No regrets for Martinez
Despite Betts deal, Sox DH doesn’t second-guess opting in
FORT MYERS — It was a simple, and at the time understandable reason why J.D. Martinez decided to opt in to his contract to remain with the Red Sox.
It was explained by his agent, Scott Boras, at the GM Meetings in early November and then again by Martinez later in the winter: the Red Sox designated hitter “wanted assurance of competition at a high level,” Boras said.
“It’s a competitive team,” Martinez said on Jan. 18. “I want to win. I want to win championships. There’s no guarantee that if I do opt out, I’m going on a competitive team. I know that this team is really competitive and this team has a chance to win next year.”
But that was before the Red Sox made a franchise-shaking move that even chief baseball officer Chaim Bloom admitted makes them worse in the short term, as they sent Mookie Betts and David Price to the Dodgers.
The Red Sox won 84 games last season with Betts and Price, and even though they felt like they underachieved, expectations are low in 2020. At best, they don’t look to be nearly as competitive as Martinez thought they would be when he opted in.
So if Martinez knew then what he knows now, would he make the same decision? That’s not as simple as one may think.
“When you’re in that point of your life, that point and time, when you have to make a decision on what’s in front of you, and to me, that’s the decision I made,” Martinez said. “That was the hand I had. They were here, this and that. Obviously, you know, they’re gone and I don’t think this team is a bad team because they left. I still think this team is a really good team. I understand the organization, why they had to make the decision. I know we got some good guys for him. So I’m excited for the future and what’s to happen.”
When news broke that Betts was first traded, in the three-team deal that ultimately fell through, Martinez publicly shared his feelings by tweeting an emoji of a sad face. When the trade went through five days later, he tweeted that emoji again twice.
Martinez will certainly miss Betts, who he took on something of a mentorship role for when he arrived to Boston in 2018. He helped Betts reach new heights at the plate that culminated in him winning American League MVP. But while the lineup will obviously look a lot different without him, Martinez has plenty of confidence in those that remain.
“Mookie’s a great player,” Martinez said. “One of the best players in the game. Obviously you’re going to feel it in a sense but I think we have a lot of really, really good players and you look at the guys who had breakout years last year, guys come back and I don’t know what our numbers were offensively but I’m going to say top 3, top 4 offensive teams in baseball. Obviously it’s going to take a hit but I really believe in the guys we have and if guys continue to get better, I think we’re going to be really good.”
That includes himself. After winning a Silver Slugger in 2018, Martinez’s numbers, while still very productive (36 homers, 105 RBI, .304 average, .939 OPS), took a dip last season. A short offseason after winning the World Series may have contributed to that, but the 32-year-old said his body feels rejuvenated and fresher entering spring training.
“I felt like it was one of my better offseasons,” Martinez said. “I think I came to camp healthy and it’s kind of all I asked for this offseason is getting my body right, get healthy and enter the season ready to go.”
There’s a dark cloud hovering over baseball as the Astros’ signstealing scandal rocks the sport, and the league is considering changes that could directly impact how Martinez performs.
MLB commissioner Rob Manfred said Sunday that the league will likely pass a new policy that restricts access to video during games. Martinez, who is as detailoriented as any player and frequently watches replays of his atbats in order to make necessary adjustments, doesn’t like the idea of removing video in-game altogether.
“I think to go out there and take all video out, you’re not allowed to look through at-bats, I think is a little ridiculous in my opinion,” Martinez said. “All these kids now, when I was in minor league, Double-A, Triple-A, we had video. It was something you grew up with. You kind of always go back and you can check something in your swing and it helps you throughout the game. To all of a sudden take that away is a little extreme I think.”
Martinez offered some suggestions, such as moving video replay to the press box or delaying the live feed for an inning or two. But he fears the league will implement more extreme measures than that. He hopes the league will talk to players before making a decision, and normally not one to speak up, said he’s thought about talking to Manfred himself.
“To sit there and take that away, for me it’s what makes me, me,” Martinez said. “I’m a very analytical guy, I like to study my swing, I like to study what my back foot is doing, my elbow, whatever it might be, and there’s a lot of guys nowadays that are like that. That’s the trend of the game, that’s the way the game has gone. If you look the last couple of years, everybody is like that.”