Red Sox offer to J.D. Martinez "in the range" of $100 million
Brian Hines
Contributing Writer
Just a few weeks ago, USA Today's Bob Nightengale reported the Red Sox made free agent slugger J.D. Martinez a five-year contract offer. The amount of the offer wasn't known.
On Wednesday, ESPN's Buster Olney reported the five-year deal was "in the range" of $100 million.
Martinez started this offseason searching for a seven year contract worth $210 million. His market however, like many other free agents, has been almost invisible. It appears his only two suitors at the moment are the Red Sox or resigning with the Diamondbacks.
As free agency has progressed, Martinez has now made it clear he could hold out until Spring Training to secure a deal. Arizona is currently not able to meet Martinez's financial requests and the Red Sox offer is far from what he is looking for.
As the standoff between Dave Dombrowski and Martinez, along with agent Scott Boras, continues, Dombrowski should keep holding his ground. There is no need for him to up his offer and bid against himself, as the Red Sox currently have the best reported offer available.
How this standoff concludes is completely up in the air. Perhaps Arizona is able to fix their financial issues and make a competitive offer, or another team enters the bidding war and blows the other offers out of the water. Or Dombrowski could eventually cave as Spring Training arrives and ups his offer into the $120-$150 million range.
If Martinez does land elsewhere, Dombrowski could turn his attention to resigning Eduardo Nunez. Nunez doesn't have the power of J.D. Martinez, but proved he fits into Fenway Park quite nicely last season.
Contributing Writer
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| Photo Courtesy of Christian Petersen/Getty Images |
On Wednesday, ESPN's Buster Olney reported the five-year deal was "in the range" of $100 million.
Martinez started this offseason searching for a seven year contract worth $210 million. His market however, like many other free agents, has been almost invisible. It appears his only two suitors at the moment are the Red Sox or resigning with the Diamondbacks.
As free agency has progressed, Martinez has now made it clear he could hold out until Spring Training to secure a deal. Arizona is currently not able to meet Martinez's financial requests and the Red Sox offer is far from what he is looking for.
As the standoff between Dave Dombrowski and Martinez, along with agent Scott Boras, continues, Dombrowski should keep holding his ground. There is no need for him to up his offer and bid against himself, as the Red Sox currently have the best reported offer available.
How this standoff concludes is completely up in the air. Perhaps Arizona is able to fix their financial issues and make a competitive offer, or another team enters the bidding war and blows the other offers out of the water. Or Dombrowski could eventually cave as Spring Training arrives and ups his offer into the $120-$150 million range.
If Martinez does land elsewhere, Dombrowski could turn his attention to resigning Eduardo Nunez. Nunez doesn't have the power of J.D. Martinez, but proved he fits into Fenway Park quite nicely last season.
