What The Red Sox Big Weekend Means
Big news on JD Martinez, Christian Vazquez, the potential return of Kyle Schwarber, moving on without Martín Pérez, and only one Garrett remains
There will be some days this off-season where nothing will happen. I’ll be up until 2am trying to think of a topic and by “trying to think of a topic” I mean eating ice cream and watching cooking shows on YouTube, but there won’t be anything worthwhile. To write, I mean. Of course there isn’t anything worthwhile on YouTube.
But this weekend was not that!
This weekend was Big News Weekend where the Red Sox went around dropping big news like a dog that’s been cooped up in a house all day long. JD Martinez made his opt-in decision. The Red Sox did the qualifying offer thing. Team options were picked up and dropped off. There was coaching news but this article doesn’t include that! So after I finished eating my ice cream and watching Ye Olde Cookbook Show, instead of closing my computer in disgust, it’s time to answer the question: what does it all mean?
For the Red Sox, I mean. Not… other stuff.
So let’s get into it! But first I’d be remiss if I didn’t say hello! I’m Matt Kory. You might know me from The Athletic, FanGraphs, Vice Sports, or a bunch of other places I’ve been fired from (it’s all good, I’m done crying behind the couch). Now I cover the Red Sox here at the Sox Outsider newsletter. So subscribe, please! [in begging voice] It’s free.
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Let’s start Big News weekend for the Red Sox with the biggest of the news.
JD Martinez Opts In
Red Sox DH/Left Fielder in DH Clothing JD Martinez decided against testing the open market and has opted in to the final year of his contract with the Red Sox. Martinez will make $19.375 million for the 2022 season, so be sure your kids knock on the Martinez door come next Halloween. They’ll have the big candy bars. And heck, take two!
There was some question as to which way he’d go on this - Martinez himself said he wasn’t sure as recently as a few weeks ago - but in the end the uncertainty over the CBA combined with the certainty of hitting the market after turning down the qualifying offer pushed him towards staying in Boston. The fact that he picked Boston in the first place four years ago and assumedly likes his teammates and manager might’ve factored into his choice as well.
So what does all that mean for the 2022 Red Sox? Not so fast. Just because Martinez opted in doesn’t mean he’s a ‘for sure’ member of the 2022 team. The money is fine but we all know how the new Red Sox under Chaim Bloom operate, namely if they think they can get comparable production at a lesser price, they’re fine with making some moves. That’s all to say Martinez could be traded. There haven’t been any specific rumors to that extent yet, but the possibility definitely exists.
During his press availability yesterday, Chaim Bloom talked to Friend-Of-The-Newsletter-And-Really-Friend-Of-All-People-And-Animals-Everywhere Alex Speier of the Boston Globe. Presumably over herbal tea. Bloom said the following, which Alex kindly tweeted out.
The question as I see it is really this: which big bat are the Red Sox going to employ in 2022 (the subtext: there will be only one)?
A) JD Martinez
B) Kyle Schwarber
C) Someone else
Judging by Bloom’s comments, that is still up in the air. This was framed as ‘Sure we’d love to have JD and Kyle’ but if you read between the lines a bit, do some parsing and things of that nature and whatnot, it sound suspiciously like ‘We have JD now but we haven’t decided if we’d rather have him or Kyle.’
The final result here is going to depend, I’d guess, on two things. First, what does the trade market for Martinez look like? Is he in demand such that another team would not only take on his contract but also give the Red Sox something valuable in return? I’d be surprised if that were the case, but stranger things have happened. For example, my cat locked himself in my bedroom yesterday. How did a cat close the door on himself? I don’t know! Strange! So maybe there is a market for Martinez.
The other determining aspect will be what does Kyle Schwarber’s market look like? Is Schwarber is looking at a four year deal in the neighborhood of $50 million? Or is he looking for something in the Diamonds and Pearls collection, like four years, $100 million? If it’s closer to the first and the Red Sox can get something in return for Martinez, then there’s a trade to be made. (Unless you’re afraid.) A younger DH who can play some first base and left field (kinda sorta) at less money per season, plus whatever you got for Martinez in trade, is a good way to build up the organizational talent level.
Alternatively, if the market for Martinez is cool and/or Schwarber’s contract demands are closer to what Martinez is making now, then the Sox can just sit pat and be content with another year of JD Martinez. Which isn’t a bad thing.
Red Sox Issue Qualifying Offer To Eduardo Rodriguez
There was some question as to whether or not E-Rod would get a qualifying offer or not. Well, let there be no question anymore. The Red Sox officially offered Rodriguez the QO, which, let’s be honest, should be required to be delivered in a velvet bag on horseback in the middle of the night. Specifically it’s a one year, $18.4 million offer which, if Rodriguez accepts, is a done deal. The Sox would have E-Rod back for one season. If he turns it down, the Red Sox are in line for some sort of draft pick compensation if Rodriguez signs elsewhere.
That’s the fine print of it. What it means in practice is that Rodriguez is likely getting a multi-year deal for more money than we might think. The Red Sox aren’t going to offer him one year at $18.4 million to turn around and offer him a three year deal at $30 million. I mean, they could. They could do that. But they might as well have Brian O’Halloran stuff a bag of dog poo into E-Rod’s mailbox. Read down to the end and there isn’t going to be an E-Rod bargain contract. The Red Sox know how good he is regardless of how lousy his ERA was this year, and there are enough smart teams out there that know enough to look past it, too.
We should have some clarity on this soon enough though because players have just 10 days to decide to accept the QO or not.
Team Options: Vazquez, Richards, Pérez
The Red Sox were faced with three decisions to make, but we’ll start with two of the easiest the team has made since Tim Wakefield signed his perpetually regenerating one year contract back in 1873, 93 years before he was born. Martín Pérez and Garrett Richards both had team options for $6 million and $10 million, respectively. To which the Red Sox said “Nope,” and “Hell nope.” Respectively.
Pérez was one of the worst pitchers in my imagination where he gave up two homers to every batter he faced last season. In reality, he was just mediocre, barely scraping together positive WAR from FanGraphs. He’s not a total waste of a roster spot no matter how badly he was misused by manager Alex Cora in the ALCS, but he’s not worth $6 million, or $5.5 million after you subtract the $500K buy-out the Red Sox were going to pay him regardless. We might not have seen the last of Pérez, but if he comes back it’ll hopefully be with a paper sign taped to his chest that says “Don’t pitch me in playoffs.”
Richards was perhaps a slightly more difficult call in that while he did get bounced from the rotation to the bullpen like Pérez, he performed pretty well in his new role. Not $8.5 million worth of pretty well, but, you know, sort of reasonable at the time. The Red Sox may have interest in bringing Richards back as a reliever/long man out of the pen in 2022, but for now Richards will take his $1.5 million buy-out and hit the open market in search of… I don’t know…. how about a VW camper van full of weed and spider tack?
Finally, in other news that can be filed under the headline “DUH,” Christian Vazquez had his team option for one year and $7 million exercised. So Vazquez will be back with the team in 2022. Or traded for Adley Rutschman. It’s the Orioles, so we’ll see.
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