J.D. Martinez - Newest Member of the Boston Red Sox

Well, it's official. The Red Sox have signed slugger J.D. Martinez for what's being reported as a 5 year deal for $110m and a couple of player opt outs after years 2 and 3.

https://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2018/02/red-sox-sign-j-d-martinez.html (MLB Trade Rumors)

This is the part of the story where I should reveal that I'm a lifelong Red Sox Fan. I grew up in Massachusetts and have rooted for them since I was a kid, so I come by it honestly. Being a Sox fan, I had mixed feelings about the offers that were being reported for Martinez throughout the winter. I view him as a 1 tool player, power bat, and I thought the reported offers were high for a player who's had relatively few successful seasons going into his age 30 season. I said as much here on Twitter and Globe writer, Chad Finn, was good enough to engage.

https://twitter.com/c_lauer/status/953862505373171713

(Side note: Chad Finn is an incredible sports writer and if you're a Boston sports fan, he should be bookmarked as required reading)

The general consensus seems to be that the Sox need a power bat (I agree) and that since he's retooled his swing, he's been an elite power bat (I agree) and worthy of premium contract (I disagree). I personally think the Red Sox offense is going to be fine this season, with or without Martinez. Most everyone in the lineup either had down years last year offensively, or it was their first season in the bigs and they still won the division. There's plenty of room for the lineup as is to improve. Yes, the Yankee's power is truly formidable with the addition of Stanton, but I was of the belief that Red Sox could have maintained a good position in the division until the trade deadline, and then added a bat then if it turned out they needed it. I also didn't want to see them use up valuable dollars that would prevent them from participating in next year's free agent class or prevent them from locking up some of their great young talent like Mookie Betts to long term deals.

I don't have anything against Martinez, and I'm actually glad to have him on the team. He's going to add some pop to the lineup and can protect some of our other hitters. I just didn't think he was worth the contract he was asking for and I don't want to see him manning the OF pretty much ever. The trio of Beni, JBJ and Betts offer too much value in run prevention to mess with. That makes him a full-time DH and I do prefer to see him there to Hanley Ramirez who I hoped would have turned the offensive corner by now. He's had 3 seasons back in Boston since the Sox required him and it's been terrible, pretty good and bad in those three years. The addition of Martinez is sure to eat into his playing time, and probably means we'll see him at 1B more spelling Mitch Moreland against lefties. As much as I appreciated Hanley's effort at 1B in 2016 (it was much better than his OF experiment), I still think he's a bit of a defensive liability. Now we get to see how it all works out. New manager Alex Cora (great hire) is going to have his work cut out for him juggling the lineups. Whatever he works out, it's sure to strike up some anxiety in the opposing pitching, especially now with Martinez penciled in the cleanup spot.

I don't have many J.D. Martinez cards as prior to this winter, I haven't followed his career that closely. I've posted the two cards below for sale up on Peer Hub to test it out as a selling platform. Please take a look and make an offer if you're interested.

https://www.peerhub.com/items/8420

I also have other cards up for sale on eBay here: http://stores.ebay.com/toploaderbaseballcards

Feel free to take a look at my card up there, thanks for reading my post and happy steeming!