Breaking: J.D. Martinez opts-in to contract with Red Sox
Over the past two seasons J.D. Martinez has been a force in the middle of the Boston Red Sox lineup. That will continue to stand true as the outfielder / designated hitter has officially opted in to the five-year contract he signed with Boston before the 2018 season.
WELL. Per @JeffPassan a minute before I tweeted this, J.D. Martinez will be opting-in to his deal for the 2020 season.
He will make $23.75M in ‘20 and $19.35M in ‘21 & ‘22 with another chance to opt-out after next season. #RedSox @RedSoxCLNS https://t.co/yhfRMNsGRJ
— Nick Quaglia (@NickQuag) November 4, 2019
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This starts Boston and new president of baseball operations Chaim Bloom’s offseason with a bang. There was no certainty that Martinez was going to opt-in to his contract, but now that he has Boston’s front office can start to lay the ground work for their offseason plan.
It is well documented how the Sox ownership group would like to shed salary in order to get under the $208 million luxury tax threshold, so with Martinez set to make north of $20 million this upcoming season, decisions regarding players like Jackie Bradley Jr., David Price, Nathan Eovaldi, among others (*cough* cough* Mookie Betts).
It will be interesting to see how Bloom manages this considering his management style appears to vary vastly than that of former president Dave Dombrowski, but Martinez’s opt-in is the first domino to fall.
-Jarrod Ribaudo (@Jribs53)