Time for Sox to double up
One impact bat won’t be enough
Forget about waiting to sign Bryce Harper or Manny Machado next season.
Forget about relying upon Hanley Ramirez this season.
And forget about thinking that the following proposal is some sort of knee-jerk, panicked reaction to the Yankees’ heist of a trade for Giancarlo Stanton over the weekend.
It’s not — although let’s not pretend as if the Yankees are not locked and loaded to prevail in the AL East.
That fact reinforces the urgency of the task that presents itself to the Red Sox at the Winter Meetings this week in Orlando, Fla. They need to strike not just once but twice with a pair of bold and necessary moves to keep open a window for winning that is threatening to slam shut in their faces.
It’s not a matter anymore of the Red Sox choosing between free agent outfielder J.D. Martinez and first baseman Eric Hosmer.
It’s a matter of signing both of them.
Before getting bogged down in the economic realities that such an exorbitant purchase would entail, here’s the baseball argument. First off, the risk of waiting on Ramirez to become a fearsome slugger again far outweighs the not-going-to-happen reward. Somehow we all bought into the Red Sox’ fingers-crossed fantasy last year that Ramirez’ secondhalf 2016 surge would carry on into all of 2017, when David Ortiz was no longer on board.
The joke was on everyone, and now it is no joke to consider that if the Red Sox allow Ramirez to tally the 497 more plate appearances he needs to kick in his $22 million 2019 option, they are on the hook for $44 million over the next two seasons. That’s ludicrous. The Red Sox need to unload Ramirez — either cut him or trade him and plan on picking up a hefty portion of his 2018 salary.
Sorry, Hanley, but the Red Sox have a far better option at first base that they cannot afford to pass up. Hosmer is only 28 years old — quite a tender age for any free agent these days — and he checks every box the team needs. He has an inside-out, left-handed swing that’s perfect for Fenway. He’s potent, productive and is showing potential to become a power bat as well.
He’s won four Gold Gloves. It’s not any harder to present the case for why Martinez’ bat is so right for the Red Sox. He’s been just about as good of a slugger and home run hitter as Stanton over the past three years, and while he doesn’t have the defensive skills of Hosmer, he’d be fine in left field (or as the DH).
Everyone’s familiar with the baseball bona fides of Martinez and Hosmer, but equally important is that they each come with a reputation for leadership and maturity that the current Red Sox clubhouse needs in spades.
It’s no secret the Red Sox need a culture change in their clubhouse. Hiring Alex Cora was the correct start to that process, but that’s not going to be the end of it. The roster needs new personalities, players who welcome the spotlight rather than curdle from it. The young core the Red Sox pride themselves on — Mookie Betts, Xander Bogaerts and Andrew Benintendi — needs peers who lead by the example of positivity and professionalism or else they become a flight risk as soon as they hit free agency. Hosmer and Martinez would inject the right tone and attitude the younger players need to experience on a daily basis.
That Shohei Ohtani turned his back on the Red Sox and did not want to consider playing for them was nothing to take personally.
But if Stanton was fine with playing for the Yankees, but not here, it reflects poorly on the Red Sox and provides even more ammunition for why they need to bring in two good citizens like Martinez and Hosmer.
The Red Sox have no shot at trading for Jose Abreu, who’d be just as perfect a fit as Hosmer. The White Sox are asking for top-shelf prospects, which the Red Sox no longer have, thanks to good trades for Chris Sale and Craig Kimbrel. Further pillaging of the farm system is highly inadvisable.
They can’t afford to wait on Harper and Machado a year from now, never mind be assured of signing one of them. There are clauses in the collective bargaining agreement that would punish the Red Sox harshly for signing a premier free agent next year after blowing through their luxury tax threshold like they will this coming year. That’s not quite the case by striking now with Martinez and Hosmer.
Because he was traded last season, a Martinez signing does not come attached with a compensation draft pick loss. That’s no small matter. Hosmer would cost a draft pick, but the cost is less than next year if the Red Sox did manage to sign Harper, Machado or Josh Donaldson.
Of course, the financial cost would be enormous to sign both Martinez and Hosmer, each of whom is going to command at least a five-year deal worth somewhere between $25 and $30 million per year.
The Red Sox will find a way to survive the financial hit now rather than wait until next year when it could be even worse.
If the Red Sox don’t give everything they’ve got to nab both Hosmer and Martinez, they will find that the alternative comes with a price tag — losses in games, talent and reputation — that they can’t afford.