J.D. Martinez Officially Signs With the Red Sox
When Red Sox legend, David Ortiz, retired at the end of the 2016 season, many fans were concerned with who would be "Big Papi's" heir to the throne. At the time it seemed Boston was in good hands with Hanley Ramirez and then MVP runner-up, Mookie Betts. As insurance, the Red Sox signed free agent first baseman, Mitch Moreland. However, Boston saw a rather large drop in production with only 168 team homeruns, third worst in the league.
Back to back AL East titles and back to back first round exits in the postseason, the Red Sox choose to part ways with John Farrell and hire Alex Cora to replace him. After weeks of chasing big name hitter J.D. Martinez, and reports of him being fed up with the Red Sox, Boston finally came to terms with Martinez on a 5 yr(s) / $110 mil. The deal also features an opt-out after 2019, and additional opt-outs after the 2020 and 2021 seasons. J.D. is set to make an average $22 mil per year and will likely play as the designated hitter while seeing some occassional time in the outfield.