Asked today if the Sox would consider renegotiating/extending JDM's deal this off-season, DD said no.
It's fortunate the Sox have another guaranteed year of JDM. I'll be curious to see what happens after 2019 if he maintains his productivity and health. It's not like he had a lot of suitors banging down his door this off-season, and his playability in the OF is not going to improve as he ages, so it'll likely (hopefully) be safest for him to maintain his current deal rather than rolling the dice on the opt-out.
It's fortunate the Sox have another guaranteed year of JDM. I'll be curious to see what happens after 2019 if he maintains his productivity and health. It's not like he had a lot of suitors banging down his door this off-season, and his playability in the OF is not going to improve as he ages, so it'll likely (hopefully) be safest for him to maintain his current deal rather than rolling the dice on the opt-out.
The Red Sox are not likely to negotiate a long-term deal with J.D. Martinez this off-season, according to president of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski. Martinez can opt out of his contract after next season and hit free agency.
"I don't think it will change," Dombrowski said. "Again, you're open-minded to anything, but I would say unlikely."
Martinez will earn $23.75 million in 2019 before deciding whether or not to return to Boston. If he stays, his deal gets significantly more complicated, with his opt-outs after the 2020 and 2021 seasons potentially being converted to mutual options if Martinez suffers a recurrence of a Lisfranc foot injury that he suffered in 2017.
"There was a reason why we put those opt-outs in, and they're all medical," Dombrowski said. "The medical hasn't changed. So I don't think (we'll look at changing the deal) at this point."
Martinez will be able to decide whether or not to opt out, as long as he stays healthy. In the complicated re-working of the deal during spring training, the sides agreed that the Red Sox would be able to opt out of the deal after either 2020 or 2021 if Martinez had spent 60 days in the previous season (or 120 combined over the two previous seasons) due to the Lisfranc injury.