were trying to make an objective argument. But you are correct, that’s not exactly his style.
Fangraphs has not used $8 million per WAR for years. They used $8.25 million in 2017. It goes up every year and this year Fangraphs has said so far its over $9 million. Relievers that have relatively low WAR production have been paid huge sums of money. On the high end Davis put up a 1.1 WAR last season and is being paid $17.33 million AAV. On the low end Reed put up 1.0 WAR and is being paid $8.375 million AAV. Chatwood put up a 1.1 WAR and is being paid $12.665 million AAV. We have seen guys like Tillman that put up negative WAR get paid $3 million and Tony Watson who put up a 0.1 WAR get paid $3.5 million AAV. Chris Young -0.2 WAR and the Angels paid him $2 million. They also gave Carter a $1.75 million after he put up a -0.7 WAR. You have to take into account all the players. We also have to wait to see how many guys like Rajai Davis make their teams. He put up a 0.0 WAR but can make $5 million.
Did you read the post I was responding to? I guess not.
$8 million per WAR was not even the number last season, it was $8.25 million according to Fangraphs. So far it is over $9 million for this year and it will only go up as those marginal players are signed. The guys like Carter and Tillman and others that put negative or very low WAR last season are signed and players that were signed to minor league deals make the teams.
Hosmer is projected to put up 16 WAR over the next 8 seasons. The value of WAR will go up every year. Start at $9 million in 2018 and go up a million a year. What is that worth?
Don’t worry, Hosmer will agree to a trade at the deadline.
So the Padres will get Bird and some good young AAA + AA players from the NYY.
SD will never overpay for long …. LOL
Since 2014…
Player A: .289 77 HR .799 OPS 7.5 WAR
Player B .282 85 HR .835 OPS 7.1 WAR
One of these players just got signed for $144 million over 8 years and one of them was just DFA’ed.
Can you guess which is which?
Nice copy and paste for the umpteenth time. One played most of his career at Coors field ding dong
Second time and it doesn’t change the numbers.
Is Hosmer better? Sure, but hard to argue it’s not an overpay.
There goes Padre2019ha again with the insults. Sorry you are still upset you team signed Hosmer to a terribe deal while yhe Red Sox did not.
Padres just could have signed Dickson and saved $144 million! Lol. Too funny. Nice signing. Haha.
If you are going to call out other people, at least get the player’s name right.
At Padres and your over paid at your dead end fast food job. Be lucky the government raised minimum wage.
All you did in your lol comment rant was argue about Hosmer and how you think he was overpaid. Cool, that’s your opinion. Cant deny he isn’t a good player. Padres probably will never sign an elite free agent being a small market team. So we have to rely on our draft and trades. You still didn’t back up your claim about why the Padres must trade Renfroe. That was the basis of this convo. We would argue about Hosmers value all day long. Prestige value was satire(who says that) but the fact remains he is a leader, w intangibles. Got crickets from Josh on his Dickerson comparison where his inflated numbers were due to playing at Coors. And mem please don’t use lol
Dang. Congrats Sox fans.
Beware Green Monster!
Boston won imo. they got their guy at a reasonable price and if he opts out after the 2nd season then fine. let him walk.
And if J.D. Martinez bombs (I hope he doesn’t), the Red Sox could be on the hook for $20 million annually for his age 32, 33 and 34 seasons.
Each side assumes risks.
The other piece you are missing Muskie is starting next year the other albatross contracts start falling off. By 2020 Pablo, Hanley and Rusney Castillo’s contracts fall off the books. Assuming Martinez doesn’t opt out after 2020 the DH role will open up so if the Red Sox want to keep him healthy for the remaining 3 years they can put him there. It is a low risk deal.
yes. based on his age ANY contract comes with a level of risk. however it’s a 5 year deal with an annual average salary of $21 mil. considering what Boras wanted and what was speculated the Sox initially offered it looks like the Sox got their man at the price they wanted. the two year deal gives the Sox 2 years of what should be near 2017 level performance. it also gives them a year period top strengthen the offense and prepare should JD opt out after 2 years. I’m a yanks fan and i feel like the Sox won that battle.
Five years at $110 million produces an AAV of $22 million.
Great signing! I had about given up hope, but with everyone healthy they could be a very good team if the pitching pans out. I wonder what was wrong with Porcello last yr? You think he was hurt?
Porcello’s Cy Young season is the outlier. He’s better than last year, but he is more a 3 or 4, an innings eater type.
Both sides win this deal IMO. JD should be happy he gets 110 mil guaranteed here with two opportunities to opt out…
Can the red sox offer him a QO if he opts out.
No you can’t offer a QA on an opt out
It looks like they can offer him a QO after he opts out. In this mlb trade rumor article, Tanaka was eligible for a QO if he opted out.
https://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2017/08/forecasting-the-free-agent-qualifying-offer-market-2.html
Wrong. You can. Tanaka was eligible for QO if opted out
You can’t offer a QO to any player who received QO before, in the past. No exceptions.
This is why Justin Upton wasn’t eligible for one, had he opted out with the Angels.
This is why Tanaka was still eligible to receive QO by NYY, if he opted out. Tanaka never got a QO before.
True – Your right xabial & mlbfan – I was thinking he already received an QO = Your right
Np. I didn’t mean to single you out, just gotta stop the spread of false information at it’s tracks.
This was biggest surprise in “New QO rules” implemented probably due to situations like Howie Kendrick (32, at time) rejected a $15.8MM QO, to resign 2 years $20MM with Los Angelos Dodgers — to add insult to injury, Kendrick’s contract included two years of deferrals, for a total of $5 million per year for four years— Best example why new QO rule prohibits players from QO’d twice.
The “NATIONAL MLB TRADE RUMORS NIGHTMARE” is Ovah !!!!!!
After 4 months of speculation and talk of a $200M deal it’s OVAH !!!!!
And for reportedly 5/$110M AAV $21M.
I like the opt outs for both team and player.
This creates incentives for a player to produce every year.
So I have to assume Hanley or JBJ is toast.
If I had to guess I would say it will be Hanley.
They could let Hanley just wither on the vine too and cut him after 2018.
Hanley, if he stays, may get some limited use against lefties as Benintendi hits poorly against lefties.
So what a terrible year for free agents.
The highest AAV so far is Upton and now JDM at $21M AAV.
CORRECTION …. $22M AAV
Opt outs never favor a team ! Only the player!
Huge deal for DD and the Sox 2 year 50 million was looking for 210 million will hit 40 easily even going on the DL in Boston and give protection to Betts Pedroia and even Ramirez. All they gave up to get a top 5 hitter in baseball was money Great signing!!!!!
The man can hit. As a Yankees fan, there’s very little to rejoice over this, and kudos to Red Sox FO for waiting Boras out.
Does this make him the highest paid DH ever?
Unless you want to consider Pujols a DH, then yes. But pure DH wise, he’s making nearly $10 million more than Ortiz did in a year (Ortiz’s highest yearly pay: $16 million. JDM’s highest yearly pay: $25 million).
“Martinez slashed a Herculean .303/.376/.690 with 45 home runs and 26 doubles in just 489 plate appearances last offseason.”
Imagine what he could do during the season.
Excellent!
Pretty good bargain for the Red Sox. Fenways going to kill his HR production since he hits LD to LF and his power is to their death valley in RCF
That said he can hit and will be deadly in YS3
He hits to all fields and RC in Comerica cannot be confused with Yankee Stadium.
Nothing will inspire a player to perform like the threat of professional extinction. I fully expect Hanley Ramirez to have a near-MVP type season now that JD Martinez is encroaching on Hanley’s territory. My guess is Moreland will be the loser in this scenario.
It will be hard to be MVP while sitting on the bench. Sox wont let the option vest.
Why don’t you think Moreland will feel professional extinction as well?
This is a prototype deal.
It creates incentives to produce for many
So the Red Sox luxury tax number is about $60 million higher than the Yankees.
Where are the cries that the Red Sox are ruining baseball?! :p
While I frequently complain about the payroll disparity, I do not blame the Yankees. It is MLB’s fault. But really is it THAT rewarding to win against unfair odds????????
Yes
The Padres should learn how to do things from the Red Sox
The Redsox got there man. treat him right or back to the DL it is.
Another sign of the unfair gap between big and small market teams. The Rays just dumped $5.9 mil for salary relief while the Red Sox will dump that Hanley contract to the bench. The Rays could never do that.
Then get a better owner.
And get better fans that pay money to see their games.
Or become a Red Sox or NYY fan
Do you watch baseball? The last 3 World Champions are the Astros, Cubs & Royals. Small market teams with owners/front offices that know what they’re doing. The Rays will never have that.
The Astros
and Cubs are not small market clubs at all !
Since now he’s going to be primarily a DH I don’t see injuries being much of a factor. I see 35 HR for next season unless Devers has a breakout rookie season then it might be 45 because JDM will then see more pitches, given that the Yankees got Stanton this wasn’t a luxury deal for the Sox they had to get it done. Now a replacement for Addison Reed would be next and adding rotation depth if I was Dombrowski. That probably won’t happen until the trade deadline though.
Should make the AL East even more interesting. Let’s play ball!!!
Will the ALEast represent the American League in the World Series for the second time in nine seasons?
Early best bet would be on the Astros.
good one, muskie73,
With 3 divisions 3 times in 10 years sounds like parity to me..
On the topic of defensively limited right-handed hitters best-suited for the designated hitter slot …
J.D. Martinez is five months younger today than Hanley Ramirez was when the Red Sox signed the latter to a four-year, $88 million contract with a vesting option for a fifth year.
Martinez has posted 6.0 bWAR and 5.6 fWAR in 239 games over the past two seasons while Ramirez had posted 8.9 bWAR and 8.5 fWAR in 214 games in the two season before he signed with Boston.
You never know how these free agent contracts will play out.
To those saying he’ll be hurt … He’s going to be the DH. That will help immensely. He’ll be much healthier and without playing the field he could be a better hitter. Not better than last year, but careerwise. Last year was his peak.
Just hope he adapts to DHing. Some players find it easy. Others don’t.
I admit I was not a fan of the Sox chasing Martinez when numbers like $150-$200 million were flying around, but how could anyone not like this deal? Best case scenario, Its a 2 year $50 million dollar deal. I think if J.D. has a typical 2018, the Sox will assume he will opt out after 2019, and still look at the free agent market next year.
Worst case scenario, its a 5 year $110 million deal.
Either way, with Hanley and Pablo coming off the books in coming years this should not handicap the Sox if they decide they are interested in the 2018 free agent class. However, I think this roster is pretty full for some time:
Whole infield is in place for at least 2 years now with Moreland.
Whole outfield is accounted for for a few more years and Martinez can play out there if need be
The Sox only absolute need in coming years will probably be innings at the back end of the rotation and bullpen help. Pretty good place to be when you just won the division last year.
Obviously getting an extension done for Sale has to be high up on that priority list too.
Sox are set for a while for sure
The worst-case scenario for Hanley Ramirez — who like J.D., Martinez was 30 years old when he signed with Boston — would be a five-year, $110 million contract if the option vests.
Yes an extension for Sale would be ideal but not likely as he will be a free agent in 2020 so goodbye Sale.
That’s why they need to focus on starting pitching.
And let’s not forget Kimbrel will be gone in 2019 so a good closer is a must next year.
Their best bet would be to draft well so they can have some trade chips to get a younger version of Kimbrel for less money.
Imagine if they DFA’d Hanley
Not likely as they did that with Pablo and still have to pay him.
Hanley is a much classier player.
It’s an awful lot of money to a man who can’t play defense and only once has played over 125 games. But then again, it’s not as horrible as it could have been.
I bet the Red Sox will regret this contract, but at least it’s not so bad that I know they will regret this contract.
Pay attention league, this is the kind of production you pay for in the outfield. You don’t pay for corner outfield defense, you pay for a difference making slugger. A guy on a minor league roster can give you some solid defense, yet Heyward was paid 180M for it.
A guy in the minors can’t give you 35+ homers and 120+ RBIs right away… plenty of minor leaguers have great defense but not much else. The truly elite players either can rake major league pitching like JD or strike major league hitting like JD…you pay up for hitters and pitchers like that which don’t grow in trees
So apparently I agree with you is what I’m saying ha…but not on Heyward cause his bat was screwed up by our couching staff and hasn’t lived up to that contract mostly
Yeah, I was confused there for a second. I’d rather have a guy with a game changing bat and average/bad D than the other way around. In the outfield corners at least, it’s easier to hid a player with bad D.
Yeah i agree, I didn’t read your comment correctly at first..my bad lol
So many people want to tear down a players offensive abilities by degrading their defensive abilities and vice-versa…absolute sluggers and absolutely pitchers will always be at a premium price
Heyward plays exceptional defense. There may be one other guy in his class. He was coming off a very good offensive year, .293/.797 when he was signed and had hit 27 HRs in a season before. He was expected to be both an exceptional defender and a good offensive player. The offense disappeared after the Cubs signed him.
He’s always been a gold glover for sure, but the Braves staff never let him define if he was a #3, #5 or a leadoff hitter and he never got in a groove. No surprise the offense never showed up cause it was already heading out the door…
The Cubs haven’t done much better with defining Heyward’s role on offense either. Much of the blame needs to be directed at micro-manager Joe Maddon and his cockamamie batting orders.
As an example, “Genius” Joe decided that the freshly signed Heyward would make for a fine #2 hitter to begin his Cub career, this despite him having little experience or success in that role previously. What was more head scratching was that the Cubs had also signed FA Ben Zobrist that same offseason who had been one of MLB’s best #2 hitters, including those spent with Maddon back in his days in Tampa. Heyward was atrocious in a role he had no business being put in. This was hardly a first for Maddon either. He did something similar with Kyle Schwarber last season when he asked a prototypical middle of the order power hitter to bat in the leadoff spot. To make matters worse, he also decided to use Zobrist in the cleanup role to allegedly to protect Anthony Rizzo, yet another failed attempt at putting a good hitter in the wrong slot.
Plus having a pitcher bat 8th. Maddon is so overated !
He’s never been right in my opinion ever since he was hit in the face by a pitch, ironically by a Cubs pitcher. Watching him hit it looks like he expects every pitch to be the next one that gets him in the chops.
I may be way off but to me he looks jittery and nervous at the plate.
Isn’t JD gonna DH?
hmmm
Wow. Changes everything
Still don’t think this is enough to draw in interest with the fan base. There’s not many people caring about the Sox right now in the area. Dombrowski pushed a lot of people away by saying he didn’t even try to get Stanton, which is the move the fans wanted.
Put down the pipe. Have you tried to get a ticket lately? The Red Sox TV ratings are going up so fast that I cannot afford to buy TV time there. Tickets will be sold out before the season starts.
Well the stands are almost full now it’s hard to imagine fans getting pissed at a winning team.
No fan wanted DD to trade a regular off the roster plus prospects to bring in an ARod 10 year contract.
Now that DD is finally in the mood to prepare for the season. We need to trade Bradley, Moreland and prospects for Votto. Votto is the best available 1B. I’m not high on Myers so to become a team with a classic offense where the corners are power hitters and you are strong up the middle we need to either move Devers to 1B and get Donaldson or get Votto. Both moves add payroll but they complete the offense and with the additional power lefty we should enjoy trips to Yankee stadium more.
So here’s the new line-up
2B Nunuz
RF Betts
1B Votto
LF JD Martinez
CF Benintendi
SS Bogaerts
3B Devers
DH Ramirez for now (then Pedroia when he’s back)
C Leon/Vasquez
With the two top of the rotation guys we are in great shape for the post season.
It would really be great if Wright could come back to his old form and Porcello looks closer to 2016 than 2017. Price will be fine and Sale is still the best. Pomerantz is a solid 3rd starter and should get better.
So Dave, please consider making us a more classical team with a power hitting good fielding 1B and 3B and lets stay strong up the middle with Bogaerts Pedroia/Nunez and Benintendi. Bradley would look good in a Cincy uniform!! This deal would free up money for them going into a big free agent year but I don’t realistically think they would part with Votto. That’s why I like moving Devers to 1B and getting Donaldson. We need another ‘clutch” player with a strong passion for winning.
First off Votto has been very adamant about not wanting to be traded. Second, Moreland can’t be traded without his consent for 6 weeks into the season. .
Interesting facts. Thanks. If I were Moreland and got to play everyday versus part time I think I would consent. Votto not wanting to go to a contender makes me not want Votto. It seems odd that a guy would want to stay somewhere where he has a slightly better chance of winning than in Miami and would pass up an opportunity to compete for the World Series for the next several years with a young Boston team. You are probably right.
“I just absolutely love playing here. I really like where I live. I like my team and my job. I like the location of the ballpark and the fans and the clubhouse and the uniform and the number on my back — all the littlest things that people take for granted are very comfortable to me and something I look forward to. I don’t think of myself as anything other than a Cincinnati Red. It’s one of the really cool things about having a no-trade clause. I’m one of the rare players who has that. I get to stay a Cincinnati Red.”
“I look at guys in all kinds of different sports and I admire the players that stick with one franchise and do well and ride out the rough times and experience the highs, instead of it being the kind of experience that you consume.” ~ Joey Votto
“Votto not wanting to go to a contender makes me not want Votto. It seems odd that a guy would want to stay somewhere where he has a slightly better chance of winning than in Miami and would pass up an opportunity to compete for the World Series for the next several years with a young Boston team. You are probably right.” ~ KD17
One of these two gets life…the other does not.
Cat, maybe Votto shouldn’t be in sports if competition and winning mean nothing to him but he gets life. An athlete has a limited window to compete, the key word being compete. It’s clear you don’t want him to leave Cincy and your quotes surely prove one of two things; either Votto belongs in a non-competitive place where he gets life or he’s learned how to present a proper face to the public and is dying to go somewhere competitive but doesn’t want to alienate fans in Cincy because he just got past his last issue of batting in the middle of the order and taking walks in key situations. For your sake, I hope it’s the former. Then you can enjoy the fact that one player really gets life.
Expressing that you believe his values are correct and then suggesting that mine aren’t seems very contradictory. See I’m ok with your belief system because it’s yours not mine. I believe people are entitled to their values and I’m not here to criticize yours because I don’t know you. Votto chose a competitive sport which pays big money and fans come to the ball park to root for their team to win in most cases. He has a short window for employment and at age 40 or younger when he retires he’ll have enough money to live ANYWHERE. If he loves Cincinnati then everything he has there now can be there in the future. He’s played his entire career with a non competitive team. It’s not his fault and there is nothing wrong with being loyal to that team and community but if he plays 5 more years I’m guessing he’d like to compete for a World Series. If not, then in my opinion, he should have picked a different profession.
So, if you think your value system is superior to mine, great. It’s that type of ignorance that creates problems in the world. These websites allow everyone access to express their opinions. Being intolerant of differing opinions brings all kinds of responses. So if it makes you feel better about yourself that you get life and I don’t, great, I’m ok with that.
One last thing, if you read my comments carefully, I wasn’t talking about freeing up dollars for next year for the Red Sox, I was talking about the Reds. See, by doing the trade, they get back Votto’s money at age 34 and can seek out a cornerstone that is in his 20s like a Harper or Machado or multiple above average players available from free agency next year. Clearly, the Red Sox would be in a worse situation financially but several bad contracts will be coming off the books soon. They would be fine if they made the suggested trade.
Let’s take some of your “arguments”, KD17, bit by bit shall we?
1) Whether Votto stays or leaves makes no difference to me as I am not a Cincy fan. I’ve been a Phillies fan since Dick Allen was a rookie.
2) You said ” Votto not wanting to go to a contender makes me not want Votto. It seems odd that a guy would want to stay somewhere where he has a slightly better chance of winning than in Miami…” with one breath and then “This deal would free up money for them going into a big free agent year…” (and yes I did misread as your train of thought switched tracks). That said, when was the last time Cincy signed a big free agent. The only contract over $10mm coming off the books is Mesoraco. Under your scenario they would “gain” about $25mm (the trade and Mesoraco). Also under your “values” what FA would they get considering that FA would have “a slightly better chance of winning than in Miami”. Cincy “can seek out a cornerstone that is in his 20s like a Harper or Machado or multiple above average players available from free agency next year.”…. but shouldn’t they only care about joining a winning team as well? That train keeps jumping tracks only to “justify” your other contradictory statements.
3) “maybe Votto shouldn’t be in sports ” and ” I believe people are entitled to their values”….talk about contradictory. He is competing everyday he puts on the uniform and trying to win as evidenced but his dedication and stats….he just isn’t doing it for your team. He is doing it under his terms, not yours…so yea…he gets life. The whole “if competition and winning mean nothing to him” is just the 1st cousin to those who disparage a player for signing where they want and turning down a higher payday from “their” team.
4) “So, if you think your value system is superior to mine, great. It’s that type of ignorance that creates problems in the world.” yet you are placing your value system on him….again, talk about contradictory.
5) Yep, they lose Han-Ram, Panda, and Kimbrel contracts next year. Of course it will cost $15-$17mm to replace or resign Kimbrel so they are essentially losing just the two. Those to combined would pay for a Harper, Manny, Kershaw type but what are the chances of Boston spending big on FA’s? /s
6) “He’s played his entire career with a non competitive team.” Granted, the BoSox have been more competitive the last 2 seasons but in this decade Cincy, while Votto has been playing for them, has made the postseason 3 times (as has Boston) and they had 4 winning (.500+) seasons and Boston has 5 seasons. Facts are pesky
There are other points but I am tired and this conversation has, or will, become circular so have a nice day, I’m done and won’t be checking back.
Best news of the day is you not checking back in, especially since you should never have been in the conversation to begin with. On a Red Sox site (because it’s the Red Sox article not a Philly article) I stated that it would be nice to trade Hanley, Moreland and propects for Votto. My interest was in feedback from Red Sox fans. Instead, I got a Philly fan who chose to belittle my comment which had nothing to do with the Phillies.
There are no contradictions in what I said, apparently just a confused reader. I’m not imposing my values on Votto, I am stating that if I was Votto I would want to play for a contender. See, it’s clear you don’t get how these websites work. It’s ok for me or you to have an opinion as long as you aren’t ripping someone else. Votto doesn’t have to think like me, I simply stated that I, yes my value system, would want to play for contender. Your facts about playoff appearances is exactly how people use statistics to win arguments instead of presenting the facts. How to determine if a fact is relevant? Does it apply to the argument. Let’s see Cincy last won it’s division in 2012, the Red Sox won the World Series in 2013. The most recent two seasons the Red Sox won their division and the last three years Cincy finished last in the division. Cincy did have a great team in the 1970s would that suggest that Votto is playing in a winning program? I don’t think so. You clearly patrol this website to be argumentative and you mislead folks with statistics that are irrelevant. Going over the cap in February can’t won’t be done because you believe DD wouldn’t do it. No facts there at all! Just opinion. Votto had four winning seasons and the Red Sox 5 seems like proof Cincy is competitive until you dig deeper and find that NONE of Cincy’s 4 winning seasons happened in the last 5 years and the Red Sox have won a world series in those 5 years and won their division the last 2 years, a division that had far more top flight competitors than Cincy had. Oh yeah, now the Cubs are an elite team, the Cardinals are an above average team, Milwaukee is a team on the rise and only Pittsburgh is likely to compete with Cincy for the foreseeable future while the Red Sox are in a division with only two highly competitive teams so making the playoffs is far more likely going forward than Cincy and remember Votto is 34 so how many more years will it take to be in a playoff series again?
Why would Cincy want to replace Votto’s money with younger players? That is obvious. Why would young players want to come to Cincy because there is a big upside far down the road. Hunter Greene could become one of the top pitchers in baseball. The Reds have very young talent so a young player who has proven his value might want to move to a location with other young players and where they can be top dog. Waiting a few years for a World Series ring worked for Bryant, Rizzo and many others in Houston. It could work in Cincy too.
So why negatively comment on suggested trade that you have no vested interest in? It’s simple, You enjoy being condescending to others on this website and you like thumping your chest about your knowledge. Why not just follow the Philly page and voice your opinion there and not scan user feedback so you can take cheap shots? You told me I didn’t get life. Maybe I don’t be I’m very comfortable reading opinions I don’t agree with without bashing them. And I will always be against cyber bullying. And if that means I don’t get life, I’m ok with it.
You’ll need to dig deeper than Bradley to headline a trade for Votto. Bradley’s defense is terrific but just an ordinary offensive player.
Adding Moreland aint gonna do it, and prospect wise, the cupboard is a bit bare of players 2-3 years away.
OK now I understand. You aren’t a Red Sox fan not liking my suggestion, you are a Cincy fan not liking it. That makes sense. Good luck this year, I hope you guys win over 70 games. It’s got to suck to have a rebuild and one vet who is expensive and older. It’s like you are straddling the fence.and by the time you guys are good Votto will be at least 37 years old. It’s hard for me to believe that you wouldn’t want a cheap but excellent 1B, a stud defensive CF who is going into his 27 season to go with your current crop of young guys and a couple of prospects who are a few years away but with hi ceilings. If I were a Cincy fan and knew 70 wins might be what we will see this year, I think I would like this trade. I get why Votto might not like it. He’s been in the community forever. Makes tons of money and has no pressure to perform. If he actually likes the last item, then, once again, I wouldn’t want him on the Red Sox.
That trade might be a bit weak, but the bigger + comes from Cincy clearing payroll and flexibility to make a splash in 2019 FA class.
I doubt Harper wants to go there, but he could do some damage at GAB
Mack83 – I agree that Harper and Machado are longshots but Cincy would be in one of the best positions to offer the most money, assuming money will outweigh the chance of winning immediately. Atlanta should be in the sweepstakes as well as all the big market teams as Jon Heyman pointed out recently. If Cincy doesn’t get one of those two,then hang on to the money and go for Arenado, Bogaerts, Schoop and/or Altuve the following year. At least in 2020 the young talent will be closer to proving their competitiveness so FAs should be more willing to consider Cincy.
You appear to be an Atlanta fan so I’m guessing Harper would be the pot of gold next year because you have three excellent minor league infielders in Albies, Swanson and Maitan. Having Harper and Acuna in the outfield would make you extremely competitive. Not to mention your emerging pitching staff. I think Atlanta is heading along the Astro’s path to being World Champions. Time will tell if that is the case. Good luck.
The BoSox are $32,934,600 over the CBT, by far the highest in MLB and you want to trade $12.6mm for a $25mm player. That adds $12.4mm bringing them to $45,334,600 and you say “This deal would free up money for them going into a big free agent year” Really? https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/e/2PACX-1vRghSG2xROOkgctuzj56pUSP6zCxUUQ1i7LND0jnficQ0TPtIY8OhNl3AN_StqMvBCHnO_qOXKZeTbE/pubhtml
You can say it’s no big deal…they have the money but there are consequences in surcharge taxes on top of the 20% they would pay the first year. That payroll puts them past the 2nd surcharge which includes draft penalties and you think it’s a good idea?
http://www.mlbplayers.com/pdf9/5450407.pdf page 106
Cat! I like the way that you answer these guys who just spout nonsense! Not only do you have an answer that makes sense, you provide the facts
and data that backs it up! Thanks for all the great baseball
and other knowledge !
Thanks….I like fact and I rarely deal in speculation. I don’t make predictions either. Occasionally I may say something like “I hope the Phillies bring Mike Trout home after 2020” or “If it was me I would offer Arrieta and short term high AAV like 3/85” but that is as close as I get.
I try to respond calmly but sometimes things just make SMH…like trading $12.6mm for $25mm and saying it saves money.
BTW, a bit further up the page someone mentioned $237mm….that is the 2nd surcharge level in the CBT page 109 of the CBA. The level the BoSox are crossing.
http://www.mlbplayers.com/pdf9/5450407.pdf
Brucewayne I agree that facts should be used here. For example, the fact is that the Red Sox numbers are irrelevant since my comment was related to the Reds not Red Sox. Had you followed the links you would have seen that I pointed that out in my last response.
As far as me spouting non-sense, I see you come from the same vein of cyber protagonists as your buddy. Taking cheap shots at people make you feel better about yourself. Next time, try using the phrase “I’m sorry but I disagree with your opinion”. People on these sights might respect your opinion more. Cyber bullies and name callers are a dime a dozen so try taking the high road for a change and prove that you “get life” like your idol..
By the way KD17! I don’t even know Cat Mando! I wasn’t specifically talking about you
But just because people don’t agree with you, it doesn’t mean you are getting bullied! People have their own opinions . Let them! Players play the game for different reasons ! Let them decide for themselves!
Also, I still think Cat is one of the smartest about baseball knowledge
and a lot of other things
and one of the most level-headed posters on this site!
Brucewayne, I am always confounded by your comments. You just don’t seem to understand. I have no issue with you disagreeing with me ever! I don’t like you attacking my comments with phrases like the ones above “Spouting Non-Sense”. If you don’t agree with me, great. State that you don’t but why call it non-sense? Do you really not see why that is inappropriate on website like this. All I did was suggest a possible trade that I thought would help the Red Sox and Cincy. You don’t have to agree with it, you simply need to voice your opinion without ridicule. That shouldn’t be hard but maybe you don’t believe insulting the writer of a comment is ridicule, I don’t know. That’s why each of your comments is confusing. If your value system suggests that insulting others on this website is OK, then I am voicing a contrary position that I don’t think it is. That’s all. Like Cat Mando are you even a Red Sox fan? Or do you simply troll this website to take shots a people. To be fair I have seen you compliment 1 person so maybe all of your comments either compliments or insults depending on whether you agree or not.
Please don’t feel obligated to follow value system and treat people with respect. Do what works for you!!
Getting JDM should show FanGraps project 97-98 wins for Bos now vs. 93 prior to JDM.
This is going to be a good race with the NYY in 2018.
Can’t wait.
JD certainly signed for what would have been considered under market just a couple of years ago. Not only have one dimensional players been devalued, but the lack of teams buying in the free agent market really hurt JD’s value. The other factor here is analytics. The math showing player decline as one ages has got teams really hesitant to offer large contracts to guys who should be in their prime. The opt outs in JD and Hosmer’s contracts as well as significant front loading of their contracts might end up being the new norm. Will be interesting to see if this trend continues the next couple of years as some pretty big free agents hit the market.
Still, happy for JD. As a Tiger fan we watched him get picked up from Houston and just start hitting dingers in Toledo before coming up, and then continue his torrid hitting on the big club. Boston fans will love him.
JDM got two opt-outs, a partial NTC, and $60 million guaranteed when he opts out after 2 years. Is that considered below market value? For a DH, that seems like a great deal.
DD stuck it to Scott Boras. High five!
High five!
They are paying him most as much as Yankees are paying Stanton over next two years with both having opt outs. Boras just got a DH 25 mil a year for next two years. Who got bent over?
Yes but the Yankees had to give up prospects too which does have value. The Red Sox did really well considering they got there man on there terms and didn’t bid against themselves also let’s not forget Boras was asking 200 million at the start of this.
Looks like the Yankees will also be paying Stanton to primarily DH. Unlike how Martinez’ contract is structured, Stanton’s escalates for a few years in annual cost. Along with the 7 years that would remain it’s much more likely he doesn’t opt out. Not to mention he’ll be a three year DH by that point. His potential suiters will be very few.
He will get his share of right field besides DH. Judge and Stanton will platoon right field and DH. Stanton can play the field unlike JD. I’m not expecting Judge to be like his first half of year last year and Stanton hasn’t faced AL pitchers yet so he will probably be down a bit also. If Stanton sees Harper and Machado rake in big contracts he may opt out in a couple of years if he has monster season. I think according to Red Sox standards in contracts it’s quite a bit more than they ever paid Pappi so seems like an overpay. It’s amazing how many players had career year in HRs last year. I hope if there were different baseballs last year they continue to use because it makes games more fun to watch. If they don’t we are all going to be disappointed with expectations for our teams newly acquired thumpers.
Boras did. He wanted 7/210 he got half of that! That is who got bent over
The only rumore near that was Nightengale tweet at winter meetings. No other writers saying that they believed that what it would take to sign JDM. Crasnick tweeted that they wanted $200 million, but did not mention number of years. Not a single other writer that rumored that Boras was asking for that amount. I have seen rumors more recently that he wanted more than 5/100 both in years and dollars. He got a $60 million guaranteed for 2 years if his client chooses to opt out. That is pretty good.
$60 million guaranteed for 2 years and then the player can walk away is sticking it to Boras? Not sure what world you live in, but ok. Whatever.
Don’t forget for a DH only. Not defensively skilled.
You keep saying 60 million I think you have some fuzzy math everywhere I have looked is 50 million with the buyout. I guess we have to wait for the real numbers to come out.
WEEI reported earlier and reiterated today that there was a $10 million signing bonus. 23.75 + 23.75 + 2.5 if he opts out + 10 = 60.
They also have reported multiple times that year three is $22 million and the last 2 years of the deal are $14 million, not $19 million and that the signing bonus is to be paid in $5 million increments 2021 and 2022 regardless of whether or not he opts out.
That is a total of $110 million with $60 million guaranteed if he opts out after year 2. $82 million if he opts out after year three.
Interesting point they made this morning is that all of this contract language stuff was mostly to put fear into other teams about his injury to keep him from opting out than to protect the Red Sox. That I totally believe.
It would seem logical that if players are viewed “in decline’ after 30 years of age the the players union will work to change the age players can become free agents to a younger age.
So are the owners still colluding?
Of course they are….it’s the MLB Crime Syndicate. I know that because I read it on these comment boards. /s
Right?!! Seems like the cries to boycott have suddenly evaporated.
I’m sure it’s just coincidence
They have not evaporated, MLB Network is just not reporting about it. The players are still talking about it to the media, especially beat reporters and local radio.
3rd day of camp and 81 sixth year FA players that were on season ending active rosters are still unsigned. Don’t let the signings of a handful of players distract you from the real issue that the players are ticked off about.
a 2.5 million dollar buyout for opting out. beautiful.
I wonder why the Orioles have a tough time bringing in quality pitchers.
Camden is a hitter’s park, but that’s just part of it. Seems like the Jimenez contract left such a bad taste in their mouth that Angelos now paints all FA pitchers with a broad brush and wants to avoid signing any SP for significant dollars for more than 2 years. If their starting staff is bad enough this year it might change that philosophy.
JDM looks like a Vampire in that picture. Good lord that’s a sharp looking canine.
With this drama winding down we can now expect Hanley’s vesting option scenario to begin a slow burn until mid-season when it potentially becomes a distraction.
jdm chooses to opt out and boston has to pay him $3,000,000 more?
stop exaggerating; its only 2.5 million.
has my daydreaming about walking in to my bosses office, telling him im quitting and demanding my 2.5 million dollar buyout.
Article Quote: “Martinez slashed a Herculean .303/.376/.690 with 45 home runs and 26 doubles in just 489 plate appearances last offseason.”
.That’s impressive “offseason” numbers. Imagine if he did all that during the season. 😉
It all seemed so real to us Diamondback fans. He will be greatly missed. You gave us some great moments JD, thank you!.
Lol
More Red Sox articles please.
Haven’t really seen a whole lot of this guy so i looked up videos of him. He seems to hit a ton of line drive HRs. He definitely needs to get them up playing in Boston. He has some serious power but I’m not sure his signing is enough to keep up the Yankees. Either way they still makes the playoffs since the Rays are not getting outta 5th, the Jays and my Orioles will have their moments but not enough to contend with those 2. I do think though that rivalry is going to be better then previous seasons. Should be a fun year this year if they just stop messing with the damn rules.
He’s played over 123 games in a season once in his 7 year career. He’s a good player but I doubt he’ll just suddenly start playing 150 games every season.
If he hits 40 hr, 50 dbls, and puts up a .690 OPs in 120 games, does it matter? I doubt the Red Sox would be disappointed if that is the results they get.
If he is a full-time DH, do you think that he will get injured as often as he has in the past playing the OF?
If he puts up a .690 OPS they will be mad. That would have ranked 132 in 2017, tied with Hunter Pence. I’m not even sure how that would be possible with 40hrs and 50 2bs, though.
Meant SLG. He was #1 in SLG last season with a .690.
DH
Did the Red Sox send Martinez to the Orioles’ doctors?
Probably not. He’s been balky as long as he’s been good. I love it when Boras is exposed. He’s a health risk everybody but JD and Boras would admit that.
WEEI is still saying on their broadcast today that JDM will receive $60 million guaranteed if he opts out after 2 years.
With what we have heard from Drellich that gives different numbers than everyone else, I am hoping that when its made official that we will get the true numbers.
If its $23.75 million in 1st 2-3 seasons and $2.5 million buy out if the opts out, that leaves a $10 million signing bonus.
Who cares what he gets, they’re entertainers n get what the market says he gets, just like the actors.
I smell trouble
Perhaps a red flag popped up during his physical. They don’t take this long to complete.
Always drama in Boston. Just sign him. Yanks would like it to be fun when they play.
Oh pluuuse
Tick, tock, tick, tock
Wow….45 home runs last off-season….now that is quite impressive to hit that many home runs in the off-season….haha
Martinez slashed a Herculean .303/.376/.690 with 45 home runs and 26 doubles in just 489 plate appearances last offseason.
The only problem with this site is they keep post the same thing with the same graphics over and over with minor stuff like JD spoke with Boras today.
Agreed Lord Vincent….I seen the Red Sox signed JDM about 5 times in the past 10 days….it’s old news….
On the other hand, it’s better than new posts where the old comments are lost and people make the same comments again. And they do a good job of date/time stamping the updates so you can see what’s new.
Comments should be displayed newest first, however.
Misterbill….Good points
Messages should be from top to bottom
lololol +1000
Probably the most annoying free agent saga I’ve ever been witness to, glad it’s over
Protection from a health condition in the last two years of his contract ? He must have a lingering issue that we don’t know about and that’s why it took so long
WEEI was saying this morning that this is more about limiting his market to keep him from opting out than to protect the team. Lisfranc injuries take a long time to recover fully from, but once you have they are not a recurring injury like a hamstring or ligament injury. In some severe cases, arthritis may occur from damage to the cartilage which would hamper the ability to run without pain.
3 opt outs and the Sox only get potential for recouping value if he’s hurt in the fourth or fifth year when he’s already likely to have opted out? They got gamed through and through on this contract.
“gamed”? 5/110 is less than anyone predicted. The Sox don’t care about the opt outs, they care about improving their chances of a title in 2018 & 2019.
Yes, gamed. No other team would’ve even offered him 80 million, and you know he wasn’t taking a one year contract from Arizona. The opt out eliminates any potential for drastic surplus value should he show himself to be a relatively ageless slugger who can hit out 50 bombs in any given year.
It’s a horrible contract that was the result of a team again bidding against itself. Yes, people predicted more, but that doesn’t mean this lesser amount was 1 – the best deal Boston could’ve gotten or 2 – reflective of JD’s actual value as a player.
Not sure what you are trying to say. If he repeats the 3.8 WAR that he had last season, he is providing surplus value in year one. If he hits 50 HR that will be at least a 4 WAR season, probably much more, which means surplus value.
It seems you completely ignored my points. Let me state them again:
1. Just because the contract is market value doesn’t mean the Sox couldn’t have gotten him cheaper, especially considering his complete lack of suitors.
2. I understand that he very well might provide surplus value this year (but note the highest projection I’ve seen for him is 3.4 WAR). But if he’s great, you only get two years of surplus value. If he’s bad, you get five years of a bad deal.
It is not up to the Red Sox, it’s up to JDM to accept their offer. Obviously, he was not willing to do that so they could not have gotten him cheaper.
3.4 WAR is surplus value. About $8 million over the 23.75 million in salary they will be paying him. $7 million if you use last years WAR value.
If he is bad then so sorry Charlie. That is the chances they take to get a guy that put up the 2nd best offensive numbers in the game for a $22 million AAV.
If he opts out, that means he’s played well, was probably not hurt, and the Sox more or less got what they paid for.
If he doesn’t opt out, there’s a terrific chance it’s because he dealt with injury. If that’s the case and it causes him to miss too much time in years 4 or 5, the Sox get some money back. Seems pretty straightforward to me.
But what happens if he is hurt in years 1 – 3?
Wow …. what a pain in the a.s this player was
So what is the protection from injury? Financial, time added to contract? (kinda dumb if it is a career ender)
Interesting signing
More RS articles. We don’t have enough.
Nightmare signing for Red Sox.
It’s really too bad there isn’t an opt out after year 1 also. And after the 2018 all star break
or now. Like I wish the Sox could OPT OUT now
Lol good one
How many times are they gonna put a article up saying redsox sign jdm goodness now jdm can opt out if his dog gets home sick or his doctor moves geeezzz