J.D. Martinez may not be a former first-round draft pick, but he is also not a consolation prize. On Monday evening, the Red Sox signed Martinez a five-year, $110 million contract that includes an opt-out after two years. ESPN writes that this deal wouldn’t have happened if they hadn’t passed last winter on Edwin Encarnacion as a $60 million middle-of-the-order successor to David Ortiz. But it is not that the Sox are settling. Martinez is fresh off a career-best season in which he hit 45 home runs, 29 of which came in a 62-game binge after being traded to the Arizona Diamondbacks. Martinez, 30, is one of the two players to hit .300 with at least 125 home runs and a .550 slugging percentage since 2014. Martinez is exactly the player the Red Sox need to keep pace with the New York Yankees in the division and the loaded Astros in the American league.
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