Sox want shot of J.D.
Werner: Talks ‘active’
MASHANTUCKET, Conn. — Dave Dombrowski’s boss blew his cover.
Tom Werner, the Red Sox chairman and one of the owners, made no effort to cloak the team’s offseason intentions while speaking at Foxwoods Casino last night as part of Winter Weekend.
“We are in active negotiations with J.D. Martinez,” Werner said matter-of-factly. “We’re hopeful to make a deal. But as I’ve said it takes two people to make that deal.”
The Herald reported yesterday that the Sox’ current offer to the free agent outfielder was for five years and $125 million.
The Red Sox entered the offseason with a payroll for 2018 of right around $200 million before re-signing Mitch Moreland to a two-year, $13 million contract. And they’re not done spending.
“I can only speak for the Red Sox, and we’re going to have — we will most definitely have the highest payroll that we’ve ever had,” Werner said. “And you know other teams have to make their own decisions but we expect to be competitive and we expect to improve from our team last year.”
There’s been speculation around the industry about why so many elite players are still on the free agent market with spring training just a few weeks away. A Yahoo! Sports report earlier in the week focused on the collective bargaining agreement being too favorable to the owners and allowing teams to use the luxury tax threshold to serve as a salary cap, even though that wasn’t the intention. The threshold this year is $197 million.
“You’ll have to ask other teams how they deal with it, but we were under the cap last year and we’ll be over the cap probably this year,” Werner said. “For us, we can’t wait and have a year where we’re not competitive. That’s the thing that drives us.”
Retired slugger David Ortiz was on hand at Foxwoods and expressed his concern about the current market.
“I’m just wondering who the hell is going to play this season?” Ortiz said. “Because nobody has signed yet. I’m wondering, what’s going on? It’s pretty much everybody. I have tons of guys, a friend of mine, ‘Did you sign yet?’ ‘Nope.’ ‘It’s almost spring training, bro. What’s the deal?’ That’s a question you guys should ask the owners.”
Dombrowski, the president of baseball operations, has explained that players are asking for too much money. Werner hinted at similar feelings.
“As a fan, I’m sure the fan would like us to make a big announcement,” Werner said. “But as I said, we’re one of the highest payrolls in baseball. At a certain point we have to exercise discipline. A lot has been written about players in their late 30s not performing as well as in their sweet spot, which we know is in their late 20s and early 30s. But Opening Day isn’t here yet . ... We’re going to make some more moves this offseason. Again, I’m not worried so much about where we are on Jan. 17 as I am about where we are on April 1.”
Ortiz said the Sox could use a hitter like Martinez, and Hall of Fame pitcher Pedro Martinez, also on hand for Winter Weekend, joked that the team should consider giving Ortiz a pair of cleats.
“The main reason why Mookie (Betts) and those guys miss (Ortiz) more is because they were getting better pitches to hit on an earlier count because of his presence,” Martinez said. “Everybody knew they wanted to attack Mookie and those guys to get them out early before they get to David because David was one of those guys who was really special.”
Dombrowski continues to express confidence in the roster as currently constructed.
Werner was more willing to share his desire that the Sox would add another big bat.
“I’m hopeful,” Werner said. “Dave Dombrowski has been talking to a lot of other general managers. We had a very good team last year. We won 93 games. We have nothing to be ashamed of.
“We expect to improve and I would hope we’d improve with a big bat in the middle of the lineup, but there are also other ways to improve.”