As a Yankee fan, I’ve wrote too much about JD Martinez for my liking on this site, but we find ourselves here yet again! It is heavily rumored that the Red Sox are going to try to get under the $208 million line in salary. Martinez opting in does not help them do that. The move may signal the end for Mookie, a better all around baseball player and the best right fielder in the game, in Boston.
I have to believe that in an honest moment, the Red Sox brass would have liked Martinez to opt out so they could pay Mookie. Of course, the Red Sox are able to trade Martinez, but he comes at a pretty hefty number in an offseason that not many teams are searching for a DH.
With the way MLB off seasons have gone recently, I do not blame Martinez for opting into a guaranteed pay day. I do think, however, that he missed out on possible leverage by going into free agency again. At the end of the day, the risk was clearly not worth it. The good news is we get to do this all over again next year since he has an opt out clause for after the 2020 season as well!
