Dombrowski vs. Boras
J.D. Martinez has been the #1 topic of the offseason for Dave Dombrowski and the Red Sox. Are we or are we not getting him? Is he going to a whole other team? What kind of contract will he get? Those are some of the questions that we have been continuously asking ourselves as we inch closer to Spring Training.
Scott Boras recently said that he and Martinez are willing to hold off until Spring Training to get a deal done. They are trying to get the seven years with at least $25 million for each year. Dombrowski’s apparently not having it.
MLB insider Jon Heyman recently reported that Dombrowski won’t go over his $25 million per year for five seasons offer, and is basically saying take it or leave it. I absolutely love this.
Don’t get me wrong, J.D. Martinez is one hell of a player. He hit 45 homers last year, 29 of them coming from after he got traded to Arizona at the deadline. And this is just home runs we’re talking about. He’s had a slugging percentage over .500 for the last four years. Martinez has also improved from a .535 slugging in both 2015 and 2016 to .690 in 2017. He’s had an on base over .350 three of the last four years. Also he had an OPS of .912 in 2014, .879 in 2015, .908 in 2016 and 1.066 in 2017. This guy is possibly better than Stanton. The dude can hit, I’m not denying that.
But what I’m saying is this whole thing is getting ridiculous at this point. Is J.D. Martinez a pretty great hitter? Yes. Is he someone who can be a great presence in the middle of this Boston lineup? Yes. But is he worth what he’s asking for? Nope. Not many are. And especially not when you add the fact that he’s into his 30s now. History says that signing guys in their 30s to large contracts is never a good idea. Teams are getting smarter. The game is evolving. People don’t want to be giving out these huge contracts to anybody any more, and rightfully so.
For example look at someone like Albert Pujols on the Angels. The dude was unreal when he signed with them. Now? He has a negative WAR for them. He has no value to his team. Want to talk about awful contracts with the Red Sox? Carl Crawford and Adrian Gonzalez are two names I don’t have to go further into.
So no, the Red Sox don’t have to overpay for J.D. Martinez. Just wait it out. His market isn’t that big. Your offer may very well be the biggest one he gets. So I absolutely am all for what Dombrowski is doing right now. Not playing Boras’s game, and I love it.
Cover image courtesy of Fan Rag Sports.