Red Sox Sign J.D. Martinez, add Coveted Power Hitter

                The Boston Red Sox agreed to a five-year, $110 million deal with J.D. Martinez on Monday, giving them the slugger they yearned for all offseason. Martinez hit .303/.376/.690 with 45 home runs and a 166 OPS+ for the Detroit Tigers and Arizona Diamondbacks last season.  He was traded to Arizona at the trade deadline—where he smashed 29 homers and slugged .741 in just 62 games, helping the Diamondbacks reach the postseason.

J.D. Martinez is the newest member of the Boston Red Sox. (Christian Peterson/Getty Images)

                In two years, Martinez will have collected $50 million in this frontloaded contract and will possess the ability to leave in free agency. He has an opt-out clause after year three, as well, and can test the open market then if he so pleases. But whether Martinez stays in Boston for two, three, or five years, this was a necessary signing by Red Sox president of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski.

                The Red Sox had to add pop to a lineup that ranked dead last in the American League in home runs (168) last season.

                Expected to be the team’s designated hitter in 2018, the 30-year-old Martinez is of two players to hit over .300 with at least 125 home runs and a .550 slugging percentage since 2014—the other, according to ESPN Stats and Information, being Los Angeles Angels outfielder Mike Trout, a two-time AL MVP and six-time All-Star.

                Martinez is the most potent power hitter to be featured in Boston’s lineup since David Ortiz retired in 2016. He is the guy the Red Sox needed in order to keep pace with the heavy-hitting New York Yankees—now rostering arguably the two best home run hitters in baseball with Aaron Judge and the recently-acquired Giancarlo Stanton—the Cleveland Indians and the World Series champion Houston Astros in the loaded American League.