J.D. Martinez

Red Sox Notes: Betts, JDM, Wright, Kimbrel

By Connor Byrne | October 21, 2018 at 2:42pm CDT

The latest on the American League champions:

When the Red Sox go on the road to face the Dodgers in the World Series, they could feature an interesting defensive alignment. Speaking with reporters (including Jason Mastrodonato of the Boston Herald) on Saturday, Cora revealed that the Red Sox are considering deploying right fielder Mookie Betts at second base in Los Angeles, where they won’t have the luxury of using a designated hitter. In doing so, the Red Sox would keep DH/outfielder J.D. Martinez’s elite bat in the lineup. No matter what, Martinez is going to play, though the team’s not giving any thought to putting him at first base, Mastrodonato reports. Martinez has next to no experience at first, whereas Betts played plenty of second base as a prospect and most recently lined up at the keystone 14 times as a major league rookie in 2014.
Left knee issues have shelved Red Sox right-hander Steven Wright since Sept. 29, but the knuckleballer hasn’t ruled out a World Series return, per Mastrodonato. Although the Red Sox had to remove him from their ALDS roster when the playoffs began two weeks ago, Wright has been throwing since then, and he issued a fairly encouraging update Saturday. “My arm and body feels really good, just a matter of can my knee withstand the pressure of throwing off a mound consistently?” Wright said. He’ll “go through a few tests” before the Red Sox decide whether to include him on their World Series roster, according to Cora. Wright threw a short simulated game Sunday to help determine the status of his knee, Pete Abraham of the Boston Globe tweets. The 34-year-old was an asset out of the Red Sox’s bullpen during the regular season, when he notched a 1.52 ERA and held opposing hitters to a .191/.303/.314 line.
It hasn’t been a banner postseason for all-world Red Sox closer Craig Kimbrel, who has allowed at least one earned run in four of five appearances. However, Kimbrel may have begun a turnaround in his most recent outing Thursday, when he threw a scoreless, hitless frame with two strikeouts and a walk to close out the Astros in the ALCS. Kimbrel revealed afterward that he had been tipping his pitches – something former closer Eric Gagne first noticed while watching from home, Ben Harris of The Athletic writes (subscription required). “There’s quite a few people, but actually Eric Gagne texted me last night,” Kimbrel said. “He’s good friends with AC (Alex Cora), and he texted me and gave me some advice.” As part of an interesting piece that’s worth checking out, Harris goes on to break down what Kimbrel was doing wrong and how he fixed it.

All-Star Notes: Red Sox, Lowrie, Markakis, Abreu

By Jeff Todd | July 17, 2018 at 3:10pm CDT

While the focus this time of year is obviously on trade possibilities, the All-Star break also provides reporters an opportunity to ask players about their own long-term preferences. It’s not surprising, then, that we’ve seen a run of stories on players who won’t be traded away, but also aren’t under long-term control.

The Red Sox have certainly enjoyed an excellent opening run, led by excellent performances from a number of core players. It’d be a surprise to see any mid-season dealmaking, but the club might be expected to look into some new arrangements in the offseason to come. Closer Craig Kimbrel represents the most pressing situation, since he’ll be a free agent. As Christopher Smith of MassLive.com reports, Kimbrel says he and his family would “love to stay” but certainly indicated he’ll wait to see what the market bears. Though he only arrived a few months ago, slugger J.D. Martinez says he’d be open to exploring a new pact that might eliminate some of his opt-out opportunities, as he tells Chris Cotillo of MassLive.com. Of course, there’s plenty of time left before he’s scheduled to have a shot at returning to the open market (post-2019), and there’s reason to wonder whether the organization really would want to pay up to enhance its control rights. In between those two players in terms of contract situation is staff ace Chris Sale. Nick Cafardo of the Boston Globe argues that, with one more option year left to go, the Boston organization ought to look into locking up the 29-year-old for the foreseeable future.
It seemed at one time that infielder Jed Lowrie would feature as a trade chip, but the surging Athletics obviously now have no plans to sell. Instead, attention has turned to the question whether he might end up returning to Oakland at season’s end. As John Shea of the San Francisco Chronicle writes, Lowrie says the front office has “expressed interest this time” around — unlike the prior time his contract with the A’s was nearing an end. Lowrie, a first-time All-Star in his 11th MLB season, indicated that he’d be open to working something out to return for a sixth campaign in Oakland, though it’s not clear whether any effort at mid-season talks will be made.
It’s a similar story for Braves outfielder Nick Markakis, another respected veteran who finally earned an All-Star nod. As Gabriel Burns of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution writes, Markakis indicated he expects to keep playing after his contract runs out this fall — which is no surprise given his strong performance thus far. Whether that’ll take place in Atlanta or elsewhere, though, isn’t yet on his mind. “We’ll deal with that stuff in the offseason when the time comes,” says the veteran.
Those sorts of questions have long floated around White Sox first baseman Jose Abreu, who stands out as a quality veteran on a very youthful roster. As Steve Greenberg of the Chicago Sun-Times reports, Abreu says he hopes to have a chance to win before his time is up in Chicago. His focus is on “just trying to enjoy the moment with the team” at the moment, but the slugger also indicated that he’s at least open to spending more time on the South Side. “I’d like to stay with this team,” says Abreu. “And I’m going to do all in my power to make this team good as soon as possible.”

AL Notes: Beltre, Rays, Astros, K. Tucker, BoSox, JDM

By Connor Byrne | June 24, 2018 at 3:26pm CDT

Rangers third baseman Adrian Beltre is reportedly available, though it’s no sure thing the team will trade the future Hall of Famer, Jeff Wilson of the Star-Telegram writes. Rather, the Rangers are interested in keeping Beltre, an impending free agent, in hopes of re-signing him prior to next season. In order to deal Beltre, the Rangers would need a return that outweighs the benefits of retaining the 39-year-old through the season and trying to re-sign him, Wilson hears. And should teams make offers for Beltre, general manager Jon Daniels will keep the player informed, Wilson reports. Given that Beltre has 10-and-5 rights and has enjoyed his time with the Rangers, Wilson notes that it’s not yet known whether he’d accept a deal to leave the team.

The Rays plan to part with a host of veterans in the coming weeks, per Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times. Catcher Wilson Ramos, shortstop Adeiny Hechavarria, outfielder Carlos Gomez and relievers Sergio Romo and Jonny Venters stand out as vets who are the most likely not to finish the season with the team, Topkins suggests. Similarly, righties Chris Archer and Nathan Eovaldi, infielder Matt Duffy and reliever Chaz Roe aren’t locks to end the year in Tampa Bay, Topkin adds.
There’s “a decent likelihood” the Astros will promote top outfield prospect Kyle Tucker later this season, president of baseball operations Jeff Luhnow told Astros Radio on Sunday (Twitter link via Christian Boutwell of MLB.com). The 21-year-old Tucker, widely regarded as one of the game’s premier prospects, has held his own this season in his first taste of Triple-A action. Tucker has slashed .314/.382/.509 with 10 home runs, 13 stolen bases and solid walk (10.2) and strikeout (19.4) percentages over 324 trips to the plate.
Slugger J.D. Martinez is thriving with the Red Sox, who signed him to a five-year, $110MM deal over the winter. But Boston first “tried” to acquire Martinez last summer, president Dave Dombrowski revealed to Rob Bradford of WEEI. When Martinez was with the Tigers a year ago, the Red Sox, Indians and Diamondbacks were among the most aggressive teams in attempting to trade for him, according to Bradford. Martinez ended up with the D-backs – who landed him on July 18 – in part because the Tigers placed a higher asking price on him in talks with Boston than the other teams, Bradford hears.

AL East Notes: Mallex, Red Sox, Cashner, Yanks, Donaldson

By Jeff Todd | April 20, 2018 at 3:39pm CDT

The Rays are preparing to give a long look at outfielder Mallex Smith, as Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times writes. As he nears his 25th birthday, Smith has upped his offensive game, with a .373/.418/.510 batting line. Though he’s carrying an unsustainable .432 BABIP, it’s notable that Smith has been striking out at a meager 12.5% clip. With Kevin Kiermaier just starting a lengthy DL stint, there’s little reason not to see whether Smith can stake a claim to an everyday job. Topkin also covers some of the other players who could see additional opportunities due to the loss of Kiermaier.

Here’s more from the rest of the AL East:

Red Sox president of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski gave an honest answer when asked by Jason Mastrodonato of the Boston Herald whether he foresaw the team’s unbelievable start to the season. “We thought the capabilities were there,” said Dombrowski. “But for me to say we expected it to this point, that would be a bit much.” Still, he did acknowledge that he and the rest of the front office truly believed that last year’s tepid run production would turn around, with or without the addition of J.D. Martinez. Sox fans will want to read the entire piece, which gives an interesting look at all the things going right in Boston at the moment.
The story isn’t quite the same in Baltimore, where the Orioles are off to a miserable opening run. One bright spot has been Andrew Cashner, one of several offseason pitching additions. Jon Meoli of the Baltimore Sun examines whether his 3.00 ERA through 24 innings — which follows a 3.40 mark in 166 2/3 frames last year — could be sustainable despite still-middling peripherals. Skipper Buck Showalter seems to believe that Cashner has matured as a pitcher and “came into his own last year.” He says he’s “hoping that we’re going to reap the benefits of that” over the full course of the current season. Of course, as Meoli explains, there are certainly some reasons not to buy in.
Relief pitching was expected to be an overwhelming strength for the Yankees in 2018, but Marc Carig of The Athletic writes (subscription link) that there are some cracks in the pen. Beyond just short-term struggles with results, the Yanks have seen cause for deeper concern with some pitchers. In particular, Dellin Betances has shown a bit of a velo drop and, perhaps more worryingly, reduced spin rate. There are similar issues for Tommy Kahnle, who is now on the DL after not looking capable of sustaining his 2017 breakout in the early going.
The Blue Jays have received generally promising news on star third baseman Josh Donaldson, as Shi Davidi of Sportsnet.ca tweets. Skipper John Gibbons says that, though Donaldson isn’t going to be ready to come back after the minimum ten-day stint, he has resumed throwing and is feeling “great.” The real question, though, is whether Donaldson will be able to throw without limitation after showing reduced form early in the season.

Central Notes: Brewers, Hader, Indians, JDM, Reds

By Connor Byrne | April 15, 2018 at 12:28pm CDT

Although Brewers left-hander Josh Hader worked through the minor league ranks as a starting pitching prospect, he has served exclusively as a reliever since making his MLB debut last year. That’s OK with Hader, who has emerged as one of the game’s most dominant bullpen weapons during his 57 1/3-inning career. “I like the idea of coming out of the bullpen and attacking hitters,” he told Todd Rosiak of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. “That plays to my strengths a little bit better.” Hader added that “being able to come in 1-2 innings every other day, that keeps me in shape and keeps my pitches more intact” (Twitter links). It’s hard to argue with the results – a 2.04 ERA with 14.13 K/9 against 3.92 BB/9. The 24-year-old is averaging upward of 20 strikeouts per nine early this season, thanks in part to his five-K performance against the Mets over two perfect innings on Saturday. Hader earned the first save of his career in that outing.

AL East Notes: JDM, Red Sox, Cobb, Gausman, Hicks

By Jeff Todd | April 4, 2018 at 4:37pm CDT

In an interesting look back at recent history, Rob Bradford of WEEI.com explores the Red Sox’ decision-making process on finding a big bat over the just-concluded offseason. President of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski says the organization zeroed in from the outset on J.D. Martinez, despite knowing it could take a big salary to get a deal done. Giancarlo Stanton’s no-trade rights mostly took him out of consideration, says Dombrowski, while Marcell Ozuna came with too high a prospect price tag — reflecting his value as an outfielder, not just a DH, which was the Sox’ primary need.

Here’s more from the AL East:

Red Sox top prospects Jay Groome and Michael Chavis will open the season on the disabled list, per Alex Speier of the Boston Globe. Groome, 19, is dealing with a mild flexor strain that is similar to the injury that hampered him in 2017, though farm director Ben Crockett tells Speier that the injury isn’t serious in nature, calling it “pretty mild overall” and noting that Groome has already been symptom-free for “several days.” Chavis, 22, is dealing with an oblique strain that he suffered back in February. He’s begun swinging a bat, however, and could get into extended spring games next week.
Alex Cobb is nearing readiness to join the Orioles, Eduardo Encina of the Baltimore Sun writes. It seems likely he’ll take the ball on Monday, though that won’t be finalized until the weekend. Baltimore skipper Buck Showalter said the club is mostly allowing Cobb to drive the process while understandably preferring to “err on the side of caution.” Trusting the veteran hurler but maintaining a conservative approach seems wise given Cobb’s health history and the team’s $57MM investment.
Orioles fans will certainly also want to check out this lengthy chat between righty Kevin Gausman and the Sun’s Jon Meoli. The talented 27-year-old has not quite turned the corner to being a front-line starter, despite showing hints of it at times. He’s now entering an important season in which he’ll try to bounce back from a messy 2017 showing in advance of his final two arb-eligible campaigns. Likewise, VP of baseball ops Brady Anderson recently joined the podcast of MLB.com’s Mark Feinsand. He discussed how his history as a player helped spur his current career, as he began his post-playing involvement in the game by helping his former teammates. Though he’s hardly the only former player with a prominent executive role, Anderson is somewhat unusual in that he still gets down on the field quite a bit.
Aaron Hicks is confident that he can return to the active roster in time for the Yankees’ upcoming series against the Red Sox, which begins next Tuesday, writes MLB.com’s Bryan Hoch. Beyond that, while recently claimed Trayce Thompson is initially reporting to Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre, skipper Aaron Boone tells Hoch that the optional assignment “doesn’t mean he won’t become an option very soon.”

East Notes: Adams, JDM, Marlins, Eovaldi, Orioles

By Steve Adams | March 5, 2018 at 12:55pm CDT

Matt Adams signed with the Nationals fairly early in the offseason knowing full well that regular at-bats were going to be difficult to come by, writes Jorge Castillo of the Washington Post. Adams prioritized playing for a contending club with a good clubhouse culture — he consulted his friend Chris Heisey about the organization before signing — over holding out for an opportunity for an everyday or near-everyday role. Castillo speaks to Adams himself, manager Dave Martinez and hitting coach Kevin Long about the slugger’s role with the club and the value he can bring off the bench. The Nationals, it should be noted, are giving Adams some looks in the outfield once again this spring and could play him in left field from time to time in 2017 — as the Cardinals and Braves both did in 2017.

More from the game’s Eastern divisions…

Red Sox designated hitter/outfielder J.D. Martinez chats with Michael Silverman of the Boston Herald about his perceived defensive shortcomings in the outfield, explaining that his reputation as a defensive liability is frustrating. Martinez acknowledges that his glovework wasn’t at its best in 2016, when he admits to having become a bit timid around the outfield wall after breaking his elbow when crashing into the wall partway through the year. “…I got scared of running into walls because I didn’t want to get hurt again,” Martinez candidly admits. “… So balls off the wall, I just let it go and I got penalized for it.” The slugger adds that his foot injury significantly hampered his range in 2017, but he rejoined the Tigers as soon as possible as a means of getting his bat back into the lineup. Martinez, to his credit, had average to above-average ratings from both DRS and UZR from 2014-15, and he’s anxious to prove that he can still play an adequate outfield corner with better health.
The Marlins aren’t yet certain if veteran infielder Martin Prado will be healthy enough to take the field come Opening Day, writes Andre C. Fernandez of the Miami Herald. The team’s hope is that Prado will be able to play in some Grapefruit League games by the middle of this month, but there’s still no set timeline for when he’ll get into the lineup. If Prado isn’t ready for the opneer, it could pave the way for prospect Brian Anderson, who made his MLB debut late in the 2017 season, to get a look at the hot corner and prove that he’s capable of sticking at the big league level. The Marlins won’t push Anderson into that role if they don’t feel he’s ready, though skipper Don Mattingly had plenty of praise for Anderson’s work at third, his swing and his overall work ethic.
Nathan Eovaldi’s contract with the Rays contains $3.5MM worth of incentives based on starting and $2.375MM worth of relief-based incentives, reports Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times. The organization maintains that it is “definitely” committed to using Eovaldi as a starter, per Topkin, and that’s the right-hander’s preference as well. “I definitely want to be a starter and hold it out throughout the entire year,” Eovaldi tells Topkin. That said, it stands to reason that if Eovaldi struggles in the rotation, a move to the ’pen is a possibility — especially given Tampa Bay’s deep stock of upper-level arms in the minors. As Topkin notes, many have long wondered what the hard-throwing Eovaldi could do in a relief role, especially when looking at his career struggles facing a lineup for the third time (.673 opponent OPS first time through the order, .692 second time, .890 third time).
The Orioles remain open to adding a third free-agent starter after signing Andrew Cashner and bringing Chris Tillman back, writes MASNsports.com’s Roch Kubatko. They’re still checking in on everyone from Alex Cobb and Lance Lynn to former Oriole Jake Arrieta, he notes. That said, Kubatko adds that the O’s are heartened by the way their internal options have looked thus far, with Mike Wright, David Hess, Yefry Ramirez, and Rule 5 picks Nestor Cortes and Pedro Araujo all of interest to Baltimore decision-makers.

East Notes: JDM, Red Sox, Mets, A-Gon, Phillies

By Connor Byrne | March 3, 2018 at 11:04pm CDT

Newly signed Red Sox slugger J.D. Martinez figures to spend most of his time at designated hitter, though the team is planning how to set up its outfield when he does factor in as a defender. “At home he’ll play left field and if somehow he plays somewhere on the road here, he’ll play right field,” manager Alex Cora told Jason Mastrodonato of the Boston Herald and other reporters Saturday. Cora went on to reveal that right fielder Mookie Betts could move to center during road games in which Martinez plays the field. Of course, it’s unclear how often this will come up for Boston, which already has an excellent outfield trio of Betts, Jackie Bradley Jr. (center) and Andrew Benintendi (left). Unlike those three, Martinez has struggled of late in the field, where he has posted minus-27 Defensive Runs Saved and a minus-24.9 Ultimate Zone Rating since 2016.

AL East Notes: Rays, Pedroia, JDM, Lee

By Jeff Todd | February 28, 2018 at 3:05pm CDT

Rays owner Stuart Sternberg weighed in on the MLBPA’s grievance against the Rays and three other clubs regarding concerns over the reallocation of revenue-sharing funds, as Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times writes. The Rays, according to Sternberg, are “beyond” compliant with the rules. “We’re very judicious in how we spend our money, but it’s spent in a lot of forms, and payroll is one of them,” said Sternberg, going on to point out that the Rays’ Opening Day payroll in 2018 will be higher than it was in 2017. Of course, the Rays still rank near the bottom of the league in that regard, as they do every year. Chris Archer, the Rays’ union representative, also spoke with Topkin on the matter. “I have no clue what it costs to run the Dominican academy,” said Archer. “I know just from my perspective, not a whole lot has changed with the spring training facility, not a whole lot has changed at the Trop, and our payroll has not increased significantly.”

Veteran Red Sox star Dustin Pedroia had a bit more done to his knee than had previous been known, Pete Abraham of the Boston Globe reports on Twitter. In addition to cartilage restoration work, Pedroia underwent a microfracture procedure to his tibia. Regardless, it seems that the hard-nosed veteran is progressing well given that he has now advanced to taking batting practice. Meanwhile, fellow infielder Marco Hernandez is still six weeks away from resuming baseball activities, Rob Bradford of WEEI.com tweets. Hernandez underwent shoulder surgery last May and only just had screws removed, but at least he now seems to be in sight of returning to the field.
In other Red Sox coverage, Bradford discusses new signee J.D. Martinez’s unique relationship with his personal hitting coach. As it turns out, new Boston hitting coach Tim Hyers is well acquainted with Martinez’s guru Robert Van Scoyoc, who’ll be allowed to continue consulting with Martinez even though he has been hired by the Diamondbacks. It’s a deep and interesting look at how Martinez’s unique approach will fit with the organization.
Orioles hurler Chris Lee will miss at least a month with an oblique injury, Roch Kubatko of MASNsports.com was among those to tweet. The southpaw had been viewed as one of a variety of hurlers competing for one rotation spot, a long-relief role in the pen, and/or a place in the organizational depth chart. Instead, he’ll have to work back to health before he’s able to begin pressing for his first MLB opportunity. The 25-year-old reached Triple-A for the first time last year, pitching to a 5.11 ERA with 6.4 K/9 and 4.2 BB/9 over 116 1/3 innings.

J.D. Martinez Contract Includes Medical Protection For Red Sox, Third Opt-Out For Martinez

By Steve Adams | February 26, 2018 at 1:46pm CDT

After a week of medical reviews and some reported alterations to the language in his five-year, $110MM contract, J.D. Martinez was introduced by the Red Sox at a press conference this morning (video link via MLB.com). Seemingly, the Lisfranc foot injury that hampered Martinez early in the 2017 season served as enough of a red flag for the Sox that further work needed to be done to sort the matter out.

Agent Scott Boras met with reporters following Martinez’s introduction today, revealing that the new contract language includes the addition of a third player opt-out (after the fourth season of the contract) in exchange for some medical protection for the Red Sox (Twitter links via Evan Drellich of NBC Sports Boston and Mark Feinsand of MLB.com). Specifically, Drellich further reports, the Red Sox can convert both years four and five of the contract into mutual options, pursuant to the newly drawn-up language. In essence, then, the Sox have negotiated their own means of walking away from the final two years of the contract in the event that Martinez’s foot proves to be a chronic condition.

Per Drellich, should Martinez spend 60 consecutive days on the DL in year three of the contract (2020) with an injury related to his prior Lisfranc injury, the fourth year can be converted into a mutual option. Boston could also convert the fourth year to a mutual option should an injury pertaining to the prior Lisfranc issue prompt Martinez miss a combined 120 days between the second and third years of the deal (2019-20), with at least 10 of those days coming in year three. (The Boston Globe’s Nick Cafardo first tweeted that the team could render the fourth year a mutual option.)

Boston is similarly protected in the fifth season of the contract. If an injury pertaining to his previous Lisfranc issue causes Martinez to miss 60 consecutive days in the fourth year of the deal (2021) or a combined 120 days in 2020-21 (with at least 10 in year four), then the 2022 season can be converted to a mutual option. All determinations about whether a new Lisfranc injury for Martinez is related to the 2017 injury would be made by a panel of three doctors.

In the end, the week of back-and-forth does little to change the immediate bottom line for the Sox or Martinez. Red Sox evaluators were satisfied enough with Martinez’s health that they didn’t see fit to alter the length of the contract or the total guarantee. By all accounts, the involved parties all expect Martinez to be healthy in 2018 and serve as a potent weapon in the middle of the Boston lineup. Viewed through that lens, the medical hoops through which both sides have been jumping over the past week could all be rendered moot. If Martinez’s offense in his first two seasons with Boston mirrors his productivity over the past four seasons, he’s quite likely to exercise the first of three contractual opt-out clauses.

At that point, in order to come out ahead, Martinez would need only to top the three-year, $60MM contract which Edwin Encarnacion received last offseason when he was two years older than Martinez will be in that 2019-20 offseason. Boston would be able to make Martinez a qualifying offer, should he decide to opt out of the remaining three years of the deal. He did not receive one this offseason by virtue of being traded from the Tigers to the Diamondbacks in July.

Photo courtesy of Getty Images.

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