Red Sox could use $125 million on more than J.D. Martinez

The Boston Red Sox have made an offer of $125 MM to J.D. Martinez and are willing to exceed the luxury tax. What are some of the alternatives for spreading that money around?

What will $125 million buy you?  If you want some decent transportation, then a Lear 85 is in your wheelhouse at $20.8 million a unit.  There you go – a six-pack of Lear jets.  How about something to lay down your roots in?  If you enjoy Florida, then Pumpkin key and its 26 acres are available for just $92 million.  A real estate bargain that is hard to resist.

The Boston Red Sox also have made a $125 million contractual offer to J.D. Martinez.  If Martinez accepts then he is stuck in contract servitude with Boston for the next five-years. That, of course, can change as it did with Pablo Sandoval. Panda was a mistake, but that contract. No? So, your Boston Red Sox dished out $50 million as a Panda kiss.

What else could the smart baseball shopper do with that boodle of dough? The Red Sox could toss it on a top-flight pitcher. There are two still on the free agent board waiting for suitors to show with their wheelbarrows loaded with cash.  Jake Arrieta is pegged for four-years and $100 million. That would solve pitching depth issues unless his arm goes lame.

The Red Sox could back-off Martinez and take a gander at Eric Hosmer. Seems like every time I read about Hosmer another year is being rumored to be added to his contract.  At this rate, Hosmer will be collecting a salary, a pension, and social security all at the same time. Anyway, the locals have already signed Mitch Moreland for baseball chump change compared to Hosmer.

If the Red Sox lust is to add pitchers the way the Yankees add home run hitters then Alex Cobb and Lance Lynn can be had – based on the projections – for about $26 million combined for four years. But if by some miracle the current injured members of the rotation are brought to Lourdes for healing water then you have a rotation glut. A rather desirable circumstance from my perspective.

Maybe the Red Sox want to paper the house.? Take a Cobb or Lynn and stock up on a few other parts.  Eduardo Nunez is potentially in line for two-years and $14 million. Do it.  Logan Morrison is still in between jobs, but I think with Moreland that ship has already sailed.  Good luck, Logan.

Maybe the Red Sox want an ace and one is available in Chris Tillman? But, alas, his ace status was in 2016 and in 2017 Tillman was just about a no-show. Tillman is still pegged at $10 million but I suspect that price will drop.  Tillman is the premier representative of that most illustrious group that will be vastly overpaid for one year to “restore” their value.

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Todd Frazier was often linked to Boston and just signed with the Mets for two-years and $17 million.  Boston could have grabbed Frazier and a quality pitcher (Cobb, Lynn) for Martinez money. Maybe DD could have checked for loose change buried in the coach and tacked on Nunez?

Looking at the free agent market now for the less expensive flesh is like showing up for an everything must go sale with ten minutes left.  Carlos Santana may or may not have been passed by.  Depends on what you read.  Anyways at three-years and $60 million, you would have saved enough for Nunez.  The mix and match for $25 million is an interesting way to toss away an afternoon on a calculator.

So, if Martinez decides to sign elsewhere then a year may be tossed away, but if history is any indicator another Martinez type will be waiting as a free agent or from a team willing to dump salary.  Then you have the issue of quality.

Next: J.D. Martinez is "fed up" with Red Sox

The Red Sox could also be a shopper that will wait for better bargains or far better potential merchandise in the next market. Often, we put off the expenditure of a new vehicle if we can squeeze another year or two out of the old beater.