Greed is the lack of confidence in one’s ability to create. Does that sound familiar? I’m speaking to you, JD Martinez. In the NBA, top players have been known to take one-year deals to earn more cash because they’re willing to bring it each and every year. There’s a reason why LeBron James takes one-year deals; because he doesn’t trust ownership and can capitalize on his earnings. Why don’t baseball players think the same way?
In baseball, players don’t have that same confidence. In fact, they are willing to take less money on a year to year basis so that they can sign for as many years possible. Over the years, players have gotten lazy when they’re able to sign those long-term contracts. It’s hard to get fired up for a 162 game grueling schedule when you get paid the same whether you perform or not. Pablo Sandoval will earn $18 million from the Red Sox this year and next year just to sit on his couch. I’m not sure how every Red Sox fan didn’t see this coming. Shouldn’t we expect a similar result if JD Martinez opts to sign with the Red Sox?
Boston has had success winning three World Championships since 2004. The problem is in a sport where teams are not on equal footing financially, the Red Sox can afford to make mistakes and still win. A club like the Oakland A’s is not afforded that same financial framework to put together a baseball team.
This problem has really plagued the Red Sox from becoming the sort of dynasty the Yankees were in the 90’s and early 2000’s. Pablo Sandoval, JD Drew, Daisuke Matsuzaka, Julio Lugo, Matt Clement, Edgar Renteria, Rusney Castillio, and Carl Crawford have destroyed the Red Sox chances of winning over the years. For every championship the Red Sox have won, they also have bottomed out like a small market club finishing in last place on three separate occasions since 2012. I’m sorry but a club that has a top 5-10 payroll virtually every year cannot finish in last place.
Now Boston has that ugly Pablo Sandoval contract on the books that could prevent them from reaching the pinnacle of the sport. Boston is already on pace to exceed the luxury tax bill of $197 and all they have done is re-signed mediocre first baseman, Mitch Moreland. Will David Price bounce back and pitch like that guy who was paid $31 million a year to throw a baseball every fifth day? When you look at the Red Sox, the reason why they are competitive is because of the young core that was put in place prior to Dave Dombrowksi’s arrival in 2015. Mookie Betts, Xander Bogaerts, Andrew Benintendi, Dustin Pedroia, and Jackie Bradley Jr. were all hangovers from the previous administration.
When David Ortiz retired prior to the 2017 season, we knew the Red Sox were in need of a big game hunter in the middle of the order. Boston’s roster is so loaded that they won 93 games and finished in first place in the AL East despite ranking last in the American League in home runs (168 as a team). What’s the answer to fix this “Problem”?
The Red Sox have a loaded roster. Aging overpaid players have bogged down the roster but there is no denying that this team is loaded. Chris Sale was the best pitcher in baseball a year ago. Boston even has the best defensive outfield in baseball with Benintendi, Bradley, and Betts. Frankly, it’s hard to find a spot to improve this Red Sox roster from a positional standpoint. Breaking up the best young outfield in baseball would be a horrible mistake. Rafael Devers over at the hot corner looks like a stud in the making. Devers, 21, hit .284, 10 home runs, and an OBP of .324 58 games at the major league level. Bogaerts is a stud, and so is Pedroia. Moreland has already been re-signed and the platoon at catcher with Christian Vazquez and Sandy Leon couldn’t handle a pitching staff much better.
Now the lunatics in the media are suggesting the Red Sox should send Hanley Ramirez to the bench to sign this one-year wonder JD Martinez. Will Hanley take a Tuesday off in June? There’s no question. Sometimes you wonder if Ramirez even cares but this dude brings it when things count the most. Ramirez owns a postseason line of .380/.450/.577 over the course of 80 at-bats. By the way, Ramirez is a no-doubt Hall of Famer with a lifetime line of .291/.362/.490. Go be an idiot somewhere else, Ramirez is bound for Cooperstown and can hit any time he really wants. Han-Ram is everything you want in a DH.
There’s no denying that the Red Sox need to hit more homers in 2018 but that will come internally. Boston is replacing the worst manager in baseball with someone who actually understands analytics, Alex Cora. The Puerto Rican native spent this past year as the Houston Astros bench coach where he helped guide the team to a World Series Title, no big deal. Cora learned the ropes of the analytics and sabermetrics community where he will bring that expertise to Boston. Let’s face it, the Red Sox played the entire 2017 season without a manager because John Farrell couldn’t be much worse. Farrell didn’t even know the rulebook and tried to yank Addison Reed after one pitch in a game against the Yankees. Could you imagine being so stupid that you benched Hanley Ramirez for an injured Eduardo Nunez who tore up his knee one pitch in his first at-bat in the postseason? Could you imagine benching Rafael Devers for Devin Marrero in Game 2 of a playoff game needing offense….. Farrell did all of those things.
Mookie Betts should return to his MVP caliber form. A full season of Devers is a good thing. The continued progression of guys like Bradley, Benintendi, and Bogaerts should continue as guys who are all under the age of 27. So, exactly where does JD Martinez really figure into the equation?
Martinez is the target of Red Sox general manager Dave Dombrowksi. There really isn’t enough at-bats to go around but Dombrowski wants him anyway. Dombrowski is offering Martinez a five-year deal worth $125 million to DH. ARE YOU KIDDING ME! Martinez, a Scott Boras client, has since responded in a flurry of horrible takes that includes asking for more money not to play the field. You would think a player would accept less money to stay off his feet and just hit but that’s what goes on in the delusional mind of a Boras client. We are now entering mid-February and Martinez still hasn’t accepted the Red Sox more than fair offer.
The Athletic’s Ken Rosenthal just wrote this column that Martinez is ‘FED UP’ With the Red Sox:
“The industry-wide assumption remains that free-agent outfielder J.D. Martinez will land in Boston, but the Red Sox cannot be sure.
Martinez, 30, has yet to accept Boston’s reported five-year, $125 million offer. He is telling people in Miami that he is willing to hold out until he gets his price, as first reported by FanRag Sports’ Jon Heyman. He also is telling people that he is fed up with the Red Sox’s inflexibility and would rather sign with another club, sources say.
Perhaps Martinez is simply posturing. It’s difficult to imagine why he would be upset with a team reportedly willing to give him a nine-figure deal. It’s also difficult to imagine him saying no if the Red Sox improved their offer—which the team, sensing an absence of competition, evidently does not feel compelled to do.
The Red Sox, though, must at least consider the possibility that they will not sign Martinez. Dave Dombrowski, the team’s president of baseball operations, told The Athletic on Tuesday he will continue to take a wait-and-see approach, citing the potential for other opportunities to arise due to the slow-developing free-agent market—not simply opportunities with free agents, but also opportunities with trades.”
Hey JD Martinez, now Red Sox fans hate you! Could you imagine turning down an offer for $25 million a year over the age of 30 and then saying you’re ‘fed up’ with the Red Sox? By the way, four short years ago, Martinez was released by the Houston Astros looking for a new home. Dombrowski was the man that took a chance on him with the Tigers. Of course, Martinez has developed some sort of disease of me. Apparently, a contract offer that would rank Martinez as the 5th most lucrative contract in Red Sox history to just DH isn’t good enough, clown. Go kick rocks JD, Red Sox fans hate you and don’t want you!
(Insert curse word here) That’s how I feel about Martinez. I have seen this story too many times. A player who doesn’t want to play for the Red Sox, but is willing to come to Boston because they’re the highest bidder. I’m speaking to you David Price. The left-handed starter has cried about the media in Boston despite never winning a postseason start. You signed a contract worth $217 million and haven’t won a playoff start! Deal with it Price and quit crying or you should have signed somewhere else.
Now we have another crybaby in JD Martinez. By the way, Martinez isn’t a player that can be counted on either. JD has played more than 124 games in a season just once in his 7-year career. There are 162 games, stay healthy and maybe someone would pay you. Boston wants to take him off the field so he can just DH to keep the best defensive outfield in baseball together. Martinez wants more money not to play the field but can’t seem to understand that he sucks in the field. According to the sabermetric BIS, he has cost his team 35 defensive runs by himself over the course of his career.
Hey, JD Martinez, do you know who Boston loves? David Ortiz. A player who continued to take hometown discounts because he loved Boston. Ortiz loved the city. He called Boston home. Ortiz made $158 million in fourteen years with the Red Sox. Now Martinez’s original asking price was 7-years for $210 according to his super agent Scott Boras. Do you think Red Sox fans should fall for another false hype machine? Apparently, Martinez is ‘fed up’ but why should anyone care?
Martinez can hit, there’s no doubt about it. Martinez smacked 29 home runs in the second half of the season with the Diamondbacks in 62. He finished the year with 45 dingers, 104 RBI’s and .376 OBP. Okay great, what can he do when he isn’t focused on getting paid? If you take away his 2017 season, Martinez has averaged 17.8 home runs per year. That’s probably the guy you’re getting once he gets paid. I’ve seen this story before, people don’t care about baseball when you have a guaranteed contract of over $100 million.
Clown reporter Jon Heyman has even tried to help Martinez get paid. Heyman is known as a biased Yankees/Marlins supporter and is an avid puppet of agent Scott Boras. The offer from the Red Sox has been reported several times to be in the 5-year, $125 million range. Heyman, of course, has been plopped on on a string by Boras to feed the public false knowledge to try to pressure the Red Sox into making a terrible mistake. After news came about that the Red Sox didn’t have any competition for Martinez besides a one-year deal from Arizona for Martinez, Heyman reported the following:
“Although the Boston Red Sox have been seen as the main competitor to the Arizona Diamondbacks in the J.D. Martinez derby, for now the bigger threat could be a holdout (or at least a decision by Martinez to remain unsigned). With two teams believed to be at very similar levels – word is, both have signaled a willingness to go to five years at more than $100 million (how much more isn’t known), and agent Scott Boras says an earlier report of Arizona only offering a one-year deal is “not accurate” – and a belief and resolve in his position, Martinez has told people close to him that he intends to remain unsigned unless something changes.”
Common knowledge would tell you that Arizona cannot take any more financial measures to land Martinez back in Arizona. The D-Backs are already set to commit a franchise high in payroll in the $120 million range. Arizona also cannot afford to add another big contract to the books and have been looking to shed Zack Greinke anyway possible. Greinke is owed at least $34 million over the next four years and will be entering his age 34 season.
See how Heyman tried to report that the Diamondbacks were in the same range as Boston? Boras has refuted the report that Boston is in the $125 million range but now secretly has upped Arizona’s offer on his own to match previous reports refuted by Heyman and Boras. John Gambadoro, a local radio host in Arizona, wasn’t going to fall for this Boras cheese.
The report that the Dbacks are willing to give JD Martinez a 5-year deal for $100 million is TOTALLY INACCURATE. There is no truth to it. Just Scott Boras spreading rumors –
— John Gambadoro (@Gambo987) February 8, 2018
By the way, general managers have gotten smarter. Dombrowski is one of the only old heads in the baseball community which is why his offer to Martinez is far and away the most lucrative one. Even Dombrowski’s offer is far too high, something Martinez can’t seem to understand. Not this time Boras, you can’t swindle the younger generation of up and coming, general managers. It’s no secret that players decline in their 30’s. This is far more evident in baseball. Players decline because it’s science. The second a human hits the age of 30, their reflexes and heart rate starts to deteriorate. It’s science, don’t argue it.
Martinez has already reached the age of 30. A five-year deal for Martinez would take him through his age 34 season. You are on the wrong side of the curve buddy, get over it. Below is the curve of players’ ballpark adjusted OPS+ from 1901 through 2011. It’s not hard to see that investing in a player over the age of 30 is just a horrible idea. By the way, with the velocity of fastballs increasing in recent years, I would expect this curve to look more dramatic in the future.
Don’t blame baseball for becoming smarter. Even the Yankees have adapted their way of thinking. Paying old hags like Jason Giambi is a thing of the past. The worst player on the Yankees roster is Jacoby Ellsbury and is owed over $21 million over the next four years. The best player on the Yankees roster is Aaron Judge and he will make a smidge over 500 thousand in 2018. My point is you can’t win in today’s MLB without young players.
Paying JD Martinez would be a huge mistake by the Red Sox, a team that has World Series asperations. Locking up Mookie Betts long term should be the priority, not paying a guy who doesn’t even want to be in Boston. If Martinez does sign in Boston, expect him to get booed. Anything short of a .300 average and 40 homer season, Martinez will never hear the end of it from the media. This is a disaster waiting to hear the end of it. For the health and sanity of myself and Red Sox fans everywhere, please go away and sign somewhere else JD Martinez.
