The Rest of the Field
Any chance Martinez had in restructuring his current deal in Boston likely followed former President of Baseball Ops, Dave Dombrowski, out the door when he was fired in early September. A report by Masslive’s Christopher Smith this past Monday reaffirms the fact that the Red Sox have not made their DH a new offer despite a recent meeting with Scott Boras.
J.D. Martinez’s opt-out: Boston Red Sox haven’t made new contract offer, have 5-day exclusive window at start of MLB free agency https://t.co/Lm9kaaYVaj
— Christopher Smith (@SmittyOnMLB) October 28, 2019
Moneyball teams like the Tampa Bay Rays and Oakland A’s will almost certainly not be in play for Martinez. The Cleveland Indians spent much of the last year trying to trim payroll and they are very much looking more like sellers than buyers. The Los Angeles Angels are erratic enough to be a wildcard in any scenario, but appear to be focusing on starting pitching. The Minnesota Twins have picked up the 2020 option on Nelson Cruz.
One American League team that does make a degree of sense could be the Chicago White Sox, who have plenty of money to spend after missing out on Manny Machado and Bryce Harper. The South Siders are nearing the end of their rebuild and could seek to bolster their foundation for what looks to be a wide-open AL Central. But is the Boras camp willing to put a lot of their eggs in this one basket?