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According to USA Today's Bob Nightengale, the Red Sox and Indians earlier this offseason discussed a deal that would've brought Encarnacion to Boston, but the Red Sox balked at including center fielder Jackie Bradley Jr.

Quote (WatcherOfTheSkies @ Feb 19 2018 11:05pm)

My dad just texted me we landed JD martinez! It's on yankees 😎

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FORT MYERS, Fla. -- The Red Sox have finally identified their replacement for David Ortiz.

As was first reported by Pedro Gomez of ESPN, the team has finalized a deal with free-agent slugger J.D. Martinez. FanRagSports.com was first to surface the momentum. MLB.com reports it's a five-year deal with an opt-out after two years, with Martinez making $110 million over the five years.

According to Jon Heyman of FanRagSports.com, the deal will play Martinez $50 million over the first two seasons. There is another opt-out after the third season.

Martinez represents the middle of the order threat the Red Sox seemed to desperately need, having totaled 45 home runs, a .303 batting average and a 1.066 OPS in just 119 games with the Tigers and Diamondbacks in 2017. The 30-year-old's career turnaround has been well-documented, combining for a .936 OPS in the past four seasons.

Martinez would seem to serve as the Red Sox' designated hitter, with the opportunity to see time in the outfield. This most likely leaves platoon between Mitch Moreland and Hanley Ramirez at first base.

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Martinez had packed lightly when he landed in the Fort last week, expecting the finalization of his contract to be a formality. But when the Red Sox saw something they didn't like in Martinez's medical history -- specifcally a Lisfranc injury in his right foot that caused him to miss the first six weeks of last season -- thus began a weeklong quest to protect the team in case of a recurrence of the injury.

The result was a five-year, $110 million contract that includes protections for both the team and player, according to agent Scott Boras.

Per Boras, the Red Sox will receive financial relief in the final two years of the deal if Martinez spends at least 60 days on the disabled list in any one year or 120 days cumulative because of the foot injury. On the other side, the Red Sox gave Martinez a third opt-out. He can now become a free agent after the second, third, and fourth years of the deal.

"Obviously the X-rays and things showed he had this condition called the Lisfranc condition," Boras said. "It's healed, back to normal, the question is what if that has any impact in the long-term? And we kind of agreed that it's not much of an issue. From our standpoint, we have opt-outs in the second year, the third year, the fourth year, and we can, we have flexibility. And they have some protection at the back end, that's all. In case there’s a disabling injury."

Injuries to the Lisfranc ligament in the midfoot can be devastating. Former Cardinals All-Star Allen Craig suffered one that basically ended his career. He went from World Series cog to worthless in the span of a year, joining the Red Sox at the 2014 trade deadline as a possible reclamation project. Instead, he batted just .139 over parts of two years in Boston before being released.

Martinez, at least, returned from his injury to post career-best numbers last year, including 45 homers and a MLB-leading .690 slugging percentage in just 119 games. That production led Boras to seek the mutliple opt-outs.

Quote (WatcherOfTheSkies @ Feb 16 2018 09:58pm)

Nunez is back

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For the first time in recorded history, the Red Sox own the highest payroll in baseball.

The Associated Press has tracked team spending via numbers compiled by Major League Baseball since 1990, and the Red Sox top the list this year, with a projected Opening Day payroll of $223 million.

Quote (ZxFamily-GuyxZ @ Mar 28 2018 06:24pm)

:)